Finance Analyst, Philadelphia School Partnership

Posted by Philadelphia School Partnership on March 12, 2018

The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s sixth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 50 schools, creating new educational opportunity for up to 28,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and
thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership and create opportunity for high-performing schools to grow. Additionally, PSP invests to catalyze collaboration, facilitating the sharing of best practices among schools and support organizations. Nonpartisan and data-driven, we work with government officials, business leaders, education leaders and practitioners, and community groups to pursue the promise of a great school for every child.

PSP believes that in a city as large as Philadelphia, there is not one best or right kind of school. Two hundred forty thousand children need a wide variety of schools from which to choose. The city has numerous examples of high-performing schools, and they span all three primary sectors: charter schools, district schools and private/Catholic schools. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of quality options in all three sectors. More than 35,000 students sit on waiting lists for the city’s best schools—which include private, charter, district magnet, and district neighborhood schools. Our work centers on leveraging philanthropic capital to attract entrepreneurial leadership and overcome inertia and financial and political barriers so that Philadelphia can have more great schools.

Like all cities, Philadelphia has finite resources for K-12 education. PSP believes the route to effectively educating all of the city’s children lies in fomenting and sustaining an educational ecosystem that steers resources toward effective schools, regardless of sector or type of school, so they can grow; increases equity of access to all school choices for families; and utilizes multiple measures of school performance to hold schools accountable for outcomes, thus ensuring support and—if necessary—intervention for struggling schools.

POSITION SUMMARY
The school investment team solicits and reviews applications from schools, school leaders, and school networks (as well as encourages potential schools, networks, and leaders to apply for funding), determines and structures investments, manages relationships with investees, monitors academic and other outcomes and provides direct strategic support to improve outcomes. The talent investment team solicits, and reviews applications from talent pipeline programs and invests in talent programs and initiatives to increase and improve the teacher and leader pipeline, monitors effectiveness, and holds programs accountable for results.

The Finance Analyst will have the opportunity to engage in an exciting and challenging array of activities. He/she will: develop a deep knowledge of Philadelphia’s education landscape, gather budgets and conduct financial analyses, due diligence, and ongoing accountability checks to ensure schools and talent programs are financially sound and adhering to their budgets. He/she will work with the school and talent investment teams, as well as cultivate relationships with school leaders, stakeholders and peers. In addition to managing relationships with a portion of the Great Schools Fund applicants and grantees, the Analyst will track and support the management of PSP’s operating
budget and budget tracking with the Controller and Business Manager.

The Finance Analyst will primarily report to the Director of School Investments for school and talent-related projects and the Executive Director for organization-wide budget oversight and tracking.

PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.

Duties and Responsibilities:
 Conduct school and program financial analysis, budget analysis, and due diligence
 Conduct ongoing assessment of school and talent funds spent, budget to actuals, and ensure financial soundness
 Work with the Controller and the Business Manager, as well as team leaders, to establish the organization’s annual operating budget and report budget vs. actual reporting on a monthly basis to the Executive Director and Finance Committee
 Work with school leadership teams to assess spending, and provide ad hoc financial guidance when necessary
 Work with the Development team to track pledge revenue: how much has been pledged, how much has been collected, and over what time period future pledge payments are expected.
 Work closely with the school and talent investment teams to provide financial guidance
 Create systems and financial models for ongoing assessment of financial soundness of schools and talent programs, grant applications, and organization-wide projects
 Create and produce evaluation of school and program’s financial sustainability and budget for internal and external use

Qualifications:
 Strong analytical writer and thinker
 Ability to analyze and interpret various budgets, conduct analyses, and produce financial reports
 Ability to create systems and tools to assess financial soundness and ongoing spending with schools and programs
 Firm grasp of accounting principles and financial statements
 Highly proficient in Excel; QuickBooks experience a plus
 Good communicator, comfortable representing and being a spokesperson for an organization in meetings and larger venues with assorted stakeholders
 Excellent interpersonal skills and desire to work as part of a team
 Ability to work independently, solve problems and be flexible
 Willingness and desire to participate in flexible or unexpected projects
 Undergraduate degree preferred, graduate degree a plus
 At least 3 years of experience working in a finance role (school finance, accounting, financial analytics, other finance-related role) and demonstrated ability to successfully execute job responsibilities

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:
 Traveling to schools – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
 Functioning in office space – reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
 Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Email resume and cover letter to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at MFConsultantsLLC@gmail.com.
Salary commensurate with experience, along with excellent benefits.
A modest relocation package may also be available for out-of-state candidates.