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Original posting from MAGNOLIA EDUCATIONAL & RESEARCH FOUNDATION via Indeed
Chief Financial Officer
Position Type: Full-Time, Exempt, 12 Month
Reports To: Deputy Superintendent
Location: Home Office / Network Support
ROLE SUMMARY
The Chief Financial Officer serves as Magnolia Public Schools’ senior financial leader and a key strategic advisor to the Deputy Superintendent, CEO, Board, Finance Committee, and executive leadership team. The CFO leads Magnolia’s financial strategy, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, compliance, internal controls, cash management, grants fiscal management, debt oversight, capital finance, and financial reporting.
The CFO ensures that Magnolia’s financial systems, resource decisions, and fiscal practices support the organization’s mission to provide a safe, nurturing, high-quality, college-preparatory STEAM educational experience for students. This leader connects financial planning to school quality, enrollment and ADA trends, staffing models, facilities obligations, grants, debt capacity, and long-term sustainability.
The CFO leads a responsive, agile, service-oriented Finance Department that provides schools and Home Office departments with timely information, clear guidance, reliable systems, strong controls, and decision-ready financial analysis. The CFO strengthens budget ownership, financial transparency, public stewardship, and fiscal discipline across the organization.
This role requires a leader who can manage complexity, build trust, support school and department leaders, improve systems, protect public resources, and ensure Magnolia has the financial foundation needed to sustain strong schools and implement its long-term strategic priorities.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead Financial Strategy and Long-Term Sustainability
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Lead Magnolia’s financial strategy in alignment with the organization’s mission, vision, strategic priorities, school quality goals, growth plans, and long-term sustainability needs.
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Partner with the Deputy Superintendent, CEO, Board, Finance Committee, and executive leadership team to align financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation with organizational priorities.
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Lead multi-year financial planning, scenario modeling, and budget strategy to support structural balance, reserve protection, cash flow stability, responsible growth, and long-term fiscal discipline.
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Identify financial risks, cost pressures, revenue dependencies, and sustainability challenges; recommend timely corrective actions that protect school programs and public resources.
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Ensure financial planning distinguishes between one-time and ongoing revenues and expenses so that staffing, programs, facilities commitments, and expansion decisions are based on sustainable assumptions.
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Provide clear financial analysis and recommendations to support major decisions related to staffing, enrollment, facilities, debt, grants, school viability, and organizational growth.
- Strengthen Budgeting, Forecasting, and Monthly Financial Management
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Establish and maintain a clear budget ownership model in which principals, department leaders, and executive leaders understand their budget authority, approval responsibilities, spending limits, and monthly review expectations.
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Lead the annual budget process and ensure budgets are realistic, mission-aligned, enrollment-sensitive, and connected to school and department priorities.
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Provide school and department leaders with timely, accurate, and actionable budget-to-actual reports, variance analysis, forecasts, and decision-support tools.
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Lead a disciplined monthly financial review cycle that includes budget performance, cash flow, enrollment and ADA assumptions, staffing costs, vendor costs, grant spending, facilities obligations, and school-level financial performance.
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Monitor key financial drivers, including enrollment, ADA, UPP, LCFF revenue, staffing ratios, payroll trends, special education costs, grant spending, vendor costs, debt service, reserves, and cash flow.
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Develop dashboards and reports that help leaders understand financial status, risks, assumptions, trends, and recommended actions.
- Ensure Strong Financial Management, Compliance, and Internal Controls
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Oversee all core finance functions, including accounting, budgeting, financial reporting, payroll, accounts payable, procurement, grants fiscal management, cash flow, banking, audits, debt compliance, and required financial submissions.
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Ensure timely, accurate, and transparent financial reporting for the Deputy Superintendent, CEO, Board, Finance Committee, authorizers, auditors, lenders, funders, and internal stakeholders.
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Maintain strong internal controls, fiscal policies, financial procedures, approval workflows, and documentation standards that safeguard public resources and support clean audits.
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Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, local, charter, grant, nonprofit, audit, bond, and public funding requirements.
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Maintain year-round audit readiness through time
Source: MAGNOLIA EDUCATIONAL & RESEARCH FOUNDATION careers (Indeed)