Director of Finance & Administration

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