SY26-27 Director of Finance

Director Of Finance

Washington, DC

Director of Finance

Start Date:

Role Type: Full-Time

Location: Washington, DC

FLSA Status: Exempt

Here's how we drive results:

• Rigorous academic focus.
• Social-emotional learning.
• Commitment to reflection and refinement.

The opportunity

At DC Prep, strong financial leadership is essential to being an enduring organization that exists to serve our mission for generations of Preppies. As the Director of Finance, you will join a financially strong organization and help position it for continued success. DC Prep consistently earns clean audits, maintains strong reserves, operates within budget, and meets compliance deadlines. In the spirit of We See the Good, you will build upon and celebrate this progress while identifying opportunities to learn, improve, and prepare the organization for what comes next.

The opportunityand the challengeis navigating an increasingly complex financial environment. Like other public schools across the District, DC Prep faces rising operating costs and uncertainty in future funding. Living our value of We Are Brave, you will help leaders confront these challenges directly, ask difficult questions, and make thoughtful decisions that balance immediate needs with DC Prep's long-term financial health.

You will also help lead an important organizational shift already underway. Through a multi-year initiative, DC Prep is decentralizing budget ownership and empowering campus and Home Office leaders to actively manage their budgets. Reflecting We Belong Together, you will build collaborative relationships and invite budget owners into the financial decision-making process. You will develop the systems, reporting, and coaching structures that allow leaders to make informed, student-centered decisions with greater confidence and shared accountability.

Our value of We Ask Why will be central to this work. You will use data, curiosity, and a problem-solving mindset to examine whether current practices are working, understand the reasons behind financial trends, and identify better ways to support leaders and schools. You will also help modernize the systems and tools that make financial information accurate, accessible, and actionable.

Through We Aim High, you will maintain rigorous standards for financial management while rallying others around the connection between their budgets and DC Prep's mission. Finally, We Do the Work means examining how financial decisions, systems, and policies affect different students, campuses, and teams.

Success in this role means maintaining DC Prep's track record of clean audits, strong compliance, and sound financial management while also strengthening budget owners' confidence and capability, and building financial systems ready for what's next.

The Director of Finance reports to the Chief Financial Officer, directly manages the Finance Associate, and oversees DC Prep's relationship with its external accounting partner, EdOps.

The day to day

The Director of Finance is responsible for leading:

• Financial Management, Strategy & Planning
• Audit & Compliance
• Financial & Organizational Leadership
• Team Management, Coaching & Development

Qualifications

Skills & Mindsets

• Unwavering commitment to DC Prep's Vision, Mission, and Values
• Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to disaggregate problems and structure and implement solutions to complex, cross functional challenges
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly and credibly to non-finance audiences, connecting the numbers to why they matter for students, families, and staff
• Track record of building durable systems and routines that produce reliable results
• Extraordinary attention to detail, both in planning and execution
• Emotional resilience and constancy coupled with strong leadership presence and passion to motivate, support and sustain teams in challenging and critically important work

Experience

• 4+ years of progressive experience in financial management, strategy consulting, or another analytically rigorous field, ideally in a nonprofit, school, or public sector setting
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing direct reports
• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree (e.g., MBA, MS in Accounting/Finance) or CPA certification preferred

Essential Functions

• Represent DC Prep with professionalism, integrity, and enthusiasm while consistently modeling the organization's mission and core values.
• Maintain consistent and reliable attendance and fulfill the role's in-person and remote work expectations, including regular engagement with Home Office and campus-based leaders.
• Manage confidential and sensitive financial, employee, student, vendor, and organizational information with discretion, integrity, and sound professional judgment.
• Ensure that financial activities comply with applicable laws, regulations, deadlines, accounting standards, grant requirements, financing agreements, internal controls, and DC Prep policies.
• Respond to urgent financial and operational matters and adjust priorities during high-volume periods, including annual budgeting, audits, reporting deadlines, and the beginning and end of the fiscal and school years.
• Perform additional responsibilities as assigned by the CFO or organizational leadership to meet evolving student, school, financial, and operational needs.

Physical Demands

• Must be able to sit and work at a desk/computer for extended periods of time
• Must be able to have repetitive wrist/hand/finger movement to work on computer and/or related office equipment
• Ability to handle potential high stress conditions

Join Us

Do you believe that Learning Has No Limits? Are you eager to join a supportive, innovative, and collaborative community of educators? Are you committed to growing your strengths as an educator through individualized professional development and coaching? Apply today!

We're an equal opportunity employer and hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability. We strongly encourage diverse candidates to apply.