Vice President of Finance & Operations

San Francisco Film School; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

San Francisco Film School in downtown San Francisco is seeking a Vice President of Finance and Operations to join its leadership team. This senior operator will own the budget, oversee daily financial and operating decisions, and keep the President informed of risks and priorities.

The role requires building a strong team, aligning departments, improving processes, and guiding growth as the school expands programs and locations.

Qualifications

• Ten+ years leading finance and operations with hands-on ownership of daily ops.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting and modeling skills; responsible for audits and compliance.
• Proven track record building teams and improving operating systems during growth.
• Ability to lead through influence within a leadership team.
• Experience negotiating significant vendor, service or operating agreements.
• Sound judgment and history of close work with a CEO or President.

Responsibilities

• Lead annual budget, rolling forecasts and financial models used by leadership.
• Track revenue, profitability, cash flow and department spending; diagnose variances.
• Run the annual audit and ensure regulatory reporting and compliance.
• Set and maintain controls over cash, purchasing and spending.
• Lead financial due diligence for acquisitions and new sites.
• Advise the President and senior leaders on priorities and resource allocation.
• Run non-academic operations and deliver decisions within authority with the President.
• Build and develop the finance and operations team; set expectations.
• Improve processes and systems to enable growth across locations and acquisitions.
• Negotiate with vendors and service providers for favorable terms.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Forecasting

Modeling

Audits

Compliance

Internal controls

Team building

Influence

Vendor negotiations

Executive relationship

Job description

About San Francisco Film School

San Francisco Film School has spent twenty years turning people with a story to tell into working filmmakers. Students write, shoot and cut their own films from their first term. They work on professional cinema cameras, mix in an immersive Atmos suite and shoot on the school's own sound stage, and together they finish hundreds of films a year. Working filmmakers Jeremiah Birnbaum and Stephen Kopels founded the school in 2005, and it has been nationally accredited by COE since 2013. Since 2016 it has been based in downtown San Francisco, in the Art Deco landmark that once housed the Pacific Stock Exchange.

SFFS is growing. In January 2027 it adds three accredited programs in music production and emerging audio technology, taking the school from two programs to five, and it is weighing new locations and acquisitions.

The role

The Vice President of Finance and Operations is the school's senior finance and operations executive and a member of the leadership team. This person owns the budget and the numbers. They also handle the day-to-day operating questions that now land on the President's desk, settle them, and keep him informed on the risks and decisions that matter. The role suits an experienced operator who likes turning plans into sound decisions, building a team, and getting departments to work together.

Finance

• Lead the annual budget, rolling forecasts and the financial models the leadership team uses to plan.
• Track revenue, profitability, cash flow and department spending. When the numbers drift, find out why and work with leaders to fix it.
• Run the annual audit and keep regulatory reporting and compliance current.
• Set and maintain controls over cash, purchasing and spending.
• Lead the financial side of due diligence for acquisitions and new sites.
• Advise the President and senior leaders on priorities, tradeoffs and where to put resources.

Operations

• Run the school's non-academic operations and carry decisions through to the finish, within the authority agreed with the President.
• Build and develop the finance and operations team. Set clear expectations, give people what they need to do good work, and hold them to it.
• Improve processes and systems so the school can add students, programs and locations, and fold in acquisitions without disruption.
• Negotiate with vendors, service providers and other partners for terms that work for the school.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years leading finance and operations, with direct, hands‑on ownership of daily operations.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting and modeling skills, plus direct responsibility for audits, compliance and internal controls.
• A record of building teams and improving operating systems through growth and change.
• Skill at leading through influence.
• Experience negotiating significant vendor, service or operating agreements.
• Sound judgment and a history of working closely with a CEO or President.

A plus

• Higher education experience, especially at a career-focused or proprietary school.
• Work in another regulated industry.
• Experience with acquisitions or running operations across more than one location.

Location and relocation

155 Sansome Street, downtown San Francisco, on site at least three days a week. Candidates from outside the Bay Area are welcome and must be willing to relocate.