About Aropa Commons

Aropa Consulting is seeking experienced professionals across various disciplines to enrich the Aropa Commons, a pre-vetted roster of mid- and senior-level consultants who bring their unique expertise to a range of challenging and impactful projects.

About the Strategy and Operations Pillar

Through our Strategy and Operations pillar, Aropa partners with impact-focused nonprofits, organizations, and foundations to co-create practical, sustainable strategies that systematically align an organization’s operational infrastructure with its core mission, vision, values, and communities served. Centering the client’s needs in our work, we navigate high stakes inflection points, bridge critical capacity gaps and build sustainable organizational scaffolding with deep, human-centered expertise in organizational development, strategic planning, and leadership. For more information about our strategy and operations pillar visit https://www.aropaconsulting.com/strategy-operations.

About the Role

Aropa Consulting has grown rapidly over the past four years, and we are actively seeking to add additional technical capacity to our projects. This is an open opportunity to become a vetted contractor with the Aropa Commons so that we can quickly engage you in support of client deliverables. Aropa Commons is in need of  a variety of skills and expertise, so please see below for the desired additions to the Aropa Commons.  

These roles implement specific project deliverables with general guidance from Senior Consultant, Elizabeth Otto-Wallace, and Diana Essex-Lettieri, Aropa Consulting’s President,

and works collaboratively with Aropa team members and consultants across the organization’s pillars.

We are looking for consultants with specialized knowledge in finance & accounting leadership for nonprofits. Our approach to finance and accounting aligns with our values - we’re committed to moving beyond the numbers to understand our client’s teams, partners, stories, and impact. Our goal with finance & accounting projects to support our clients to resource their mission and vision, and to build a strong operational foundation that promotes sustainability, efficiency and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Fractional Financial Leadership Placements

• Directly embed within client organizations to bridge immediate capacity gaps, while flexibly responding to emergent client needs.
• Quickly assess the financial, accounting and compliance environment at client organizations, assessing gaps and developing a roadmap forward.
• Oversee daily organizational finance & accounting, manage cross-functional teams, and establish immediate operational and financial stability.
• Design and implement improved systems for core financial and grants management needs; optimize workflows, reporting tools, and systems integrations.
• Create and manage financial strategy, multi-year grant budgeting, and cash flow forecasting.
• Guide boards and executive teams through complex financial decisions and transformational change management.
• Provide strategic coaching to emerging leaders to build long-term confidence and internal self-reliance.

Strategy & Operations Project Management or Support
These roles focus on building the practical organizational scaffolding and technical infrastructure an organization needs to transition from ad hoc operational triage.

• Co-create and implement practical financial strategies to ensure growth, scalability, and a strong human-centered infrastructure. 
• Analyze role structures, processes, systems and policies and implement enhancements.
• Align finance and accounting systems with client needs, supporting system selection, implementation, and/or customization.
• Draft and operationalize tangible internal assets, such as policies, manuals, and regular financial reports.
• Run financial reports and assess and communicate accuracy, open questions, and risks.

Sample Projects

Fractional Director of Finance

A domestic nonprofit organization with a small team and a large asset base is seeking to align their strategy and organizational structure, necessitating substantial restructuring. The consulting team conducted an organizational assessment that revealed the need for additional finance leadership, and the organization is seeking an interim, fractional placement to stabilize and document processes and temporarily fill immediate capacity gaps.

Accounting and Finance System Selection and Implementation

An organization focused on fiscal sponsorship undertook a technology transformation project, working to scale systems to match organizational growth. The consulting team conducted a thorough, integrated discovery and requirements development process, ultimately producing a future state systems topology that centered on an ERP. They facilitated a robust, equitable system selection process to find a solution aligned with the organization’s needs, and are working closely with the finance and accounting team to guide implementation in alignment with nonprofit best practices.

Finance Systems and Process Optimization

A mid-sized international nonprofit organization registered in several countries wanted to strengthen financial reporting, currency management, and grants management practices. The consultant team mapped needs and did a deep dive into accounting system configuration, ultimately producing and implementing a set of recommendations that included designing release from restriction processes, implementing improved financial reports, and revising processes for intercompany transactions.

About You

We value diverse experiences and perspectives, and we’re eager to learn how your background can contribute to the Aropa Commons. Individuals with all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Ideal Experience

• Minimum 10+ years working in finance or accounting with nonprofit organizations, social impact initiatives and philanthropic grantmaking
• For fractional placements, minimum 5+ years managing high-functioning finance and/or accounting teams
• Expert active listening, communication and facilitation skills, with proven ability to lead high-stakes collaborative, strategic conversations and move clients towards 
• Integrated, cross-functional way of working that brings finance expertise together with operations, program, strategy, HR, compliance and more
• Learns quickly and is highly adaptable
• Ability to and interest in shifting seamlessly between high-level strategy and detailed execution
• A collaborative working style to engage and align teams, support change management efforts, and build capacity
• A values-driven professional who can navigate complexity, and co-create practical, holistic, and human-centered solutions
• A systems-oriented thinker who can translate challenges/opportunities into actionable strategies

Other Qualifications

• Diverse experience with a variety of financing models (e.g. earned revenue, restricted and/or conditional funding, endowments, etc)
• Diverse experience with a variety of operating conditions and models (e.g. domestic and international organizations, associations, trusts, and/or philanthropic entities)
• Demonstrated emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and a commitment to equity
• Comfort with learning new technology. Here is a list of the current tools we use:
• • Accounting and Finance: NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Quickbooks, Ramp, and beyond
  • Collaboration: Slack, Canva 
  • Project management: Productive, Google Workspace
  • Videos & meetings: Zoom, Google Meet, Loom

About the Application Process

For this call in Aropa Commons, we are searching for individuals who are seeking casual, part-time employment. Please submit your resume and a short written statement (no more than one page total) that includes:

• A brief overview of your interest in Aropa 
• Provide clarity on your experience in high-level finance and/or accounting leadership for nonprofit organizations
• Details of 2 - 3 projects that highlight your skills. You do not need to include client names.

Please also provide a previous work product that you have submitted to a client or employer that demonstrates your nonprofit finance expertise. This could be a project plan, budget, financial report, or project deliverable.

Please go to https://ats.rippling.com/aropa-consulting/jobs to submit your application. 

EEO Statement

Aropa Consulting is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values a diverse and inclusive workforce. In all matters affecting employees and applicants for employment, Aropa is committed to going beyond the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, criminal history, or veteran status. We believe that ALL people have a place and there is no tolerance for hatred or disregard of anyone on the basis of identity. Please only apply for this position if you are enthusiastic about working and learning from people of all ethnic-religious identities. We believe a diverse workforce enables us to be successful and we encourage all to apply.