Chief Financial Officer

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Regular Washington, DC, US

16 days ago Requisition ID: 1667

Salary Range: $270,000.00 To $290,000.00 Annually

Oceana is seeking a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead the organization's global finance and information technology functions. This role is both highly strategic and deeply hands‑on, requiring a leader who can set vision and direction while also engaging directly in execution, problem‑solving, and day‑to‑day decision‑making. The CFO reports directly to the CEO and partners closely with the Senior Vice President, the Executive Committee, and other senior leaders which includes Oceana’s country leaders and department heads. The CFO plays a critical role in aligning financial strategy and operational execution with the organization’s mission, ensuring that systems, people, and resources are effectively positioned to support impact globally.

The CFO oversees Oceana's financial operations across all global offices, ensuring operational integrity, sound governance, transparency, and compliance with US GAAP standards and applicable laws in each country where Oceana operates. Key responsibilities include managing independent financial audits in each country as well as a consolidated international audit, and overseeing grant reporting, expense allocation, funding proposals, and grant compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of Oceana’s global financial strategy, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities
• Directly oversee and actively engage in annual budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes
• Review and refine financial models, budgets, and reporting to ensure accuracy, clarity, and usability
• The CFO oversees the annual budgeting process, as well as budget reporting
• Establish and maintain a strong financial and operational control environment, including compliance, audit readiness, and timely escalation of financial and operational risks across all offices
• Provide clear, actionable financial insights, performance reporting, and decision support to the CEO, executive leadership, and the Board
• The CFO assists the CEO and Board of Directors in financial planning, forecasting and assessment
• Serve as the senior decision‑maker for complex finance and accounting matters, including technical accounting, accounting policy, and other cross‑functional issues that require clear ownership and direction
• The CFO is responsible for managing cash and investments
• Step in as needed to troubleshoot financial issues, close gaps, and support the team during peak periods

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead and develop a high‑performing, globally distributed team, balancing delegation with active engagement
• Establish clear ownership and decision rights across departments and country offices, institutionalizing processes and governance to enable scalability
• Directly manage 6 direct reports, including senior‑level finance and IT professionals
• Manage a global network of financial leaders across 11 country offices (called Office Administrators or Directors of Finance and Administration)
• Provide hands‑on support and coach leaders and teams to strengthen independent judgement, issue resolution, and technical problem‑solving beyond routine processes
• Support the Global Controller with oversight of the network of Office Administrators/Directors of Finance in local country offices
• Foster a culture of accountability, responsiveness, critical thinking, and continuous improvement
• Provide strategic and operational oversight of Global Operational Services, including IT, grants and budgets, and risk management related to finance and IT
• Identify inefficiencies and directly lead efforts to streamline processes and improve execution
• Partner with teams across the organization to solve operational challenges in real time
• The CFO supervises Oceana’s Information Technology department, which handles our equipment, network, data storage, software, and telecommunications. IT also supports the selection, development, and implementation of financial data systems
• Lead the development and execution of IT strategy, ensuring systems effectively support organizational goals and global operations
• Drive system effectiveness by identifying and reducing redundancies, improving integration, and streamlining the overall technology landscape
• Partner closely with IT leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders to prioritize and implement system improvements
• Engage directly in evaluating tools, vendors, and system changes that improve organizational effectiveness
• Ensure strong data governance, cybersecurity practices, and appropriate controls across enterprise systems

Grants, Budgeting & Operational Effectiveness

• Oversee budgeting and operational planning, ensuring strong alignment with organizational priorities and financial strategy
• Ensure accurate, timely and decision‑useful financial reporting to leadership and the Board, ensuring accountability, and performance tracking across teams
• Support the development of tools and processes that improve visibility into organizational performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA or other advanced degree preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in finance and operations within a global nonprofit organization
• CPA is highly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to operate both strategically and hands‑on, with a willingness to engage in detailed work when needed
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning
• Experience overseeing global and distributed teams
• Experience managing operational functions such as IT, administration, and risk
• Familiarity with donor‑funded environments
• Strong problem‑solving skills with the ability to navigate ambiguity and drive solutions
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Strategic Mindset: Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into clear financial direction, priorities, and actions.
• Decision Quality: Makes sound, timely and well‑reasoned decisions, even in complex or ambiguous situations.
• Action Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Effective Communication: Understands the value of effective communication. Can deliver messages in a clear, compelling, and concise manner. Actively listens, checks for understanding and adjusts content and style to meet the needs of different stakeholders.
• Instills Trust: Can gain the confidence and trust of others by demonstrating honesty and authenticity, acting with integrity, being consistent and credible.
• Collaborates: Brings people together to leverage their skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve a common purpose. Creates synergy resulting in a combined effort with greater results than what can be achieved by individuals.
• Develops Talent: Builds leadership depth, strengthens accountability, and develops teams to solve increasingly complex problems independently.
• Global Perspective: Takes a broad view of issues and challenges and can see them in a global context. Builds relationships with people from different cultures and countries. Draws on global knowledge and perspective when tackling complex issues or looking for opportunities.

Oceana's U.S. offices are operating on a hybrid schedule. Staff are required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work from home on Monday and Friday.

Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.

The salary range for this position is $270,000 – $290,000 annually.