HARRIS ▪ RAND ▪ LUSK
551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3300 New York, NY 10176
Phone: (212) 808-4360 Fax: (212) 808-8088

The Fund for Public Schools (“The Fund”) is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to attract private investment in school reform and encourage the greater involvement of all New Yorkers in the education of the city’s public school children.  The Fund works in partnership with the private sector to secure critical funding for system-wide educational reform initiatives.  It manages a targeted set of programs to support city schools and builds citywide public awareness of their impact.  The Fund operates in conjunction with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Strategic Partnerships (OSP).  The OSP and Fund staff work together seamlessly.

The New York City public school system is the largest in the country, encompassing more than 1,400 schools that serve and support over a million students.  Since his appointment as Chancellor by Mayor Bloomberg in 2002, Joel Klein has committed to an agenda of sweeping reforms throughout the school system (Children First), designed to dramatically improve school performance and children’s academic achievement.  During this time, The Fund has secured unprecedented investment from private business, individuals and foundations, raising more than $200 million for system-wide reforms and initiatives that are part of the Children First agenda. 

The Position:

The Fund for Public Schools is seeking a highly skilled, energetic, and experienced nonprofit financial executive who has proven leadership in significant management positions to become its new Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”).  Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the CFO will be responsible for all financial management activities and will provide counsel and advice to the CEO, other team members, and the Board on all financial matters.  The CFO will oversee and implement financial policies and plans for The Fund and will provide overall management and direction for the accounting, budgeting, treasury, banking, grant review, and tax reporting functions. Working with the Director of the Office of Strategic Partnership, the CFO will oversee the integration of the financial functions of OSP with those of The Fund.

The successful candidate must be capable of integrating smoothly into the senior management at The Fund and fit well into the organization’s culture.  The CFO will necessarily work with staff in other offices at the Department of Education as well as with a set of external partners as well as with The Fund’s Board and staff in a supportive and direct manner. The successful candidate will have strong interpersonal skills, excellent written and oral communication skills, a hands-on management style and the ability to address and solve problems or issues as they arise. He/She should be a creative and highly entrepreneurial individual who functions effectively in both independent and collaborative situations.  A strong desire to work in a fast-paced, collaborative office is critical as are a strong team work ethic, sound judgment sense of humor, and sense of diplomacy/politics. 

Specific Responsibilities include: 

1. Corporate Governance
   1. Understand and follow standards for best practices for nonprofit organizations and that The Fund meets these standards.
   2. Ensure that all IRS regulations governing non-profits and other laws, rules and regulations are being followed.
   3. Work with the Board Treasurer on financial and policy issues, ensuring that Board-adopted policies, bylaws and other governance documents are current, maintained and followed.
2. Fiscal Oversight and Responsibilities
   1. Prepare and present annual Fund and OSP operating budgets.
   2. Oversee preparation of financial statements and oversee auditors working through their reviews.
   3. Oversee payment policies and practices.  Review and sign-off on all disbursement requests.
   4. Maintain General Ledger coding to ensure information is accurate and complete and available to program administrators and donors.
3. Banking
   1. Provide oversight and administration for The Fund’s eight banking relationships.
   2. Ensure that The Fund’s investment policy is followed, and that all accounts are maintained in financially sound institutions and earning the appropriate return on investment.
4. Donor Relationships and Grant Administration
   1. Review all grant budgets and grant proposals to ensure viability of funding and The Fund’s ability to meets its deliverables and other obligations.
   2. Provide required financial reporting to donors.
   3. Oversee Pledge Administration recording and collecting.
5. Contract Administration
   1. Prepare Fund contracts for consultants, contractors and/or services required by The Fund on behalf of the Department of Education and monitor payments under these contracts.

Qualifications:

1. Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree and/or CPA.
2. Minimum of 8 years combined public and private accounting experience.
3. Knowledge of generally accepted accounting practices and principles as relevant to nonprofit entities.
4. Knowledge of internal control systems used for general accounting principles and specialized nonprofit industry accounting practices and procedures.
5. Acumen in maintaining accurate financial records and preparing clear and accurate reports for informational, auditing and operational use.
6. Ability to analyze and explain complex financial data.
7. Ability to work independently, prioritizing workflow to meet critical deadlines and paying exceptionally close attention to detail.
8. Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds
9. Excellent written and oral communication skills.

For more information on the Fund for Public Schools, please visit their website at www.fundforpublicschools.org .

To Apply:
The Fund for Public Schools has retained the services of Harris Rand Lusk to conduct this search.  Inquiries, nominations, and applications may be directed in confidence to:

Jack Lusk, Managing Partner
or
Anne McCarthy, Senior Associate
Harris Rand Lusk
551 Fifth Ave. Suite 3300
New York, NY  10176
amccarthy@harrisrand.com

        The New York City Partnership for Teacher Excellence

Program Manager

POSITION SUMMARY

Join the staff of the NYC Partnership for Teacher Excellence.  In our third year, the Partnership brings together The City University of New York (CUNY), New York University (NYU, including Steinhardt School for Culture, Education and Human Development and the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences) and the NYC Department of Education (DOE) for the purpose of  enhancing the development of an innovative new model for teacher education that will better prepare teachers to teach in New York City public schools, making them more successful quickly, and therefore more likely to remain in the system.

The Program Manager will work closely with the Director of the Partnership in leading the work of the Partnership and coordinating activities of dedicated staff at each of the partner organizations. This is a full-time position that will begin shortly after hiring.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

·         Coordinate the development of work plans and manage day-to-day attention to Partnership priorities

·         Manage projects, conduct research and support implementation to ensure the Partnership completes its deliverables and meets its objectives in a timely manner.

• Manage and analyze data and make recommendations based on analysis; coordinate with teams from partners organizations performing evaluation and analysis of data
• Create financial or budget models to support implementation of Partnership priorities
• Research successful practices in urban teacher recruitment, development and retention and assist in sharing learning with partners.
• Coordinate the creation of presentations to the governing board of the Partnership, its coordinating committee and audiences within and outside the three partners.
• Organize meetings of the board, coordinating committee and various task forces and ensure timely and effective follow-up with meeting notes, tasks, commitments.
• Oversee creation of documentation of Partnership initiatives to ensure a thorough record of work process and accomplishments.
• Coordinate response to press and other external inquiries and assist with writing of press releases and internal communications
• Work closely with Partnership staff and leaders from all three partners on all aspects of Partnership implementation

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree; Masters degree highly desirable
• 2-4 years work experience in private sector, education or education/public policy non-profit, or government agency.
• Must be well-organized, able to work under pressure, able to effectively prioritize in a demanding environment, and meet frequent deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. 
• Exceptional data analysis skills and experience managing multiple data sources
• Experience with project management of cross-functional initiatives
• Proven ability to work with colleagues with diverse points of view and organizational objectives.
• Expert level ability in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook.
• Previous experience conducting project evaluation highly desirable

Interested candidates should send a cover letter with salary requirements and resume to Audra Watson at awatson@schools.nyc.gov.