Director of Finance

Location: Remote

Reports To: Senior Director of Enterprise Operations 

Team: Central Support

Employment Type: Full-time, Exempt

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About Bellwether

Bellwether is a national nonprofit that exists to transform education to ensure students furthest from opportunity achieve outcomes that lead to fulfilling lives and flourishing communities. We work hand in hand with education leaders and organizations to accelerate their impact, inform and influence policy and program design, and share what we learn along the way.

We are a remote-first team, and our work is national in scope, so our flexible working style allows our professionals to work where they have built their lives, which means Bellwether can hire the best person for each role, regardless of geography. This role can be based anywhere in the United States. Up to approximately 10-15% travel may be required.

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About the Role

Bellwether is hiring a Director of Finance to lead the next chapter of our internal finance function. Since standing up this function in 2023, we’ve built the core financial infrastructure, systems, and processes that allow us to sustainably manage our growth and finances to accelerate impact for students furthest from opportunity. The Director of Finance will take that foundation further — bringing financial rigor and strategic depth to how Bellwether plans, forecasts, and reports, while continuing to modernize the systems and processes that remain manual.

Bellwether operates under a single P&L with an annual operating budget of approximately $27 million and a fiscal year that runs September 1 through August 31. Our revenue comes from two main sources: fee-for-service contracts with clients and philanthropic grants from foundations.

This role is for a finance leader who is equally comfortable setting strategy and executing on it. The Director of Finance reports to the Senior Director of Enterprise Operations and partners closely with the Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Leadership Team to shape Bellwether's financial strategy, while also staying hands-on — refining grant and contract financial systems and ensuring the organization’s financial operations can scale with its growth.

Core Responsibilities

Budgeting and Expense Management

• Lead and grow Bellwether’s finance team, including hiring, developing, and managing current and future team members.
• Create and manage annual planning and budgeting tools and support the process by partnering with team leads.
• Build and maintain the tools that support compensation and bonus planning within the annual planning process, partnering with team leads and the Director of People Operations.
• Review and monitor budget progress and changes.
• In partnership with the Development team, monitor grant budgets, manage updates and drawdowns, and refine and update grant and contract pricing tables.

Financial Planning and Analysis

• Own Bellwether’s financial strategy, setting the direction for financial modeling, reporting, and analysis that gives leadership timely, decision-ready data.
• Prepare quarterly financial reports for different audiences, including the Bellwether Board of Directors.
• Optimize financial modeling, reporting, and analysis to equip leadership with the data and information needed to make timely decisions. 
• Provide strategic financial input for Bellwether’s financial modeling, planning, and budgeting.  
• Partner with business systems team members to evaluate, negotiate, select, and implement future financial systems.
• Partner with the business systems team and the Senior Director of Development to assess, design, and implement systems to optimize processes and procedures for grant funding.
• Conduct ad hoc financial analysis.
• Collaborate with the business systems team to develop tools for analyzing project- and team-level financials.
• Drive oversight of accounting operations and external finance partners, including month-end and year-end close, financial statement accuracy, annual audit and Form 990, and applicable financial and charitable registration and compliance requirements.

General Administration

• Ensure finance team processes — cost code setup, staff onboarding in the time-tracking system and Expensify, and project setup in Salesforce — are accurate and well-run, delegating execution as the team grows.
• Work with the bookkeeper to process approved payments.

Client and Vendor Management

• Have oversight of contracting and invoicing.
• Review and track contracts, partnering with the Senior Finance Manager.
• Other responsibilities as needed.

Fiscal Sponsorship

• Work closely with the Chief Operating Officer to build out Bellwether’s fiscal sponsorship program.
• Participate in the vetting and management of fiscal sponsorships and sponsored fellows, including routine financial management.
• Support the Senior Finance Manager in the day-to-day financial management of fiscal sponsors.

Team Contribution

• Use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to raise the quality and speed of research, drafting, and data work, with judgment about when human review is essential.
• Build trusted working relationships with leaders across the organization.
• Contribute to team meetings and planning for development and external relations.

Recommended Qualifications

• A passion for and commitment to transforming education to ensure systemically marginalized young people achieve outcomes that lead to fulfilling lives and flourishing communities in the United States.
• An understanding of and commitment to viewpoint diversity.
• An undergraduate degree in finance, financial management, audit, accounting, or a similar field.
• Five to seven years of experience and success working in a financial leadership role.
• Strong knowledge of nonprofit accounting and associated financial requirements, including grant and contract financial management.
• A deep, demonstrated understanding of revenue generation, financial reporting, budgeting, systems integration, and financial planning and analysis, with a track record of translating financial data into strategic guidance for senior leaders and boards.
• Experience within a complex nonprofit is essential to success in this role; candidates with a combination of for-profit and nonprofit experience are ideal.
• Experience managing and developing a finance team, including hiring and coaching staff, particularly in a virtual environment.
• Experience with financial planning and budgeting platforms such as Vena is a plus.
• A well-rounded interpersonal skill set with the capacity to advise and partner with diverse stakeholders across the organization, work effectively and collaboratively in a team environment, and facilitate joint problem-solving.
• Flexibility as a leader who can operate at a highly strategic level — advising senior leadership and the Board — while also being hands-on and execution-focused where needed.
• A highly self-directed work style and willingness to proactively take on roles within project teams and the organization.
• Ability to thoughtfully give and receive feedback, and experience doing so.

Compensation

The base salary range for incoming team members in this role is $121,750-$156,875 annually, with eligibility for an annual performance bonus targeted at $13,800 based on individual and organizational success. While the final offer amount will be determined by multiple factors — including previous experience and content knowledge — and may vary from the stated range, Bellwether is committed to transparency, and all offers align with our compensation philosophy.

Bellwether provides competitive compensation and an attractive benefits package that includes a performance bonus based on individual and organizational success, healthcare coverage, and a 401(k) plan with matching employer contributions.

To Apply

Use your online application — a custom letter of interest and a current resume — to show us you have the skills listed here or why the skills you have are the ones we actually need. You should also use your application materials to highlight how your background and experience align with Bellwether’s mission, including our commitment to helping young people furthest from opportunity. This role has a priority application deadline of October 23, 2026. While we prioritize applications received on or before that date, we will review applications as we receive them until the position is filled.

Note: Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Use of AI in Hiring

Our team may use AI tools to support parts of our hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, summarizing interviews, or assessing responses. These tools help our teams work efficiently, but they never replace human judgment. Our team makes every final hiring decision. If you have questions about how we process candidate data, please reach out to us at careers@bellwether.org.

Bellwether is committed to providing equal opportunities. It is our policy to ensure that all individuals with whom we are in contact are not discriminated against based on age, race, ethnicity, color, disability, gender identity, gender expression, political viewpoint, marital status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. Further, as described above, Bellwether is committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourages individuals from all backgrounds to apply.