Director of Finance & Administration

Salary : $165,845

Job Classification : Full time, Permanent, Exempt

Location : This position is remote, candidates must live and be authorized to work in the U.S.

Reports To : Executive Director

Supervision Responsibilities : This position supervises a team of 1 plus vendors and consultants

Travel Requirements : This position requires approximately 15% domestic and international travel

The Organization: Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism

For over 25 years, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism (UAF) has funded feminist activists to keep each other and their communities safe while building lasting, resilient movements for justice, equity and liberation. Our holistic, flexible approach enables frontline feminists to respond to real-time threats and opportunities, protect and care for themselves and one another, and sustain and propel solutions to the most critical crises and injustices of our time.

Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism partners with frontline feminist movements to support women, trans and non-binary activists striving to create a more just and equitable world.

Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism provides fast, flexible support to women, trans and non-binary activists so they can respond to unexpected risks and opportunities, protect and care for themselves and one another, and nurture feminist movements that are creating a more just and equitable world. Our mission is to sustain feminist activism worldwide by providing rapid response funding to women, trans, non-binary and LQBTQ frontline activists. Our work supporting feminist movements is made possible due to our team of diverse staff, board members, and advisors who bring to the organization a passion for justice, equality, and inclusion.

We do this work in collaboration with a Sisterhood of Urgent Action Funds around the world. Collaborative, co-equal and geographically distinct, the Urgent Action Fund Sisterhood is the only global consortium of independent funds with a mission to sustain feminist activism worldwide by providing rapid response funding to women, trans and non-binary frontline activists. Today, there are four independent Urgent Action Sister Funds: Urgent Action Fund-Africa, Urgent Action Fund-Latin America & the Caribbean, Urgent Action Fund-Asia and Pacific, and our organization, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, which grants in the Middle East, Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Turkey, Central Asia, Russia, Canada and the United States.

The Position: Director of Finance and Administration

UAF seeks an experienced, equity-driven philanthropy leader to serve as Director of Finance and Administration (DFA), a senior role reporting to the Executive Director that works closely with departments across the institution and the global UAF network of Sister Funds. This position oversees a $15 million budget and includes strategic financial oversight and revenue and expense allocation from all grants received; oversees daily wire processing of vendor and grantee payments; provides oversight of biweekly payroll; establishes compliance and internal controls; and manages finance staff and external accounting and investment firms. The DFA will lead high-level budgeting, forecasting, and allocation strategies alongside UAF’s Partnerships and Programs staff, ensuring responsiveness to highly complex regulatory requirements, including numerous European government audits throughout the year. The DFA ensures that financial stewardship and programmatic compliance operate cohesively and efficiently, deploying funds while maintaining streamlined systems and robust risk mitigation practices across all aspects of income tracking, reporting, and investment management. A key member of the Management Team, the DFA plays a critical role in organizational leadership, development, and oversight. The DFA will also supervise the Finance and Administration Officer, and oversee the work of an external accounting firm.

Given structural changes to our revenue sources, UAF is continually adapting its financial management practices and standard operating procedures. Therefore, we expect that this role will evolve and continue to iterate over time, under the leadership of the DFA and in partnership with the Executive Director.

The ideal employee will fulfill the following responsibilities and qualifications:

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Revenue Management (Approximately 40% of the role)

• Oversee revenue tracking, allocation, and compliance – A significant part of this role, the DFA will track and allocate 35 restricted revenue streams, including budgeting, award processing, disbursement, post-award monitoring, and closeout. The DFA will coordinate with the Partnerships and Programs teams to create budgets and maintain coherent and streamlined revenue allocation and tracking systems in strict adherence to donor restrictions and external regulatory requirements. In addition, the DFA will manage numerous complex compliance obligations, including at least four annual Canadian and European government audits along with funder-specific reporting mandates, proactively identifying risks and implementing controls to safeguard institutional accountability.

Strategic Finance (Approximately 35% of the role)

• Oversee financial planning, management, forecasting, scenario planning, and reporting
  • Lead strategy development – work in partnership with Directors of Programs and Partnerships to develop sustainable strategies for revenue and expenditure by providing timely financial analysis and projections and other inputs toward UAF’s future direction. Develop the organization’s annual budget and oversee the Financial Administration Officer and external accounting firm to ensure accurate recording of accounts receivable, accounts payable, restricted funds, and related releases.
  • Direct investment strategy and manage banking relationships while coordinating the preparation of audit materials, overseeing the review of draft audits and Form 990s by relevant board members and staff to ensure rigorous compliance and transparency.
  • Lead financial reporting by acting as the financial representative with consortium partners, establishing and maintaining communication channels to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting. This includes supervising an external financial firm, reporting to 20+ funders annually, including government funding sources and documentation and regular reporting for consortium partners.
  • Working in partnership with the Board Treasurer, provide regular reports to the Finance and Audit Committees of the Board of Directors. Present the annual budget for approval, as well as a midyear budget revision.
  • Update and Integrate strong financial systems – Build upon and strengthen recently established financial systems and software, including expense reporting and budget building. Build revenue and expense tracking SOPs and processes alongside our Partnerships, Programs, and other teams. Collaborate with the Director of People, Culture & Operations to streamline processes and internal systems including payroll processing, benefits support, and others.

Coordination and Collaboration (Approximately 25% of the role)

• Coordinate with UAF Sister Funds in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific – As 50% of UAF’s budget comes through its collaboration with UAF Sister Funds in other regions, the DFA will spend significant time working with their counterparts across multiple time zones to generate financial projections, track income, provide financial reports, and create shared systems with collaboration, transparency, sound judgment, and a willingness to solve problems collectively.
• Lead cross-team collaboration and coordination – serve as a member of the Management Team to provide regular financial updates, collaborate with other Directors on staff-facing projects and presentations, weigh in on organization-wide leadership decisions, and identify and resolve cross-team and org-wide strategic and operational issues.
• Work across teams, including the Partnerships and Programs teams to oversee financial reporting and monitoring for all incoming grants, and the People Culture, and Operations team on salary and benefits administration.

2026-2027 PRIORITIES

• Lead the ongoing evolution of the Finance team and its roles, responsibilities, and workflows, cohering the team and its infrastructure
• Streamlining allocation of restricted and unrestricted funds to the approved annual budget
• Create the annual budget and lead the organization's budget process
• Establishing an agreed protocol for allocation of new revenue to personnel and overhead
• Work with the Programs and Partnerships teams to strengthen grant tracking and financial reporting systems that enable rapid, flexible, and accountable grantmaking and donor reporting
• Create and adjust information and communication flows regarding grant tracking and reporting to funder sources
• In collaboration with the Director of People, Culture, and Operations, ensure payroll and benefits accuracy, as well as effective systems
• Oversee 4-6 audits per year, including the annual general audit, as well as funder-mandated audits

Requirements

• 10 years of progressive experience in revenue management, philanthropy, and/or nonprofit financial administration, with demonstrated expertise and mastery in managing complex revenue lifecycles and compliance requirements.
• 7 years of progressively senior experience managing finance, accounting, grant management, and fund accounting in a non-profit setting, including 5+ years of experience leading a team
• An understanding of feminisms, social justice, and human rights issues facing women, trans, gender non-binary, and intersex people.
• Demonstrated ability to lead values-centered financial operations across departments and contexts in a multicultural ecosystem and between Board members, Management Team members, departments, and staff, including experience working in global/international contexts, across cultures and time zones in a remote work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to partner closely with programs and fundraising teams to balance financial stewardship, donor compliance, and operational flexibility in complex grantmaking environments.
• Experience assessing financial and operational risk in international grantmaking, including due diligence, fiscal sponsorship, compliance, and fraud prevention.
• Ability to balance sound financial stewardship with movement-centered, trust-based, and values-driven philanthropy (as a way to ensure that our people-centered and trust-based approaches to grantmaking are upheld alongside compliance.)
• Exceptional verbal and written communicator who can translate complex financial data into clear, actionable insights for diverse audiences, including management, boards, non-financial staff, and community partners, enabling informed strategic decision-making across the organization.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills, including demonstrated ability to lead, manage up and sideways, collaborate and coordinate across teams, peers, Board members, and other audiences, to enhance communication, consistency, and collaboration.
• Exceptional quantitative analysis skills. Proven track record in cost-saving measures and infrastructure development.
• High level of discretion, integrity, and executive judgment in difficult and/or complex organizational decisions.
• A skilled people manager and leader who models integrity, accountability, trustworthiness, and empathy with deep self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and dedication to the mission of Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism.
• A multitasker with the ability to wear many hats in a fluid environment who is agile, iterative, and flexible.
• A successful track record in setting priorities; keen analytic, organization, and problem-solving skills that support and enable sound decision-making.
• Experience leading continuous feedback and performance management standards with experience supporting teams navigate periods of transition and change.
• Digitally fluent, with experience selecting and overseeing software installation, managing relationships with software vendors, experience navigating different reporting tools, and data analysis; experience with Quickbooks Online, Google suite, Microsoft, and Expensify in a Mac environment preferred

Organization-Wide Requirements

• Takes initiative and works to continuously improve systems and processes; suggests innovations to use resources strategically, and to maximize positive impact.
• Flexible, adaptive, and able to respond to challenges and changes; someone who values iteration and productively integrates new information.
• A problem solver who has the ability to handle emotional complexity while also navigating uncertainty and a changing funding landscape.
• Able to manage conflict constructively, including the ability to self reflect and to give and receive feedback up, down, and sideways in a remote working environment.
• Must be able to work both independently and as a collaborative member of various teams.
• Seeks to uplift and apply them in practice.
• Works with integrity, accountability, clear communication, and follow through.

Work Expectations

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally about 15% of the time
• Comfort with working across cultures and domestic and international time zones

TO APPLY

Please submit your application here via the Workable Platform. Applications will be accepted through August 31st at 5pm ET, we will be holding interviews in September and October, and our target candidate start date is November.

DO YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE YOU?

If you see yourself in this job description but don’t feel like you meet every single criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway! Research shows that individuals from historically marginalized groups, particularly women, trans, non-binary folks, and BIPOC, tend to self-select out of opportunities at higher rates. We take a holistic approach to all of our hiring practices and want to hire those who best align with our mission and goals.