Finance Director

Who We Are

Columbia Legal Services (CLS) is a nonprofit civil legal aid organization that advances social economic and racial equity for people living in poverty. We support communities and movements by bringing deep legal expertise that is grounded in and strongly guided by an understanding of race equity.

We seek systemic solutions by bringing class action lawsuits using cutting edge legal theories engaging in policy advocacy and supporting communities in building their own power. We have a special responsibility to serve people whose access to free legal services is restricted due to institutionalized or immigration status.

At CLS we seek a team that reflects our organizational values of community race equity and justice. This includes hiring staff with connections to the communities we serve whenever possible and a commitment to strive for justice and equity in our hiring practices and in our staff culture.

Position Summary

Under the direction of the Executive Director the Finance Director works closely with the Executive Director and Board of Directors to develop and implement financial strategies that support the organizations mission and goals. This role supervises a 1.5 FTE accounting team and provides financial leadership across the organization. This role will ensure that CLS has the systems and procedures in place to provide accurate financial information. They will work closely with all staff to provide education on financial and accounting procedures while ensuring that financial functions can support program operations.

This position is based in Seattle WA. All CLS staff have the ability to complete some work remotely; however this position will require some physical presence at the office as well as an ability to attend required meetings at the office and in the community.

CLS requires that all employees adhere to our COVID19 vaccine mandate through proof of vaccination or by requesting a medical or religious accommodation. Staff are also required to follow CLS COVID19 protocols while engaging in inperson work in our offices and in the community.

Responsibilities

The Finance Directors responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Strategic Planning and Leadership

• In partnership with the Executive Director and senior leaders develop and implement strategic plans and goals that support the organizations mission and vision.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to the accounting team fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
• Manage relationships with external partners including banks auditors funders and other financial service providers.
  
• Collaborate with other senior leaders to develop and implement strategies and systems that support the organizations mission and goals
• Lead the Audit Budget Committee collaborating with other committee members to provide strategic financial guidance that supports the organization.

Financial Management

• Protect and ensure the integrity of program financial records by overseeing all financial transactions.Manage and oversee all financial operations including accounting budgeting forecasting and financial analysis
  
• Partner with the Development team to ensure accurate donation processing financial projections and compliance/reporting for donations grants and contracts.
• Safeguard program assets.
• Manage and oversee all financial operations including accounting budgeting forecasting and financial analysis.

Budgeting and Forecasting

• Prepare explain and coordinate financial information including financial statements budgets reports.Manage and track organizational cash flow forecasting in conjunction with the Leadership Team.
  
• Provide budget forecasting information and investment strategy consultation to members of the Organizational Management team and Board of Directors as needed.
• Manage and track organizational cash flow forecasting in conjunction with the Leadership Team.

External Collaboration

• Ensure financial records including the general ledger accounts payable and receivable payroll and other financial systems are accurate and submitted in a timely manner.
• Ensure compliance with all financial reporting and regulatory requirements including tax filings audits grants and other reporting requirements
• Maintain implement and ensure compliance with the organizations systems of internal control and creation and maintenance of related documentation thereof.
• Manage employee benefit programs in collaboration with the HR Manager and People and Culture Director. Serve as the 403b plan administrator.
• Coordinate all audit activity and communication with independent auditors.
• Manage and track the performance of invested assets in keeping with Board policies and investment guidelines.
• Ensure Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are followed.

This job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee; others may be assigned.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have all or most of the experience below or have a combination of comparable experience where they have demonstrated similar skills or responsibilities.

• Must be a certified public accountant certified management accountant or have an MBA.
• Management supervisory and training experience with strong interpersonal communications skills and the ability to effectively communicate key data including presenting to and collaborating with the leadership team Board and outside partners such as funders banks and auditors.
• Commitment to racial social and economic justice ability to build collaborative relationships with colleagues and a desire to engage in shared leadership and decisionmaking.
• Commitment to recruiting mentoring training and retaining a diverse accounting team with the foresight and ability to delegate.
• Fluent technology and computer skills including experience selecting and overseeing software installations and managing relationships with software vendors and advanced knowledge of accounting software.
• Ability to translate complex financial concepts to and to effectively collaborate with individuals at all levels including colleagues who do not necessarily have finance backgrounds.
• A successful track record in setting priorities; excellent analytic financial planning and problemsolving skills to allow for strategic data interpretation and sound decisionmaking to ensure the longterm health and sustainability of the organization.

Preferred but not required

• Notforprofit experience and/or extensive experience with multiple funding source or cost centerbased accounting systems.
• Experience in a law firm or regulatory setting.
• Experience with organizations that include an inhouse union.

CLS brings its core values of community race equity and justice into all aspects of its work and we seek an individual for this role who aligns with these values.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $125500$162500 based on a range of 740 years experience. Salary will be determined based on the candidates rolespecific skills management and/or directorlevel work and lived experience.

Columbia Legal Services is committed to providing an equitable work environment including a commitment to pay equity. Midyear adjustments may be applied based on years of experience once salary schedules are finalized. An additional COLA increase of around 2 may be applied annually in addition to a steplevel increase for each additional year of service based on CLSs overall budget.

This fulltime exempt position is a confidential role and is not eligible for representation by Washington Legal Workers our inhouse labor union.

CLS has a 35hour workweek though temporary deviations from the normal work schedule occur from time to time. We also offer a comprehensive compensation package including the following:

• 14 paid holidays annually
• Winter Break office closure between Christmas and New Years
• 12 sick days annually
• 1521 paid vacation days annually (based on years of experience)
• 35 personal days annually (based on years of experience)
• Early office closure the first Friday of the month
• Paid parental and family medical leave benefits
• Paid sabbatical every 7 years
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance Program (for employees with less than 10 years experience)

Additionally we pay 100 of employee premiums for excellent health vision and dental benefits plus 50 of the maximum outofpocket deductible and offer heavily subsidized family premiums.

We also offer a 403(b) retirement benefit with employer contribution and a match disability and life insurance a subsidized transit pass and an employee wellness program.

To Apply

Please submit an application with a cover letter and resume in PDF format through our application portal in BambooHR. We accept and review applications on a rolling basis with priority given to applications received by March 10 2025. We will remove the position from our website once it is filled.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for the application process please email the Human Resources Department at .

We are committed to an environment of mutual respect collaboration and equal opportunity for all employees and strongly encourage applications from people of color immigrants people who have been affected by mass incarceration and other underrepresented and historically marginalized groups. We believe in building and sustaining an organization that is reflective of the communities we serve and is diverse in work background experience education race color national origin sex age religion marital status veteran status sexual orientation gender identity ancestry national origin or sensory mental and physical abilities. We believe that the resulting diversity is both a source of program strength and a matter of fundamental human fairness.