Strategic CFO - Education Nonprofit Leader

Distinctive Schools; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

20+ paid holidays

12 weeks family paid leave

Comprehensive Healthcare (Medical, R&D

403(b) match (fully up to 3% and 50%/5

Tuition reimbursement

Gym and wellness discounts

Job summary

Distinctive Schools is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and LEAP Board, providing financial leadership for the network of affiliated organizations. The CFO will oversee accounting, reporting, and compliance while guiding multi-entity operations and long-term sustainability.

The role requires leading a finance team, ensuring accurate budgeting and forecasting, and optimizing revenue through government funding, grants, and partnerships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or related field required; MBA or MAcc preferred.
• Ten or more years of progressive finance and accounting experience, including at least five years in a senior leadership role.
• CPA or CMA strongly preferred; record of leading audits to clean opinions, ideally including federal single audits.
• Deep knowledge of nonprofit fund accounting, GAAP, and public funding compliance.
• Hands-on experience with accounts payable/receivable, procurement, payroll and accounting operations.
• Experience reporting to a board or finance committee and leading a finance team through change.
• Familiarity with Illinois public education funding and CPS charter finance (preferred).

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-entity strategic leadership and enterprise governance for the network.
• Oversee budgeting across network departments and campuses; build multi-year models.
• Manage cash flow and forecasting; deliver monthly/quarterly projections to CEO and Board.
• Oversee procurement, vendor contracts, and financial systems integration (Intacct, QuickBooks, ADP).
• Drive revenue optimization across federal/state/local funding sources.
• Ensure grant & partner compliance and timely reporting; lead annual audit.
• Oversee payroll in partnership with HR; improve accuracy and efficiency.
• Build finance team capacity and train school leaders on budgets and resource allocation.
• Support future growth through new funding opportunities and regulatory changes.
• Travel as needed; in-person work 3–4 days a week; Chicago-area residency or relocation.

Skills

Financial leadership

Board reporting

GAAP knowledge

Nonprofit fund accounting

Audits & compliance

Multi‑entity governance

Excel modeling

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance

MBA or MAcc preferred

Tools

Intacct

QuickBooks

ADP

Excel (Advanced)

Job description

Distinctive Schools is seeking a Chief Financial Officer to serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and LEAP Board, providing financial leadership for the network of affiliated organizations. The CFO will oversee accounting, reporting, and compliance while guiding multi-entity operations and long-term sustainability.

The role requires leading a finance team, ensuring accurate budgeting and forecasting, and optimizing revenue through government funding, grants, and partnerships.