Finance & Operations Manager
Temple Shaaray Tefila is at an exciting time in the life of our congregation. We are a 700+ member unit Reform synagogue on the Upper East Side with a talented team of Clergy and professionals. We are currently seeking a candidate to become our new Finance & Operations Manager.
Position Summary:
The Finance & Operations Manager (the “Manager”) will serve as the Temple’s primary internal finance professional, reporting directly to the Executive Director. This role supports financial planning, analysis, reporting, and oversignt and implementation of day-to-day financial operations across the organization.
The Manager oversees and performs core internal finance operations, including payroll, receivables, payables review, and audit preparation, while coordinating with an outsourced CPA firm for accounting, tax and reporting. The Manager serves as the internal point of coordination, ensuring data accuracy, supporting decision-making, and translating financial information for staff and lay leadership.
The Manager works closely with the Executive Director and will support the lay-leader Treasurer and Board committees, as well as senior staff across membership, development, clergy, and early childhood education.
This is a full-time exempt position.
Primary Responsibilities:
Financial Data & Systems
- Serves as the internal owner of financial data originating in ShulCloud, including membership dues, tuition, financial aid, contributions, and assessments.
- Reviews financial data for accuracy, completeness, and proper categorization prior to transmission to the outsourced CPA firm.
- Performs high-level reconciliations between ShulCloud reports and financial statements to identify trends, variances, or issues.
- Maintains documentation of financial workflows, assumptions, and recurring reports.
Financial Operations Oversight
- Oversees and reviews accounts payable and accounts receivable activity, including work performed by internal staff and coordination with the outsourced Accounting firm.
- Performs payroll processing and related reconciliations, coordinating with internal staff and leadership to ensure accuracy, timeliness, and proper approvals
- Reviews vendor invoices and contract-related billing, including security, facilities, and other contracted services.
- Reviews departmental expenses and variances, following up with staff as needed to ensure accuracy and understanding.
- Serves as the internal point of coordination for vendor financial questions, contract-related billing issues, and expense approvals.
Coordination with Outsourced Accounting Firm
- Acts as the primary internal liaison to the outsourced CPA firm.
- Coordinates monthly and year-end reporting processes.
- Reviews draft financial statements and reports for reasonableness and consistency before distribution to leadership and committees.
- Leads internal audit preparation, including gathering schedules, coordinating documentation with staff, and working directly with auditors, the Executive Director, and lay leadership throughout the audit process.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Financial Planning
- Supports the Executive Director in the preparation of the annual operating budget and multi-year financial projections.
- Maintains budget-to-actual reporting by department and major program area, and works with department leaders to review variances and address issues.
- Updates forecasts as needed based on changes in membership, staffing, tuition, dues relief, or programming.
- Performs scenario analysis to support planning and resource allocation decisions, with the ability to support deeper analytical work as needed.
Funds, Restrictions & Governance Support
- Maintains working knowledge of unrestricted, board-designated, and donor-restricted funds.
- Tracks the use of restricted funds to ensure compliance with donor intent and Board approvals.
- Supports liquidity monitoring and understanding of funds available for operations.
- Assists with financial policies, procedures, and internal controls in coordination with leadership.
Board, Committee & Leadership Support
- Prepares financial and operational materials for meetings of the Board of Trustees, Finance Committee, Audit Committee, and other committees as needed.
- Develops clear financial summaries, dashboards, and explanatory materials suitable for non-financial audiences.
- Attends Board and committee meetings as requested to support the Executive Director and Treasurer, respond to questions, and provide clarification.
- Partners with lay leadership to ensure timely, accurate, and understandable financial reporting.
Cross-Functional & Ad Hoc Support
- Responds to internal and congregant questions related to dues, tuition, and fund balances, and supports the financial aid process through data collection and analysis without decision-making authority.
- Works with Development staff to support grant reporting and donor-related financial inquiries.
- Provides financial support for special projects and strategic initiatives as needed.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field.
- 6–8 years of experience in finance, accounting support, FP&A, or nonprofit administration.
- Strong foundational understanding of accounting concepts and nonprofit financial statements.
- Experience working with financial systems and databases; ability to quickly learn new platforms.
- Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills.
- Ability to communicate financial information clearly to staff, lay leaders, and congregants without finance backgrounds.
Preferred Experience:
- Experience in a nonprofit, school, or membership-based organization.
- Familiarity with donor-restricted funds, tuition assistance, or financial aid models
- Prior experience working with outsourced accounting or audit firms.
- Experience supporting senior leadership and Board or committee reporting.
Personal Attributes:
- Exercises discretion, judgment, and attention to detail.
- Organized, dependable, and deadline-oriented.
- Comfortable working collaboratively across departments.
- Able to translate financial concepts into clear, accessible language.
- Demonstrates empathy, professionalism, and a service-oriented approach when interacting with congregants and staff.
- Resourceful problem-solver who is comfortable in a dynamic, mission-driven environment.
- Strong work ethic.
- Willingness to work on occasional weekends and evenings as required.