Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has a critical role in supporting Green Dot's mission to prepare students for college, leadership, and life. The CFO serves as the senior financial leader for Green Dot and is responsible for ensuring the organization's financial sustainability, strategic growth, and operational scalability. This position provides forward-looking financial leadership that supports academic excellence, mission alignment, and long-term organizational sustainability.

The CFO is a core member of Green Dot Leadership Team, reporting directly to the CEO, and works in close partnership with the Chief Operating Officer. The role also collaborates closely with the Board of Directors and its committees, including service in connection with the Delta Board, which oversees Green Dot's real estate portfolio, to drive financial strategy and operational alignment. This is an in-person role serving as part of Green Dot central office team, based in Downtown Los Angeles.

Essential Responsibilities

• Strategic Financial Leadership and Planning
• Lead the development and execution of short- and long-term financial strategies aligned with Green Dot's mission and growth plans.
• Develop multi-year financial forecasts, scenario planning, and sensitivity analyses to inform executive and board decision-making, encompassing income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements at both the individual school level and across the organization.
• Provide strategic financial guidance to support expansion, enrollment growth, and programmatic investments across all 18 school sites and the home office.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors on financial strategy, sustainability, and risk.
• Translate complex financial data into clear, actionable insights that inform decision-making at the executive, board, and school leadership levels.
• School Finance, Capital Planning, and Real Estate
• Lead charter school finances across a multi-site, network-level environment, working closely with school-based and operational staff to ensure schools have a clear picture of their financial footing.
• Oversee capital planning and long-range facilities strategy, including bond financing, debt management, and capital project oversight.
• Serve in connection with the Delta Board, providing financial oversight and strategic guidance on Green Dot's real estate portfolio.
• Partner with external advisors, bond counsel, and financial institutions to structure financing solutions that support sustainable growth.
• Ensure alignment between facilities planning, enrollment projections, and instructional needs.
• Apply a tiered support model to school-level financial monitoring, calibrating the level of finance team engagement based on each school's reserves, enrollment trends, and budget performance.
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• Lead the development and oversight of the annual budgeting process for both school sites and the home office, collaborating closely with department heads and senior management to ensure alignment with organizational goals and fiscal sustainability.
• Cultivate a deep understanding of the organization's funding models, including state and federal education funding sources, key expense drivers, and opportunities for financial optimization.
• Incorporate the financial implications of collective bargaining agreements into budget forecasting, given that compensation and benefits represent the organization's most significant cost drivers.
• Support the collective bargaining process by creating models to determine the implications of changes to salary and benefits.
• Enhance and refine Green Dot's budgeting and modeling tools to streamline the budgeting and forecasting process.
• Manage budget performance throughout the fiscal year and execute corrective actions based on trends and analysis.
• Partner with school-based finance staff to fine-tune monthly forecasts, fostering cross-functional teamwork and developing tools to effectively share financial information with stakeholders across the organization.
• Reporting and Analysis
• Oversee standard and ad hoc analyses and reports that provide a comprehensive view of the financial and operational aspects of the organization, for management, operational leadership, and the Board of Directors.
• Develop dashboards and reporting tools to support leadership, school leaders, and the Board of Directors.
• Forge strong partnerships with school-based finance staff, actively working toward financial sustainability by dissecting key variances, identifying long-term risks, and developing strategies to improve financial outcomes.
• Provide regular financial updates to the Board, generally on a bi-monthly cadence, with adjustments and recommendations as needed.
• Lead annual continuous improvement projects aimed at refining financial processes, optimizing reporting systems, and implementing best practices.
• Grants and Fund Management
• Facilitate the creation and management of budgets and projections for both public and private funding sources.
• Engage with program managers to construct comprehensive grant budgets, ensuring precision and completeness in reporting to funders, including adherence to funder-specific spending limitations.
• Assist in the preparation of grant proposals by providing financial data and budget information as required.
• Ensure resources are strategically aligned to organizational priorities and academic goals.
• Partner with leadership to evaluate return on investment for programs, staffing, and initiatives.
• Financial Operations, Compliance, and Risk Management
• Oversee all financial operations, including budgeting, accounting, audits, reporting, and internal controls.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local education regulations, charter law, and authorizer requirements.
• Manage the annual financial audit process, ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements.
• Develop strategies to optimize cash reserves and investments.
• Identify financial risks and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Establish and maintain scalable financial systems and processes to support network growth.
• Maintain and update financial policies and procedures that align with industry best practices.
• Board and Committee Governance
• Serve as a key financial resource to the Board of Directors and its committees, including the audit committee.
• Provide financial oversight in connection with the Delta Board's management of Green Dot's real estate holdings.
• Partner with Human Resources on the Benefits Committee and on 401(k) fiduciary matters.
• Team Leadership and Management
• Lead and manage the Green Dot finance team, with two direct reports: a Controller, who oversees accounting, accounts payable, grants accounting, and payroll, and a Director of Finance, who oversees budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. Ensure both direct reports and their teams have the resources and support needed to succeed.
• Share oversight of an Executive Assistant who supports the CFO, General Counsel, and Chief Operating Officer.
• Partner with the Chief Operating Officer to evolve the structure and reporting lines for the Area Operations and Finance Managers (OFMs), who sit within a Finance & Operations function under the COO and assist schools with budgeting, forecasting, and operational support. Act as a liaison between the finance department and other departments, facilitating effective communication and understanding of financial matters across the organization.
• Lead change initiatives that improve financial systems, processes, and organizational effectiveness.
• Culture and Relationship Management
• Build trust and credibility quickly across a large, mission-driven education team that consistently advocates for additional resources for students, requiring a CFO who can balance fiscal responsibility with genuine partnership.
• Communicate financial information and trade-offs clearly and with integrity to a wide range of stakeholders, including team members with strong, well-informed perspectives.
• Serve as a collaborative, solutions-oriented leader across academic and operational teams.
• Other
• Identify opportunities for process improvement and implement changes as necessary.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

The minimum qualifications for this position are:

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA, MPP, CPA, or similar advanced degree or certification preferred.
• 8–12+ years of progressive financial leadership experience required, with charter school experience required.
• Demonstrated experience with charter school finance, public funding, audits, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven experience with capital financing, including bonds and facilities planning.
• Experience partnering with Boards of Directors or Finance Committees.
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.
• Pass a TB test and background check at the time of offer and provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

In addition, the following standards will generally define the successful candidate:

• Strategic financial leader with deep charter school expertise and a forward-looking mindset.