SALARY
Exempt position. Competitive, commensurate with qualifications and experience and with ranges established using a number of different industry benchmarkers).
BENEFITS
•Compelling mission and core values
•Dedicated and supportive faculty, staff and administration
•Medical, dental and vision benefits (100% of premium covered)
•Annual 403B matching up to 5% of base salary after the second year of employment
•Tuition remission at 30% automatic and generous financial aid need-based for qualifying staff
Independent, co-educational dual language, ~350 students PK-8. Spacious campus at top of beautiful Mount Soledad in La Jolla.
Founded in 1988, we are a unique, dynamic school moving each year toward greater and greater excellence. We offer a compelling combination of small size, bilingual international programs, and dedication to social-emotional learning and nurturing the whole student. A recognized leader in international education among San Diego private schools and within the French-American school network.
Accreditations: French Ministry of Education (one of 52 in US and 580+ worldwide outside France), California Association of Independent Schools, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
POSITION TYPE & HOURS
Exempt, year-round, 4 weeks vacation + bonus week in December
Senior Leadership Team: regular working hours 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM or 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM and as a exempt employee and member of the Senior Leadership Team additional hours occuring during scheduled time away from campus as needed to ensure the smooth functioning of the school
REPORTING
Head of School and Board of Trustees (Treasurer)
SUPERVISES
Finance Associate and any others as assigned.
HR function employee(s) - whether HR tasks assigned internally or partially managed for the School through an outsourcing firm)
Oversees the School's relationship as lead interlocutor with banks, investment firms, auditors, accountants, insurance and any other brokers, 403B plan management firm, attorneys for matters related job description functions, or other as assigned.
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
Enacting dynamic 'Next Level' collaboration and mutually supportive coordination/communication between the finance team/business office, academic divisions and other key leadership departments of the school in support of innovation, efficiency and excellence in realizing the school's vision and strategic directives
Directly supportive business development including existing and alternative revenue streams to further the School's financial sustainability goals and achieve the school's strategic vision for people, progas and campus
Serve as an innovation and process efficiency and enhancement though partner to the head of school, primary revenue-generating departments (admissions, development and enrichment), division directors and other senior leadership members and support staff.
Further developing mission and core values-based school culture that is cohesive, validating and respectful of the dignity and worth of every person, while at the same time supporting an evolving school climate change through the critical lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and a focus on cross-cultural competencies
Innovating in creative ways that leverage Covid-era tools, practices and mindsets.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
(Non-Exhaustive List)
Finance and Business Office
Supervise the work of the school accounting and business office personnel and use standard accounting and bookkeeping procedures, to keep an accurate continuous record of the cash and financial position of the school and manage the financial operation of the school so that the institution remains financially stable.
Supervise the collection of any overdue student tuition accounts (A/R)
Ensure compliance with the filing requirements of all appropriate Federal, state and local tax returns and other U.S. and French government reports and compliance with all current regulations.
Establish and monitor internal financial controls.
Prepare a monthly operating statement for the Head of School and the Board of Trustees, or as requested by the BOT in order to provide data for Board meetings.
Provide a monthly report of expenditures for the use of each individual budget center within the school.
Establish a plan and schedule for the preparation of the annual budget that will permit the setting of the succeeding year’s tuition at a Board of Trustees meeting early in the calendar year.
Provide for the securing of an annual audit of the school’s financial records and financial position.
Oversee all school purchasing, financial investments, banking activities, payroll and benefits programs.
Work collaboratively with the Head on strategic planning, long range financial budget projections, capital projects and overall campus planning.
Coordinate any capital borrowing arrangements and monitor all loans and indebtedness.
Maintain financial relationships with the appropriate agencies of the French government, including the filing of required reports, and ensuring that all of the School’s obligations are fulfilled.
Human Resources (Collaborative Management & Oversight)
HR function employee(s) (internally and/or through outsourcing) with decisions regarding salaries and benefits for all personnel, including the evaluation of support staff.
Overseeing (establishment and administration) of personnel programs and policies as they relate to hiring and termination procedures, onboarding and offboarding, time off, workers compensation, training, faculty/staff performance evaluations and compensation (including benchmarking).
In collaboration with HR function employee(s) or consultants, treating, maintaining and distributing a manual of current faculty and staff employee policies and procedures and instructions.
Assisting the Head of School or any employees or HR function employees or consultants, with hiring and termination of all support staff for the administrative offices, including secretarial and clerical personnel and maintenance and janitorial employees.
Overseeing the maintaining of digital and hard copy files in line with legal requirements for all Human Resources files and working with the Head of School and any designated HR function employee(s) to design the tools and timelines needed for effective annual and ongoing documentation of performance feedback and responses to potential or real emergency risk management issues.
Emergency Risk Management
Work with the Head of School to determine an appropriate staffing model and level to properly support strategic plan goals and day to day operational needs with respect to facilities vision, management and oversight, and notably in the areas of deferred and future maintenance planning campus-wide, daily upkeep of buildings and grounds, landscaping and campus presentation, campus beautification and esthetics, functional use, cleanliness, maintenance, repairs, improvements, security and safety, and quality of student and faculty life, functional use, and esthetic values.
To oversee and support processes related to the request made and follow-through needed to support campus needs and set-up/support requests for school events, including and notably for all parameters related to facilities and services.
To manage risk at the school to ensure the safety of personnel and students in their use of the facilities and to maintain appropriate levels of insurance to protect the property and to cover the liability of the school. To support the Head in being aware of and acting in thought-partnership when requested by the Head in mitigating potentially new ERM issues and in responding to current or unavoidable ERIM issues in the most sensible and intentionally managed and coordinated ways.
To oversee school transportation: schedules and contracts and to assess the performance of transportation companies and their compliance with appropriate state laws and regulations.
To oversee and support the director of enrichment programs in their effective management of the food service operation, summer programs and any other enrichment program or international language school partnerships, as well as any new alternative revenue-generating initiative.
To represent SDFAS at various regional, state, and national associations relative to the role of being Director of Finance.
To ensure that all safety systems are fully functioning and that the security systems are operating at the level specified and within the expectations of the School community.
To maintain vigilance for situations that could pose a safety or health hazard and recommend appropriate remedial action.
To advise the Head and Board of any situations which might have adverse safety or legal consequences for the School
To support the school and its leadership and set a tone and an example for what best-practices customer service and mission support.
To perform other duties as assigned by the Head of School.
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES
Commitment to Mission and Core Values
The DFO should truly and enthusiastically believe in the School’s Mission supporting the vision of the Head of School and the Board of Trustees. The DFO should be a resourceful, well-organized team player. The ability to work well under pressure and good interpersonal skills should be demonstrated. The ability to get along with diverse personalities, and understand different cultures represented in the school community is a necessary skill. All employees are strongly encouraged to work towards proficiency in both French and English languages and develop a familiarity and understanding of both cultures.
Commitment to DEI
An SDFAS senior leader should strive to develop and reinforce understanding and skill sets for all community members around diversity, equity and inclusion work and recognize it as a priority goal that falls directly within the School's mission to create and sustain culture "that prepares students to become confident, responsible and engaged global citizens" and one that flows directly from the School's five core values of open-mindedness, intellectual curiosity, integrity, empathy and resilience.
Cultural and interpersonal competencies
Demonstrated cross-cultural, inter-relational competencies; self-aware, deep interest people, and active listening competencies; and a commitment to building and sustaining a school culture centered around best practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Knowledge about actionable research about implicit biases around race, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic class (and so many other domains). Skill sets for designing learning environments and activities that take into account a person's (including the teacher's) implicit biases and how they can impact how others in the choices we make, language we use, curriculum content, how we implement it, and how we assess learning outcomes and our own competencies as educators.
Self-management
Autonomous, proactive, self-starter who values clarity at all levels and possesses superior social-emotional and relationship building skills. Functions well in a paced and at times high pressure teaching and learning environment; adapts well to and assists others in adapting to and coping with uncertain and/or changing circumstances; possesses a sense of humor and regularly engages skill sets in self-care, stress-management and/or mindfulness.
Professional development
Intrinsic motivation and desire to further grow and develop as professional educators by seeking xever greater knowledge and deepened teaching and learning skill sets through workshops/seminars, reading/research, peer review, professional networking, piloting innovative projects, taking risks, and constantly practicing self-reflection and collaborating with colleagues.
Communication with parents
Collaborate and build trusting relationships with parents. Effective management of difficult conversations (favoring telephone or Zoom over email; modeling healthy communication; seeking and offering solutions, requesting assistance and input).
General remarks on process
In all activities enumerated above and otherwise involving expenditures or commitments to expend School funds, the DFO will take all reasonable steps to assure that the activities are conducted in an effective and efficient manner and that comparative costs are obtained and evaluated and that competitive bids are obtained where appropriate, so as to obtain the most favorable products, services and prices and to avoid any favoritism or the appearance thereof.
QUALIFICATIONS
Authorization to work in the United States for any employer.
Bachelor's degree at minimum. Advanced degree(s) and/or certification in management accounting or public accounting strongly preferred
Significant finance office experience as the senior or next most senior employee in the department. Strongly preferred that at least part of this experience has been in not-for-profit school settings (3-5 years minimum)
Native, near-native or advanced bilingual fluency in French and English is strongly preferred (reading, writing, listening & speaking). Proficiency in other languages is a plus
TO APPLY
To apply, please send an email to the attention of Mark Rosenblum, Head of School (employment@sdfrenchschool.org) with a single PDF scan in attachment comprising:I
Cover letter
Curriculum vitae
Personal vision statement about "Financial sustainability within independent schools in the Covid era"
List of three professional references with names and contact information (one must be from current or most recent direct supervisor)
In its hiring practices, SDFAS is an equal opportunity employer and hires employees without regard to gender, race, religion, color, creed, ethnic or national background, origin, or sexual orientation.
An independent, co-educational dual language school in La Jolla counting approximately 350 students age 2–13, the mission of the San Diego French-American School is to offer an exceptional bilingual education within a vibrant international community, preparing students to become confident, responsible and engaged global citizens. The core values of SDFAS are open-mindedness, intellectual curiosity, integrity, empathy and resilience. The school’s spacious campus facility is situated atop beautiful Mount Soledad in La Jolla. One of fifty-two French government-accredited international schools in the United States (and over 500 worldwide), the school also holds accreditation from the California Association of Independent schools and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Our compelling bilingual, multicultural offering includes an attractive array of academic, social-emotional and extracurricular programs. A recognized leader in international education among San Diego private schools and within the French-American school network, SDFAS is proud of its commitment to excellence and dedicated efforts to prepare students for global citizenship.
