About Civic Builders

Civic Builders sits at the nexus of community development and education. Dedicated to giving every child the chance to attend a great school, Civic Builders partners with the nation's best educators to finance and build public charter school buildings. We are an experienced team of real estate, finance, and development professionals dedicated to delivering inspirational educational facilities at affordable rates.

We are a highly entrepreneurial organization that is quickly growing and our dedicated and talented team has positioned us to:

• Invest more than $600M into low-income communities: we have developed a million square feet of real estate, representing 27 schools that serve over 13,000 students in the highest need neighborhoods, such as East Harlem, the South Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Newark, NJ.
• Receive $118M of New Markets Tax Credits over four award rounds and access funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
• Partner with the Walton Family Foundation and Bank of America to launch an innovative $100M loan fund to provide low-interest capital, at an increased scale, to charter schools that are creating and expanding facilities.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Civic Builders believes that diversity, in all its forms, enriches society and our organization. Because we support students in the highest need neighborhoods, we have a particular charge to understand our schools and their communities. When our staff, board, and partners reflect, value, and embrace the voices and perspectives of those most impacted by what we do, we have a deeper understanding and connection to their needs and more effectively achieve our aspiration of improving lives, revitalizing communities, and helping children receive the education they deserve. To learn more about Civic Builders, please visit www.civicbuilders.org.

About the Controller Position

Civic Builders is seeking an experienced Controller to lead all activities relating to internal accounting, budgeting and financial reporting.  As a facility developer, Civic Builders is comprised of over two dozen entities and maintains several dozen bank accounts. In addition to managing complex facility construction projects that rely on varying sources of capital, Civic Builders owns and leases a number of school facilities to nonprofit charter school tenants. Within this context, the Controller’s responsibilities will include general ledger management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting and financial reporting, audits, tax filings, and lender obligations and reporting.

Duties and Responsibilities

Finance and Accounting Management

• Lead internal budgeting, prepare forecasts and budget-to-actual reports with direct oversight Senior Accountant.
• Prepare internal and external financial reporting for senior leadership, Board of Directors and lenders, as well as periodic grant-related reports.
• Lead all internal accounting processes, including general ledger management, accounts payable and accounts receivable, as well as bank reconciliations, deposits and banking relationships. Process customer billing, including school facility development services and monthly rental invoices.
• Manage a large volume of lender reporting obligations including financials, certifications and insurance.
• Manage all financial audits and tax filings for all Civic Builders entities and assets.
• Support various reports and multiple transactions and needs of multiple stakeholders and the review the work of others.
• Manage payroll and support additional human resources and compliance related activities such as employee benefits, corporate- and project-level insurance coverages, and relationships with legal counsel.

Data Management Support with Stakeholders

• Support charter school construction projects with budgeting, forecasting, financing, and loan management
• Collaborate with Financial Services team on all financing agreements, lending agreements via Civic Builders’ new platform, and New Markets Tax Credits allocations and deployments.
• Support additional insurance and compliance related responsibilities as needed, such as corporate and project-level insurance coverages, review of leases and funding agreement, and relationships with legal counsel.
• Support construction projects with budgeting, forecasting, financing, and ongoing management of project loans, and will support the Financial Services team on all financing and lending agreements.
• Serve as a partner to the COO and CEO in managing the numerous audits and external reporting
• Work with auditors for the various external reporting including support of parent organizations subsidiaries and affiliates.

Key Competencies

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following skills and abilities to successfully carry out this role:

• Equity Leadership and Commitment to the Civic Builders Mission
  • Passionate about Civic Builders’ mission and core values
  • Operate with a lens of cultural proficiency, sensitivity, and equity when working with Civic Builders customers and partners
• Operational Excellence and Integrity
  • Enforce a commitment to the highest level of accuracy and integrity for all data collected and reported
  • Demonstrate excellent project management and ability to balance multiple projects with tight deadlines
  • Ability to pay meticulous attention to detail and due diligence in all aspects of work
  • Continuously monitor progress and demonstrate persistence to overcome obstacles to achieve goals
• Teamwork and Communication
  • Approach work with flexibility and a commitment to teamwork
  • Ability to communicate appropriate level of useful information to a variety of stakeholders
  • Ability to support and navigate lateral relationships within Civic Builders departments
  • Transparency in managing information shared with all stakeholders, department and managers
• Data Management Expertise
  • Knowledge and expertise in accounting concepts and rules especially recent regulation shifts
  • Ability to analyze and synthesize data and information to support decision making and problem solving
  • Deep understanding of how to develop, implement and revise data management systems
  • Ability to create and manage data dashboards, progress reports, and other user-friendly spreadsheets
• Innovative and Strategic Execution
  • Proactively offer innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems
  • Demonstrate critical thinking skills and ability to analyze detailed data and strategically understand the big picture
  • Ability to invent different methods of communicating and reporting with new audiences/stakeholders.
• Integrity and Self-Awareness
  • Thrive in high-growth, fast-paced organizational cultures, with the ability navigate ambiguous situations
  • Leads with integrity and models respect, trust, and professionalism.
  • Consistently reflects and accurately assesses own areas of strength and growth, and assumes responsibility for own professional learning to remain current with accounting best practices.
  • High standards for excellence in execution of role responsibilities

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience in accounting, with specific experience working with nonprofits, or small businesses, and real estate
• Demonstrated ability to manage accounting transactions in a complex, multi-entity environment with numerous real estate assets
• Expertise in nonprofit and real estate accounting and audit principles
• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance or related degree, CPA license desired and preferred
• Experience managing and preparing multiple financial statements
• Experience managing accounting for an org of similarly complex organizations
• Understands construction builder, lender, nonprofit accounting rules

Application Instructions

Please visit www.AlmaAdvisoryGroup.com to submit your application

Compensation and Benefits

Salary for this position is competitive and commensurate with prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.

For more Information

Alma Advisory Group is supporting the search for this position. Please contact Yanika Daniels at [email protected] or call 773-966-4998 with questions.