SEO
Vice President, Finance
New York, NY | Hybrid
Salary: $230,000–$260,000
BACKGROUND
The Organization
Founded in 1963 during the Civil Rights Movement, SEO closes educational and career opportunity gaps for 7,000 ambitious young people annually through our programs. SEO Scholars is a free, eight-year, academic program that transforms public high school students in New York City, San Francisco, North Carolina, and Miami into college graduates, ready to succeed in their careers. SEO Career recruits and prepares high-achieving undergraduates for summer internships in corporate America, including Wall Street, commercial real estate, and technology. SEO Tech Developer is a virtual intensive, free immersion program to propel first-year and sophomore computer science and software engineering college students to the next level. SEO Alternative Investments is an industry-wide program that provides education, exposure, training, and mentorship to help high-achieving professionals be competitive in the industry. SEO Law helps aspiring law students thrive in law school and excel in their legal careers through training, career development, and internships. SEO Leadership Institute provides ongoing development for SEO alumni, customized for each stage of their career, with three distinct features: making connections, professional and personal development, and civic engagement.
SEO’s strength begins with its mission, its people, and the quality of its programs. The organization is entering a period of leadership transition and maturation in which more robust financial planning and business partnership, improved systems, and disciplined implementation will help leaders make better decisions while preserving the flexibility needed across different programs.
To learn more about SEO, click here.
The Position
SEO is seeking a Vice President, Finance to lead and evolve its financial strategy and operations. As the senior-most finance leader in the organization, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, the VP will lead a team of nine managing Accounting and FP&A strategy and execution. Under its new President & CEO, SEO is preparing for continued growth with a renewed emphasis on multi-year planning, clear metrics, and systems that enable accountable decision-making at scale. The VP will bring clarity to financial ownership, help program leaders leverage financial data and insights to maximize their resources, and develop more predictable, scalable financial management and reporting tools. This role requires a finance leader who thrives building capabilities within organizations. The successful leader will pair technical credibility with curiosity, a desire to teach and learn, strong, communication, sound judgment, and the ability to drive adoption of new tools and simple policies across a complex organization.
Reports to
Scope
Work Model
COO and General Counsel
Accounting + FP&A
~$49M FY27 operating budget
Team of 9 with 3 direct reports
New York City
Hybrid, 3 days/week in office
ROLE OVERVIEW
Financial Strategy
· Serve as SEO’s senior financial subject-matter expert, establishing clear decision authority and ownership for financial policies, revenue treatment, accounting, reporting, compliance and planning.
· Set a clear enterprise financial agenda with the President & CEO and COO/GC, executive leadership, and Board of Directors; sequence the highest-value Finance priorities rather than treating every request or project as equally urgent.
· Lead annual budgeting, multi-year planning, forecasting, scenario analysis, and resource-allocation discussions so leaders can understand trade-offs and make informed decisions.
· Communicate financial decisions and the reasoning behind them in language that program, development, executive, and board audiences can use.
FP&A & Business Partnership
· Strengthen FP&A as a forward-looking decision-support capability, using forecasts, trends, scenarios, program budgets, and cost analysis to help leaders plan rather than simply report historical results.
· Build predictable partnership rhythms with program, development, and functional leaders and engage early enough to shape decisions before issues become urgent.
· Understand the distinct revenue models and operating realities of SEO’s programs while creating organization-wide consistency in core financial practices.
· Increase the usefulness and clarity of management and board reporting, connecting the numbers to risks, choices, sustainability, and organizational priorities.
Accounting & Compliance
· Ensure reliable books, timely close, strong audit readiness, cash and treasury management, compliance, and appropriate internal controls.
· Clarify ownership and workflows for revenue tracking, gift coding and allocation, reconciliation, expense management, and other financial processes.
· Balance stronger control and accountability with practical implementation, bringing stakeholders along rather than imposing process without context.
· Maintain the financial discipline and transparency expected of a complex nonprofit with multiple funding streams and program models.
Finance Systems & Process Improvement
· Bring strong technology fluency and ownership to finance systems and data, including workflows involving Salesforce, Intacct, A/P, budgeting/forecasting, revenue tracking, and reporting.
· Assess fragmented tools, spreadsheets, handoffs, and manual work; establish clearer sources of truth and simplify processes where possible.
· Lead implementation and adoption of financial technology with discipline, recognizing that successful systems work requires process clarity, stakeholder engagement, training, and sustained follow-through.
· Reduce avoidable workload and recurring urgent demands, particularly around board cycles, forecasting, budget changes, and reconciliation.
Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership
· Lead, develop, and align the accounting and FP&A teams, establishing clear accountability while delegating effectively and building bench strength.
· Create a Finance team culture that is rigorous, responsive, curious, and integrated into the organization.
· Partner closely with operations, development, IT, program leadership, and other functions to improve planning, ownership, and execution across shared work.
· Build a team model and operating cadence that reduces dependence on the VP as a bottleneck while maintaining appropriate escalation and judgment.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
· Leaders experience finance as a proactive, credible partner that provides context, insight, and clear explanations rather than simply reporting numbers or enforcing rules.
· Financial priorities and decision authority are explicit; leaders understand who owns key decisions, what the source of truth is, and how issues move from discussion to final answer.
· Forecasting, scenario analysis, and multi-year planning are useful to program and enterprise decisions, with clearer visibility into trends, costs, risks, and sustainability.
· Board cycles, budgeting, forecasting, and recurring reporting become more predictable, with fewer last-minute changes and less avoidable manual work.
· Core accounting, reconciliation, revenue, and control processes are reliable and appropriately rigorous.
· Finance technology and data workflows are more connected and usable, with sustained adoption of agreed-upon tools and processes.
· The Finance team is cohesive, high-performing, and developing, with strong partnership across Accounting and FP&A and less dependence on the VP as a bottleneck.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate for the Vice President, Finance position possesses the following competencies:
Strategic Financial Leadership: Connects mission, strategy, and resource choices; sets direction and prioritizes the work that matters most.
FP&A & Decision Support: Turns forecasts, scenarios, trends, and cost information into decisions leaders can act on.
Stewardship & Risk: Maintains reliable accounting, controls, audit readiness, compliance, and financial discipline.
Enterprise Partnership: Builds credibility with non-finance leaders, understands operating realities, and translates finance clearly.
Systems & Change: Simplifies fragmented workflows, brings technology fluency, and leads implementation through adoption.
People Leadership: Develops talent, delegates effectively, creates accountability, and builds a strong finance team.
Additional Qualifications
· Progressive senior financial leadership in a complex nonprofit or mission-led organization; strong understanding of nonprofit accounting and multiple revenue/funding models is highly relevant.
· Broad command of accounting, audit, controls, budgeting, forecasting, cash/treasury, financial reporting, and compliance, paired with genuine FP&A and decision-support depth.
· Demonstrated ability to move finance beyond reporting and stewardship into forward-looking planning, scenario analysis, resource allocation, and business partnership.
· Strong technology capability and experience improving finance systems, data, and cross-functional workflows; experience integrating or improving ERP, CRM/revenue, budgeting, or reporting tools is especially relevant.
· Experience partnering with distinct program or business leaders in a decentralized or multi-line organization where enterprise consistency must coexist with differing operating needs.
· Track record leading and developing Accounting and FP&A talent, delegating effectively, and setting clear performance expectations.
· Excellent communication and translation skills, including the ability to explain rationale, trade-offs, and financial concepts to executives, program leaders, development professionals, and board members.
· High EQ, curiosity, patience, accountability, and the confidence to make decisions and challenge constructively while bringing others along.
WHO WE ARE
Work Environment
This New York City-based role follows SEO’s hybrid work model, with three in-office days each week at NYC headquarters in downtown Manhattan; the specific three days may be selected based on team and business needs. During the first year, periodic visits to SEO sites (San Francisco, North Carolina, Miami) are encouraged to understand program and local operating realities, approximately one to two visits annually.
Our Commitment to Inclusion and Equal Opportunity
At SEO, we are committed to cultivating a team that embodies the backgrounds and experiences of the constituencies we serve and the communities we live in, and a workplace that reflects the impact we seek to make in the world.
Candidates from all communities, including people of color, women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans, and people with disabilities, are strongly encouraged to apply.
Equal Employment Opportunity is not just the law, it is our commitment.
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer – M/F/D/V and considers all qualified applicants without regard to any legally protected status.
Applicants who need an accommodation while applying for a role with SEO due to a disability may contact us.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Salary
$230,000–$260,000 base salary. Final compensation will be determined based on the successful candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience and the requirements of the role.
Benefits
· Low-cost health, vision, and dental options, with employer contributions to health reimbursement accounts.
· Generous holiday schedule and paid time off policies, including fully paid time off for new parents.
· Disability coverage and employer contributions to retirement accounts.
· Employee wellness resources.
SEO regularly reviews its benefits based on employee needs.
TIMELINE AND NEXT STEPS
If you are interested in this position, please click here to submit a resume and cover letter. All applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application.
We encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply even if you do not meet every qualification outlined above. DRG and SEO will consider the full range of experience, skills, and perspectives each candidate would bring to the role.