Description
Position at IDEA Public Schools

About IDEA Public Schools :  

 

At IDEA Public Schools, we believe in college for ALL and we are committed to ensuring that   all   our students graduate from college. IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States sending 100% of our students to college. 50% of our students graduate from college in 6 years - that's 8 times the national rate for students in our communities!  

 
IDEA was founded in 2000 as a single school with 150 students in the Rio Grande Valley. When interest exceeded building capacity, to meet the demands, IDEA's co-founders committed to serving more students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and beyond. We now serve  over 65,000  students across Texas and Louisiana. Be on the lookout for IDEA schools opening near you-with continued growth in our current regions an d new launches in  Tampa Bay , FL  (2021) ,  and  Jacksonville, FL (2022) !  

 

When you choose to work at IDEA, you are part of our IDEA Team and Family. You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day, are excited to continue to grow with IDEA, and work relentlessly to make college for all a reality.  

 

To learn more about IDEA, check out this   video .  

Role Mission:

IDEA's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) leads the financial vision and strategy for all entities of the organization, ensuring IDEA has the financial leadership and resources to readily support and accomplish its organizational mission of College For All Children and its organizational driving goals of a state A-rating for its schools and 100% college matriculation by its graduates. The CFO serves as a key business partner to the Chief Executive Officer, Board of Directors and Executive Team to deliver annual financial results in order to ensure IDEA achieves its annual and long-term organization-wide financial goals. S/he will perform to the highest fiduciary role with all internal and external stakeholders and ensure fiscal compliance with all regulatory and governance requirements, state and federal. S/he is responsible for overseeing the Business Office to execute financial operations with impeccable customer service to internal and external stakeholders. Further, s/he embodies the culture of IDEA, setting and communicating clear guidance for the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors as well as external stakeholders, such as our institutional bond investors, while prioritizing the greatest financial challenges and opportunities facing the organization.  The CFO sets high standards for financial integrity and stewardship and ensures they are met throughout the organization, while also providing guidance to the internal audit function at IDEA.

 

Accountabilities

 
Maintain the highest levels of integrity and financial stewardship over all funds, both public and philanthropic

• Communicate clear expectations for adherence to policies
• Develop and manage internal mechanisms for oversight and accountability

 
Incorporate entity expansion into financial and governance responsibilities

• Direct organizational structures needed to support entity expansion and establish all legal structures, including 501(c)3 designation
• Create and implement separate financial accounting and reporting systems, as needed
• Fully design, incorporate, and monitor financial and governance compliance, reporting, budgeting, workflow, and transactional interchanges between IPS and new entities into IDEA business office operating mechanisms

 
Lead and execute all financings to support capital improvement plans by strategically aligning operating income targets to support debt issuance in accordance with Master Trust Indentures and existing and future Debt/Bond Covenants.

• Prepare and execute the Tax-Exempt/Taxable Bond Series to support the Campus Launch Schedule for IDEA Texas; complete bridge financing required to launch campuses for IDEA Louisiana, IDEA NOLA, IDEA Florida, and IDEA Ohio
• Secure interim debt facilities to support CIP costs for future Bond Transactions
• Plan and incorporate CIP Plans into the budget and forecasting process and preliminary financing plans
• Continue due diligence, modeling, and financial expertise support to the IDEA Advancement team during vetting of new regions and information sharing with philanthropic organizations in and out of Texas
• Plan and/or execute site acquisitions in accordance with construction timetable (have all sites under contract by December 1st)
• Manage/approve "Cap Ex" (capital expenditures) funding sources related to any use of excess bond proceeds

 
End fiscal year achieving EBIDA goal

• Monitor budget process to ensure it is aligned with strategy and fiscally conservative
• Make organization-wide financial decisions aligned with the long-term fiscal health of IDEA
• Monitor budget and year end projections monthly to ensure on track performance to achieve targets

 
Maintain A- investment grade credit rating from Standard & Poor's for IDEA Texas

• Maintain at least a 1:35 Maximum Annual Debt Service (MADS)
• Maintain at least 135 Days Cash on Hand (DCOH)
• Achieve FIRST Rating of A, the highest State accountability rating
• Adhere to strong financial reporting and delivering financial results within 20 days of month-end and 90 days of year-end
• Ensure that no material weaknesses are reported as part of the annual external audit

 
Manage cash and other IDEA financial resources to maximize their productivity

• As an Investment Officer of the organization, the CFO will achieve 5% year-over-year on previous year's realized and unrealized investment gains while adhering to the board-adopted Investment Policy Statement
• Ensure the organization adheres to the requirements of the state's Public Fund Investment Act
• Adopt processes to ensure for the most efficient utilization of technology and treasury management structures to yield cost savings

 
Manage all aspects of Real Estate evaluation and acquisition for new sites

• Collaborate with external partners (i.e. Project Managers, Brokers, and Attorneys) to evaluate sites to support growth
• Facilitate the land acquisition, negotiation process, construction procurement, and service awards
• Responsible for execution of LOIs, PSA, and requisitions
• Monitor completion of school opening construction projects to substantial completion at or under budget
• Approve all construction contracts ensuring they are in line with budget
• Approve all change orders to construction contracts
• Monitor construction progress toward contract date to limit acceleration costs due to changes, weather, and contractor issues

 
Ensure the highest level of services and support to campuses  and HQ teams

• Establish and ensure a customer service model among business clerks at the campus levels  and business office clerks at HQ
• Build and improve the operating mechanisms to provide top notch customer support year around at campuses  and HQ
• Create and manage a professional development model for ongoing improvements of campus and HQ personnel
• Continuously improve quality of service and self-help capabilities of IDEA staff through management of an active knowledge base
• Invest in tools and processes to scale best practices, reduce costs in personnel and issue revisits, and track customer service fidelity over time
• Create Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in partnership with other divisions across HQ to prioritize satisfaction of service for campus personnel regardless of issue or target department

 
Mitigate organizational risk through cost-effective insurance

• Collaborate with IDEA's broker and lead annual renewal process for IDEA insurance program
• Maximize insurance coverage while minimizing cost
• Launch training and resources to ensure safety protocols are top priority for all IDEA stakeholders
• Lead the team to work efficiently through claim management and mitigate outstanding risks

 
"Top grade" by hiring and retaining top talent at IDEA

• Retain 100% of high-performing senior financial leaders (VPs and Directors) at IDEA and 85% of team overall
• Conduct all phases of the Staff Development Cycle with direct reports on time and ensure 100% Staff Development Cycle completion by Business Office staff members not on leave
• Engage in high-quality talent review process with direct reports annually
• Ensure all team members develop to their fullest potential through targeted professional development, coaching, and mentorship; specifically providing mentorship to IDEA's senior financial leaders

 
Live values of IDEA

• Believes and is committed to our mission: that all students are capable of getting to and through college
• Is driven by outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes
• Embodies IDEA's core values

 

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Directly manages leaders of the IDEA Public Schools Financial Planning, Finance, and Treasury/Risk Management teams and the Directors of Finance for all other entities

 

Qualifications:

• Education: bachelor's degree required; master's degree in business administration or finance strongly preferred
• Experience: 12+ years of professional work experience required; at least 5 years of senior leadership in a financial role required; 3+ years as a school system CFO strongly preferred, especially for an organization serving 50,000+ students
• License or Certification: CPA preferred

 

Competencies:

We are looking for an exceptional person for this role - one who has significant financial knowledge and experience, is inspired by our mission, and highly-motivated to change children's lives through free, public, college-preparatory education.  You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships, understand the power of diversity, advocate for equity, aspire to lead through inclusion, push yourself, your work, and the people around you to the next level, and learn from failure to overcome adversity.  We expect our Chief Financial Officer to:

• Be the in-house financial expert, visionary, and translator. You deeply understand the financial needs and models of IDEA, its teams and regions, in order to translate that into a vision and operations for how the Business Office/Finance Team can help them meet goals.  You identify the needs of our key stakeholders and backwards plan to ensure the effectiveness of implementation.
• Demonstrate skilled analysis & problem solving. You are extremely technically skilled and knowledgeable.  You have a track record of taking complex information and distilling insights and strategy that are clear to both a technical and lay audience.  You have a history of engaging with high stakes challenges directly and successfully and offering solutions.  Ambiguity doesn't overwhelm you; in fact, you thrive on it.  Your creative instincts will help you deal with new situations and develop unique approaches where you set the vision and work to invest stakeholders internally and externally.
• Influence leaders to act; build relationships; communicate effectively. You will regularly interact with and influence senior leaders across the organization and externally.  You have an ability to connect and build relationships with diverse stakeholders and communities.  You communicate compellingly to a variety of stakeholders and on a multitude of technical and non-technical topics.  Regardless of the audience or topic, you effectively convey information and persuade.
• Command knowledge of federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations governing public school finance. We need an expert to navigate a complex regulatory and legal landscape.
• Believe and engage in a culture of feedback. Iron sharpens iron.  You readily give, receive, and implement feedback from peers, team members, other departments, and the field.
• Model a growth mindset, continuous learning, and cross-cultural agility. Authentic self-reflection, self-awareness, and high emotional intelligence are central to who you are, and you utilize these skills to shape a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion that influences how you think about your work.  You have an adept understanding of yourself and others and leverage that awareness to build trusting relationships with direct report, colleagues, stakeholders, and clients.
• Be an exemplary manager. You set clear expectations, manage your team to deliver results, and hold others accountable for outcomes. You consistently coach and develop your team members to maximize performance.  You create strong team culture and organizational health.
• Balance the balcony and the dance floor. You can simultaneously sweat the right stuff and be involved in the many fine details that enable success while maintaining a high-level awareness of vision, goals, and progress.  You are able to balance the demands of multiple projects at different stages of development while maintaining quality and consistency across all work streams and adapting to unexpected tasks that may arise.

IDEA Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the organization's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), may contact IDEA Human Resources at (956) 377-8000.