Position:                               Executive Director Global Finance Operations

Reports to:                            CFO, Global Conservation

Location:                               Flexible in a country where WCS operates

Function:                               Global Finance

Position Type:                      Full-time

Scope:                                    Global

Manages:                               Regional Controllers

Coordinates with:                 Regional Directors, Regional Business Managers, Country Directors, Finance Managers, Executive Director of Grants Management and Compliance, VP/Comptroller, Executive Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, Director of Purchasing

Expected travel:                    Extensive travel (roughly 35%) mainly to remote program office locations

Organization Background:

WCS stands for wildlife and wild places. As the world’s premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has a long track record of achieving innovative, impactful results at scale. We run field programs spanning 60 countries and the entire ocean. We build on a unique foundation: Our reach is global; we discover through best-in-class science; we protect through work on the ground with local and indigenous people; we inspire through our world-class zoos, aquarium, and education programs; and we leverage our resources through partnerships and powerful policy influence. Our more than 4,000 diverse, passionately committed team members in New York City and around the world work collectively to achieve our conservation mission.

Job Purpose:

The WCS Global Finance team is responsible for ensuring that key financial management accountabilities are in place across WCS’s 13 regions, in over 50 country programs and Global Conservations Program HQ thematic based programs with a combined operating budget of nearly USD $190 million.

The role of this position is to ensure the integrity of Global Conservation Program financial accounts and financial management processes, oversee compliance with WCS policies/procedures, and lead the audit and financial compliance function across the global regions of WCS. This position also has responsibility for assessing and building capacity of the regional and country finance teams by providing appropriate financial management training where necessary.

Major Responsibilities:

• Providing financial management leadership by developing finance policies and developing standard operating procedures for key accounting processes such as country office statutory financial statements, trial balances, cash management expense reimbursement, grants receivables, currency risk management, fleet management, and cost allocations.
• Assessing and building financial management capacity, including training finance staff on WCS financial policies/procedures and partnering with regional and country program leadership to ensure that the financial management capacity is appropriate based on program scale and complexity.
• Ensure proper training of finance staff across all countries, both on an ongoing basis, and through design and execution of large regional conferences.
• Overseeing the financial audit function, including developing and maintaining an internal audit plan, implementing ad hoc audits as necessary, managing staff and outside contractors performing operational/financial audits, and providing regional and country program leadership with audit findings and improvement action plans.
• Providing direct financial management guidance to country and regional programs.
• Developing and maintaining a financial risk profile of each WCS office and region, to inform management where resources/improvements are need to mitigate risk.
• Leading a high-impact team of regional controllers.
• Participating on cross-functional project teams and performing other duties as requested by the Global CFO and the VP/Comptroller

Minimum Requirements and Job Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field.
• 10+ years’ experience in financial management roles, including experience in the NGO sector and with financial audits.
• Solid computer skills with respect to Word, Excel, email and developing technologies in financial management
• Experience with ERP systems.
• Experience with grants management.
• Models WCS’s Core Values: Integrity, Respect, Accountability & Transparency, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Collaboration, and Innovation.
• Leads effectively in a global matrixed environment.

Preferred Requirements:

• CPA Strongly Preferred
• Professional qualification such as MBA, ACA, ACMA, ACCA.
• Proficient in Spanish or French
• Grants management experience with at least one of the following institutions: United States Government, United Nations, European Union, World Bank.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer, and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and engaging a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on gender, race/ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, caste, genetic information or any other covered status or characteristic protected by laws and regulations/and similar categories.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we do not tolerate discrimination or harassment based upon a person’s membership in one of these protected categories in areas such as recruitment, selection, job assignment, supervision, training, promotions, job grading, transfers, termination, compensation, benefits, educational opportunities, WCS sponsored recreational activities and facilities.

The organization complies with the spirit and intent of relevant local laws and WCS’s employment policies.