Finance Director (Three-State Pod)

The Nature Conservancy; Arkansas; On-site; USD 83,000 - 109,000; Full time

Job summary

The Nature Conservancy seeks a Finance Director to guide financial strategy and stewardship for the Three-State Pod across Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri, with cross‑divisional collaboration in the Great Plains. You will advise senior leadership and ensure strong financial management for conservation outcomes and donor-funded programs.

This role emphasizes governance, internal controls, and strategic investment decisions to advance conservation priorities while aligning with organizational

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field, plus 7 years of experience.
• Experience with computer and information management systems, Excel spreadsheets, and databases for financial analysis and reporting.
• Experience recruiting, supervising and developing staff.
• Experience developing budgets, performing high-level financial analysis, and advising leadership.
• Experience with GAAP and not-for-profit accounting principles and grants accounting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as finance partner to BU Leaders, develop pod financial strategy, ROI modeling, and liquidity planning.
• Deliver high-quality financial reporting, scenario modeling, and strategic recommendations.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities, evaluate alternatives, and optimize resource allocation.
• Coordinate finance services across the pod and maintain strong partnerships with BUs.
• Supervise, coach, and develop finance staff across the pod and drive accountability.
• Participate in leadership meetings, provide financial insight, and support governance activities.
• Oversee contracts and agreements ensuring compliance and sound financial practices.
• Provide strategic financial leadership on budgets for fundraising proposals with conservation and philanthropy teams.

Skills

Strategic finance leadership

Stakeholder communication

Budgeting & financial analysis

Staff leadership & development

Nonprofit GAAP knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Accounting/Business

Tools

Excel

Financial reporting systems

Job description

What We Can Achieve Together:

The Finance Director (Three-State Pod) serves as the senior finance leader for Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma OR Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri, providing strategic financial leadership and oversight across the three-state finance pod. In this role, you will partner with conservation, philanthropy, operations, and leadership teams to deliver high-level analysis, informed decision support, and strong financial stewardship that advances business unit, divisional, and organizational priorities.

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

• Serve as thought leader and finance partner to BU Leaders in developing Pod and BU financial strategy, conservation ROI modeling, financial health metric monitoring, and capital structure & liquidity planning.
• Deliver high-quality financial reporting, complex analysis, campaign development and support, scenario modeling, and recommendations that enable informed decision-making and support long‑term financial sustainability.
• Identify financial risks and opportunities, evaluate alternatives, and develop recommendations to strengthen financial performance, optimize resource allocation, and achieve organizational objectives.
• Coordinate the delivery of finance services across the assigned pod while maintaining strong partnership and responsiveness to the needs of the business units within.
• Supervise, coach, and develop finance staff across the pod, establishing priorities, promoting collaboration, and fostering professional growth and accountability.
• Serve as an active member of the leadership team, participating in leadership team meetings, staff meetings, retreats, and other forums to provide financial insight, support decision-making, and foster collaboration across the business unit.
• Ensure effective stewardship of financial resources through strong internal controls, compliance with organizational policies and processes, donor requirements, regulatory standards, and generally accepted accounting principles, as applicable.
• Ensure accuracy, integrity, and effective management of financial data, processes, and controls to support decision-making.
• Partner with philanthropy, conservation, operations, leadership and other functional teams to provide financial guidance for fundraising initiatives, grants, contracts, campaigns, and strategic projects to enable maximum impact and minimal resource restriction.
• Provide guidance on relevant financial topics, such as expense reporting, to BU staff.
• Support governance activities by serving as a financial resource to state leadership, Boards of Trustees, Finance Committees, and other stakeholder groups, as appropriate.
• Oversee financial aspects of contracts, agreements, and other business transactions, ensuring compliance with organizational policies and sound financial practices. Partner with conservation, philanthropy, and leadership on innovative financing solutions for land protection and other large transactions.
• Provide strategic financial leadership on budgets for fundraising proposals for public and private donors, in collaboration with conservation, philanthropy, and the finance enablement team. Review and approve finance reports on grants from private funders.
• Partner with the Division Finance Director to implement division-wide financial strategies, strengthen processes and controls, promote consistency across the Great Plains Division, and drive continuous improvement.
• Build and maintain trusted partnerships across the assigned business units, fostering collaboration, financial accountability, and shared ownership of financial outcomes

The Finance Director (Three-State Pod) must reside in the Great Plains Division with preference for candidates within Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri.

We’re Looking for You:

Are you an experienced finance leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, stewardship, and mission-driven impact? The Nature Conservancy is seeking a Finance Director to guide financial strategy and strengthen financial management practices across Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri while collaborating across the Great Plains Division. This is an opportunity to serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, support conservation outcomes through strong financial insight, and help build consistent, effective, and sustainable finance practices across a geographically dispersed team.

What You’ll Bring:

• Experience leading financial services and initiatives across multiple organizational units, business areas, or stakeholder groups.
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field and 7 years related work experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience working with computer and information management systems, Excel spreadsheets and databases for financial analysis, fiscal management, and/or financial reports.
• Experience recruiting, supervising and developing staff.
• Experience developing budgets, performing high-level financial analysis, recommending actions, and providing partnership to leadership.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate at an executive level and distill complex topics into simple takeaways for non-financial audiences.
• Experience acting as a consultant/advisor to senior executives.
• Experience with GAAP and not-for-profit accounting principles, practices and regulations, including government grants accounting and reporting.
• Experience in developing, directing and implementing multiple projects.
• Experience presenting financial reports and information to leadership teams, board members, and staff.

Salary Information:

The starting pay range for a candidate selected for this position is generally within the range of $83,000 -$109,000. This range only applies to candidates whose country of employment is the USA. Where a successful candidate’s actual pay will fall within this range will be based on a variety of factors, including, for example, the candidate's location, qualifications, specific skills, and experience. Please note countries outside the USA would have a different pay range in the local currency based on the local labor market, and not tied to USA pay or ranges. Your geographic location will be confirmed during the recruitment.

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our commitment to equal employment opportunity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization is a priority, and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.

Do you have military experience? Visit our U.S. Military Skills Translator to match your military experience with our current job openings!

TNC is committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send a note to [e-mail] with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.