Job Announcement: Director of Finance
The Leichtag Foundation seeks to hire a dynamic, creative individual to serve as its first full-time Director of Finance.
Position Overview
The Director of Finance is a full-time position that provides overall financial management and analysis for the Foundation. The position will oversee and review all financial transactions; perform complex budgeting and accounting functions, conduct financial, statistical and analytical studies and projections; prepare financial reports for management, the board and others; oversee the outside accounting firm in the preparation for and execution of the annual audit, tax and other regulatory filings; periodically consult with the program team on financial reports of grantees; and ensure that the Foundation adheres to the best, most reliable and most transparent financial policies and procedures.
The Foundation is a learning environment where interests and growth are cultivated, and creative and new approaches are sought.
About the Leichtag Foundation
The Leichtag Foundation is a private independent foundation located in Encinitas, California, with a strong interest in advancing the North County coastal region of San Diego where our founders Lee and Toni Leichtag, of blessed memory, lived and worked. The Leichtag Foundation also supports programs in Jerusalem, Israel. The Foundation currently holds approximately $140 million in assets and has granted about $90 million since its inception in 1991—more than half of this since becoming independent in 2008. The Foundation focuses its philanthropy on combating poverty and increasing self-sufficiency for residents of coastal North County; supporting and inspiring vibrant Jewish life in coastal North County; stimulating renewal, service, and social activism in Jerusalem, Israel; and building strong connections and relationships between San Diego and Israel.
In 2012, the Leichtag Foundation purchased the former Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California. The Foundation’s goal for this 67-acre agricultural property is to create a physical platform for the advancement of the strategies listed above and a cultural and community resource for the San Diego region. With breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, a network of greenhouses, barns and other structures, and easy access to the public, the Ranch is situated in an ideal North County location.
Responsibilities
- Oversees accounting and human resource records of the organization.
- Maintains and reconciles fixed assets and schedules.
- Staffs the Investment Committee, and works with the Investment Consultant to prepare detailed investment reports and analysis.
- Conducts complex financial scenario projections, forecasting and analysis in order to aid the board and management in making decisions for the organization.
- Oversees the preparation of rental agreements, cost estimates and accrual reports and budgets.
- Prepares monthly financial reports as well as other periodic reports and analysis and presents to management and the Board.
- Oversees employee benefits and other human resource functions as required to process new hires and terminations, and maintaining and updating the Employee Handbook as deemed necessary.
- Processes semi-monthly payroll and perform reconciliations to period-end service provider payroll reports and year end W-2s.
- Manages and oversees the Foundation’s pension plan activities, including enrollment, funding, reviewing and reconciling with the Plan Trustee’s reports and review of the Plan’s annual return Form 5500.
- Works cross functionally and able to support senior management, other staff, external accountants, external consultants, property managers and/or tenants.
- Organizes and manages information requested for the annual external audits and tax and other regulatory filing requirements, including preparing annual 1099 Forms and property tax statements.
- Manages the annual budget development process, supporting staff in budget preparation, implementation and control and leads budget workshops throughout the year to ensure knowledge about the budget at all levels of the organization.
- Develops and monitors internal controls policies and procedures.
- Reviews and approves proposed contracts.
- Supports grant and program staff in analyzing grantee financial reports and information.
- Supervises bookkeeping and accounting functions performed by other Foundation staff.
- Develops, builds and maintains various reporting and planning models.
- Oversees the annual insurance renewal and risk assessment process.
- Performs treasury management functions for on-line banking and supporting internal users.
- Monitors the Foundation’s cash burn and prepares cash flow projections for cash replenishment.
- Responsible for all monthly and annual financial statement close and related balance sheet reconciliations, including all necessary General Journal entries and accruals.
- Develops and adopts proper accounting policies as necessary to maintain compliance to GAAP reporting.
- Perform other projects and conduct other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
- Bachelors degree plus CPA and/or MBA or CFA
- Minimum of seven years accounting experience and in financial reporting and analysis
- Significant experience in the development, design and refinement of complex financial reports and projections.
- Significant experience developing policies and procedures
- Significant knowledge and experience in non-profit accounting preferred.
- Technically proficient in GAAP and proven transactional accounting skills.
- High proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, and Intuit Quickbooks Pro. Knowledge of other accounting and grants management systems a plus.
- Knowledge of real estate and fund accounting, budgeting and financial best practices.
- Creative, flexible and entrepreneurial.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment, interpret and communicate policies and procedures, maintain accurate financial record, meeting deadlines and keep confidential information.
- Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal with the ability to present clear and well-documented findings and recommendation.
- Knowledge of investments.
- Ability to work independently and take initiative, set priorities and see projects through to completion.
- Solid analytical skills with an attention to detail.
If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit your resume and optional cover letter to financedirector@leichtag.org.
Stacie and Jeff Cook understand commitment. They live it.
Black, Jewish and Queer. These three identities weave the fabric of who I am, but it took a long time to believe that they could exist together.
Lee and Toni Leichtag established the Leichtag Foundation in 1991 following the sale of their business. Lee and Toni were lifelong entrepreneurs with a passion for innovation and for supporting talent. They believed that only with big risk comes big reward. Both born to families in poverty, Toni to a single mother, they strongly believed in helping those most in need and most vulnerable in our community. While they supported many causes, their strongest support was for young children and the elderly, two demographics who particularly lack voice in our society.
Lifelong Baltimoreans, Rabbi George and Alison Wielechowski and their sons, 11-year-old Lennon and 9-year-old Gideon, are more than pursuing the good life in Southern California. Having moved to San Diego more than three years ago, they are fulfilling a lifelong dream.
You would think that as the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, Fernando Zweifach López Jr., who uses the pronoun they, has done all the coming out they possibly can. A queer, non-binary individual who has worked for many years on civil rights issues, López also speaks openly and often about their father’s family, Mexican-American migrant workers who tilled the fields of rural California.