Director of Financial Operations

Director of Financial Operations

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

 

Full Time

Management

Place: Detroit, MI, US

Requisition ID: 1022

Salary Range: $126,000.00 To $158,000.00 Annually

 

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, the Director of Financial Operations is responsible for overseeing the Community Foundation’s core financial operations, including accounting, financial reporting, audit, treasury coordination, and compliance. The Director supervises a team of six—three Senior Accountants and three Finance Associates—and plays a critical role in maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of financial systems and processes.

 

The Director of Financial Operations partners closely with the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis and a diverse team of colleagues to ensure the Foundation’s financial infrastructure supports its mission and strategic goals.

 

About the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM):

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is a dynamic, full-service philanthropic organization dedicated to creating lasting, positive change across Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, Livingston, and St. Clair counties. Since its founding in 1984, CFSEM has distributed over $1.4 billion through more than 85,000 grants, supporting initiatives in education, health, the arts, economic development, and more. As a trusted convener and advisor, the Foundation builds endowments, fosters collaboration, and champions equitable access to opportunity—ensuring Southeast Michigan is a place where everyone can thrive

 

Responsibilities:

 

Financial Operations & Accounting

 

• Lead the daily financial operations, including general ledger maintenance, gift entry, accounts payable and grant disbursements, account reconciliations, and the month-end and year-end close processes.

• Ensure accurate and timely preparation of financial statements in compliance with GAAP and nonprofit accounting standards.

• Oversee fund accounting for endowments, donor-advised funds, supporting organizations, and programming initiatives, including the preparation and review of quarterly statements for endowment and donor-advised funds, ensuring clarity, accuracy and alignment with donor agreements and internal policies.

• Ensure accurate recording of payroll journal entries and related benefits, in coordination with Talent & Culture.

• Oversee the payment process, ensuring proper authorization, documentation, and timely payments to grantees, vendors, and other stakeholders.
  

Supervision & Team Leadership

 

• Manage and mentor a finance team of six, fostering a collaborative, accountable, and high-performance work environment.

• Oversee team workflows, professional development, and performance management.

• Champion continuous improvement and training across accounting functions.
  

Treasury & Investment Coordination

• Oversee daily cash management and bank reconciliations; monitor short-term liquidity needs and ensure fund availability for operations and grants.

• Coordinate with the Treasury Analyst to ensure investment operations are properly recorded and reconciled.
  

Audit, Tax, & Compliance

 

• Lead the annual audit process and ensure timely filing of IRS Forms 990 and other regulatory requirements.

• Maintain strong internal controls and compliance protocols across financial functions.

• Ensure adherence to nonprofit financial policies, UPMIFA, and donor restrictions.
  

Systems, Controls, & Process Improvement

 

• Evaluate and enhance financial systems and workflows for greater efficiency and accuracy.

• Collaborate with IT, Talent & Culture and Operations teams on financial systems optimization, reporting tools, and data integration.

• Support system upgrades, implementations, and reporting enhancements as needed.
  

Cross-Functional Collaboration

 

• Partner with the Director of FP&A to align accounting practices with forecasting, budgeting, and strategic planning.

• Coordinate with the Donor Services, Community Engagement, and HR teams to ensure consistency and compliance in financial processes.

• Provide insights and reporting support to Audit, Finance, Investment, and Executive Committees as well as our Board of Trustees and supporting organization boards.
  

Core & Leadership Competencies:

 

Core Competencies:

• Customer Focus: Every role must prioritize understanding and addressing the needs and expectations of our community and stakeholders. This involves active listening, empathy, and a commitment to providing exceptional service.

• Plans and Aligns: Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection. Engages in active mindfulness to identify and adjust mental shortcuts. Seeks out the perspectives and experiences of others to test assumptions. Proactively anticipates and plans for the reactions of others, multiple outcomes, potential issues, and industry trends.

• Collaborative: Works well with others both on the team and cross-functionally to achieve individual, team, department, or organizational goals. Values diverse input and working with others as a way to achieve the best output possible.

• Decision Making & Problem Solving: Simplifies complex problems by using critical thinking to evaluate problems, gathering information, incorporating multiple perspectives, understanding causes, and identifying best-possible solutions. Invests time in planning, discovery, and reflection to drive better decisions and more efficient implementations. Adopts an audience-centric approach, understanding the needs of the audience and incorporating them, as appropriate, into the decision.

 

Leadership Competencies:

 

• Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people up, down, across, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport with peers and leaders; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

• Leadership Professionalism: Exercises good judgement of what should be said to whom, where, and how.  Maintains confidentiality. Stamps out rumor mills. Contributes to constructive solutions. Encourages peers and staff to deal with challenges and opportunities head-on. Models the behavior we expect. Expresses views in the right rooms with the right people, avoids undermining decisions of others with words, actions, or body language.

• Managerial Courage: Provides current, direct, complete and actionable feedback to others; Adroitly diagnoses people, process, practice, policy issues, and exercises good judgement in owning and addressing each in the right place and time.

• Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams where needed, irrespective of reporting lines; creates strong morale and spirit within and across teams; shares wins and successes; creates a feeling of belonging; Presses in to understand the 'why' of decisions, then helps craft and own go-forward plans.

 

Education & Experience:

 

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA desired.

• 7-10 years of progressive financial operations experience, with a minimum of 5 years in a leadership role, preferably in a nonprofit or philanthropic environment.

• Strong understanding of nonprofit GAAP, fund accounting, and endowments.

• Experience leading audits, managing teams, and overseeing financial systems.

• Ability to act independently, take initiative, and meet priorities and deadlines

• Successful experience working in, and contributing to, a collaborative team environment.

 

Skills & Attributes:

 

• Proactive hands-on strategic thinker with strong operational discipline and attention to detail.

• Strong analytic, organizational and problem-solving abilities.

• Proven leadership and team-building skills; able to coach and develop high-performing staff.

• Effective communicator with the ability to explain complex financial matters to diverse audiences.

• Proficiency with accounting and ERP systems and advanced Excel skills.

 

Benefits & Salary:

 

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan offers a robust total compensation package. The targeted salary for those entering this role is $126,000 - $158,000.  In addition to a competitive base salary, benefits include but aren’t limited to 20 days of vacation accrued monthly, 5 personal days, 13 holidays, 9 sick days accrued monthly, paid parental leave, and employer paid short/long term disability. The Community Foundation also offers a pension retirement program after 1 year of service which contributes 10% of salary. This position requires the ability to work in a hybrid environment, with an average of 3 in-office workdays per week, with Wednesday being a required in-office day.

 

Application Instructions:

 

This position is being recruited on an expedited timeline.  Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and early submission is strongly encouraged.  To apply, visit www.cfsem.org/careers and look for "Current Opportunities".   Submit your application online through the portal.

 

To provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals, employment decisions will be based on merit, qualifications and abilities without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, height, weight, political or union affiliation, disability or any factor prohibited by law