The CFO supervises and manages all aspects of the school’s financial operation, including budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting. Serving the Head of the School and the Board of Trustees, the CFO helps meet fiduciary responsibilities to achieve the school’s goals and support its mission.

Responsibilities include:

• Supervising employee payroll/benefits, accounts receivable, accounts payable, vendor selection, general ledger, annual budget, annual external audit processes, endowment administration, and rental properties.
• Overseeing the physical operation of the school, collaborating with COO/Director of Facilities, including building and grounds maintenance, housekeeping, and capital expenditures.
• Managing auxiliary programs, including food service.
• Overseeing the risk management program and ensuring compliance with all government regulations.
• Serving as a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and as Treasurer of the Boston Academy of the Sacred Heart Corporation.

Essential Duties

Accounting and Audit

• Establishes overall accounting, budgeting, and financial reporting systems, policies, and procedures.
• Analyzes reports and project trends, and interprets operational results to the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and committees.
• Evaluates and develops appropriate accounting software programs to ensure clarity, accuracy of reports and efficiency.
• Oversees the accurate and consistent recording and reporting of financial and accounting data processed by the Controller and the AP/AR Manager.

Budget and Financial Reports

• Overseeing annual budgeting, including:
  • Preparing the yearly budget and meeting with the Executive & Senior Leadership Teams.

    Assisting instructional and administrative departments with forms, assumptions, projections, and consultations,

  • Generating projections for income and expense accounts;
  • Coordinating capital expenditures;
  • Developing recommendations for tuition and fee scales and salary and benefits ranges.
  • Presenting the annual budget to the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and committees with observations and recommendations.
  • Directing the preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements for departments, the Head of the School, the Board of Trustees, and committees.

Human Resources & Financial Aid

• Support the Head of School in the strategic development of an employee benefit package that attracts and retains employees while managing expenses.
• Streamline and standardize human resource practices to negotiate benefits that provide a competitive benefits package for employees.
• Ensure that human resource policies and practices are clearly articulated, consistently applied, and in compliance with legal requirements.
• Manage and address employee matters as necessary
• Serve as the Financial Aid Director.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with all financial regulations and standards.
• Oversee internal controls and audit processes to safeguard school assets and minimize institutional risks.
• Identify, assess, and prioritize risks, applying resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of adverse events.

Building Relationships

• Collaborate with the Executive & Senior Leadership Teams to set viable enrollment goals at the beginning of each fiscal year.
• Implement sound financial practices to ensure the sustainability and growth of Catholic education in the community.
• Serve as a member of our school’s leadership team, managing accounting functions, budget preparation, financial reporting, fiscal compliance, cash flow, and overseeing the Finance staff.
• Maintain and secure banking vendor and credit relationships.

• Bachelor’s degree or greater experience in Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration required. Master’s degree in a related field preferred but not required.
• 10+ years in a senior financial leadership role within an educational institution or equivalent not-for-profit environment.
• Organizational and managerial skills and the ability to ensure systems and procedures are effective, efficient, principled, and equitable.
• High cultural competency and emotional intelligence, passionate about girls’ education and leadership.
• Progressive, intrinsically motivated, planful yet action-oriented, knowledgeable about best practices as they relate to finance and operations, strategic, and highly relational.
• The ability to serve as a critical business thinker, capable of providing positive and proactive solutions to business issues.
• Practicing Catholic strongly preferred.

About Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart

Newton Country Day is an academically rigorous school for girls in Grades 5-12, located just outside of Boston. NCDS is a member of the International Network of Sacred Heart Schools, which are located in over 40 countries and in more than 20 locations in the United States.

Connections working at Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart