Job Announcement
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
Director of Accounting and Finance
(Alexandria, Virginia)
(Posted: July, 2010)
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia, has retained Slesinger Management Services to recruit an experienced accountant to serve as director of accounting and finance. This is an exceptional opportunity for an individual to be part of the Foundation’s senior management team, overseeing the financial operations of a nonprofit organization that has revenue of $10 million, an endowment and other assets totaling $34 million, and a staff of 17.
Applications will be accepted until this search is completed.
The Organization
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide college scholarships to deserving sons and daughters of Marines (both current and former), with particular attention being given to children whose parent was killed or wounded in action. Founded in 1962, the Foundation has awarded more than 25,000 scholarships totaling
$50 million. In 2010, the Foundation will award about $4 million to 1,400 students.
The Foundation’s revenue comes entirely from private sources: foundations, corporations, and individuals, plus endowment income. Awards are based on financial need – the average household income of scholarship recipients is currently $46,000. The average scholarship is for $2,500, and can be renewed annually for four years based on satisfactory academic performance. The Foundation also provides a Heroes Tribute Scholarship of up to $30,000 to every child of a Marine and every child of a Navy Corpsman serving with the Marines whose parent has been killed in combat on or since September 11, 2001.
The Foundation’s staff of 17 works out of two offices. The four-person program staff that processes scholarship applications is in Princeton, New Jersey; the rest of the staff -- executive office, fundraising and communication, and accounting and finance – is in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Foundation is governed by a board of directors of 33 people, most of whom are business leaders who served in the Marines. The Foundation’s president and CEO is Margaret Davis, who joined the organization in March, 2009, after a 20+ year career in nonprofit management, communications, and resource development, as well as many years of volunteer leadership with Marine Corps Family Readiness programs.
For more information about the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, please go to www.MCSF.org.
The Position and its Principal Responsibilities
Reporting directly to the president and CEO and serving on the Foundation’s senior management team, the director of accounting and finance’s overriding responsibility is to ensure the fiscal health of the organization.
Key responsibilities include:
1. Producing monthly financial reports that are timely, accurate, and understandable for senior management, board members, event volunteers, and donors.
2. Leading an organization-wide process to produce an operating budget that reflects the organization’s shared goals and fiscal realities.
3. Overseeing the annual audit, including implementing recommendations that emerge from the audit.
4. Overseeing the preparation of the IRS Form 990 and other documents to insure the Foundation is in compliance with relevant federal and state laws.
5. Managing systems to insure that gift agreements and other documents that convey donor intent are implemented properly.
6. Providing the senior management team and the board of directors with financial projections based on sound models.
7. Serving as the staff liaison to investment advisory firms that manage the Foundation’s endowment and other long-term investments.
8. Supervising one other staff accountant.
Desired Skills and Characteristics
As the person overseeing the Foundation’s financial management, the director of accounting and finance should be:
1. Highly knowledgeable about financial accounting within nonprofit organizations that generate revenue from multiple sources, including restricted grants and fundraising events run by volunteers throughout the country. Experience with Blackbaud’s Financial Edge is highly desirable. A CPA license or certificate is desirable, but not required.
2. Interested in a hands-on, operations job since the accounting and finance staff currently includes only one other person.
3. Able to interact effectively with and provide helpful customer service to volunteers around the country who run events such as golf tournaments and gala dinners that generate a significant portion of the Foundation’s annual revenue.
4. A superb communicator, orally and in writing, especially in articulating financial and other quantitative data to senior staff, event volunteers, and board members.
5. A person with the confidence and presence to be able to work effectively with a business- and finance-oriented senior team and board.
6. Collegial and open. The director of accounting and finance must have a personality and work style that ensures that the internal atmosphere will remain open and collaborative, at all levels of the organization.
7. Supportive of the mission of the Foundation, and its close work with the Marines and its families.
Compensation
Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The Foundation offers a generous benefits package.
To Apply
Please e-mail:
1. cover letter that explains why you’re interested and qualified – please note explicitly the extent of your experience with Financial Edge or other accounting software that is designed for tracking hundreds of restricted grants;
2. resume; and
3. three-year salary history (which will be held in strict confidence) to:
Larry Slesinger, Founder and CEO
Slesinger Management Services
301-320-0680
E-mail: Larry@SlesingerManagement.com
(please include “Scholarship Foundation” in subject line; attached
files in Microsoft Word or PDF only)
All applications will be acknowledged within a few days of receipt.
(This job announcement can also be found at http://www.SlesingerManagement.com.)
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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