POSITION: Chief Financial Officer
DEPARTMENT: Finance
LOCATION: San Antonio or Dallas, TX
REPORTS TO: Great Hearts Texas Superintendent
FLSA STATUS: Exempt, Full-time
The Role:
The CFO is Great Hearts Texas's senior finance leader, a member of the leadership team, and a strategic partner to the Superintendent and Board. Accountable for treasury, accounting, reporting, planning, controls, and financial compliance, the CFO leads through the finance team and external partners. The role requires technical depth to set standards, evaluate results, and intervene where needed while building team ownership.
Core Leadership Responsibilities:
Build and lead the finance organization: Recruit, develop, and retain strong finance and accounting talent. Establish effective leadership, clear responsibilities and decision rights, measurable goals, and disciplined performance management. Build a cohesive team that streamlines processes and delivers responsive support to schools and leadership.
Lead accounting and financial operations: Provide executive oversight of accounting, monthly close, financial reporting, payroll, payments, and receivable collections through effective team leadership. Set expectations for accuracy, timeliness, service, and controls. Ensure accounting
issues are resolved and the organization is audit-ready and financially compliant. Establish clear ownership and effective management so financial operations are delivered reliably without recurring CFO intervention.
Modernize financial systems and processes: Set and execute the vision for financial systems, integrations, and workflows. Evaluate the current platform and investment options, prioritize improvements, and lead implementation and staff adoption. Improve accuracy, efficiency, and access to information while maintaining continuity of essential financial operations.
Execute financial strategy and guide enterprise decisions: Own budgeting, forecasting, cash management, and the integrated long-term financial plan. Deliver against financial health targets and lead corrective action when needed. Partner with the Superintendent, headmasters, and Board on school economics, resource allocation, facilities, and financial sustainability. Present clear options and recommendations while maintaining strong financing relationships, overseeing covenant compliance with advisor support, and surfacing material risks early.
Financial Stewardship and Governance
Financial stewardship and regulatory reporting: Ensure accounting and financial reporting comply with generally accepted accounting principles and applicable requirements. Establish accountability for accurate and timely local, state, and federal financial submissions, including financial data and Texas Education Agency reporting. Oversee annual financial audits, auditor relationships, and management's response to potential stakeholder concerns.
Grant and restricted-fund oversight: Ensure the team has the expertise, processes, and controls to manage state, federal, and other grants, including budgeting, disbursements, accounting, reporting, and compliance with funding restrictions. Partner with program and operating leaders on funding strategy and financial requirements.
Treasury and financial risk management: Set treasury and liquidity strategy and oversee cash management, banking, debt, and financing arrangements. Ensure effective controls that safeguard assets and support appropriate spending and procurement. Partner with operating leaders and advisors on insurance and financial risk management, and assess the financial implications of facilities, construction, and other major commitments.
Governance and organizational coordination: Provide financial insights and reporting to the Superintendent, Board, and school and operating leaders. Coordinate with Great Hearts America on shared financial requirements and processes, and maintain productive relationships with auditors, lenders, advisors, and other external partners.
Qualifications, Competencies, and Strengths Education and Experience:
Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field. CPA and/or an advanced degree such as an MBA preferred.
Progressively responsible finance and accounting leadership experience, with demonstrated success rebuilding or strengthening teams, delivering dependable financial operations, and executing a financial strategy. Experience should reflect organizational complexity relevant to Great Hearts Texas and include accounting, planning and analysis, cash management, controls, and financial strategy.
Demonstrated ability to oversee accounting, audit readiness, and compliance through effective leadership and management. Experience delivering systems or workflow improvements, including requirements assessment, investment judgment, implementation, staff adoption, and measurable operating results.
Texas charter or school-finance experience is preferred. Candidates from other sectors should demonstrate transferable operational leadership and the ability to build and lead a team with the required school-finance expertise, while developing their own sector knowledge.
Experience with complex or multi-site organizations, facilities financing, banking relationships, debt covenants, and bond financing is preferred.
Technical Skills:
Strong financial modeling, forecasting, and analytical skills, including advanced Excel proficiency. Ability to evaluate financial platforms, reporting tools, data structures, and integrations. Specific software experience is less important than demonstrated success improving systems and adoption.
Leadership and Working Style:
People leadership and organizational development: Builds capable teams, develops accounting leadership, and makes sound hiring and personnel decisions. Distinguishes skill gaps from capacity, process, and system limitations. Establishes clear goals, disciplined performance management, and a culture of service and problem solving.
Financial and business judgment: Connects financial analysis to business decisions and results. Understands cash, school unit economics, and long-term sustainability. Demonstrates ability to weighs tradeoffs and makes clear recommendations.
Turnaround leadership and continuous improvement: Comfortable leading through incomplete information, uneven team capacity, and imperfect systems. Diagnoses root causes, prioritizes improvements, and establishes accountability and operating routines while enabling completion of essential work.
Systems and change leadership: Makes practical technology and process decisions, sequences work realistically, and manages cost, capacity, and implementation risk. Builds adoption and demonstrates improvements in efficiency and accuracy.
Executive presence and enterprise partnership: Builds trust with educators, executives, Board members, and financing partners. Simplifies complex issues, makes clear recommendations, and challenges assumptions constructively while maintaining strong relationships. Navigates ambiguity and difficult conversations with humility, emotional maturity, patience, and candor.
Additional Requirements:
Regular presence with the finance team and travel to schools and meetings across the Dallas and San Antonio regions. Ability to meet applicable employment, background-check, and fingerprinting requirements. Maintain confidentiality and professional standards.
This description outlines the position's principal responsibilities; other duties consistent with the role may be assigned.
Travel required: May need to travel locally for training and professional development opportunities.
This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions. It does not exclude or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.
