Jobs

Director of Finance

Full-time, 12-month position

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Start date: Spring 2025

Founded in 1889, The Wheeler School is a co-educational independent day school for students from Nursery through Grade Twelve with two campuses in beautiful and dynamic Providence, Rhode Island, adjacent to the campus of Brown University, and across 120 acres in Seekonk, Massachusetts. The essence of our vision comes down to a simple concept: Wheeler is a place where we strive to make anything possible for students, where choice, inquiry, and interest are of primary import, where we know individuals well, and where we insist upon and nurture intellectual character, critical thinking, empathy, and creative spirit. Our mission is to “learn our powers and be answerable for their use.”

With 824 students across four divisions, including Lower, Middle, Upper, and the Hamilton School for bright dyslexic students, the school is in an excellent financial position, with an annual budget of nearly $40M and a current endowment value of $63M. The school has benefitted from strong leadership over its 135+ year history and will have a new, experienced Head of School beginning in July of 2025. Wheeler is stewarded by a highly functional Board of Trustees, and has a talented faculty and staff of over 220. The school is investing in a significant transformation of the Farm campus with excellent revenue potential. The finance professionals in the Business Office are longstanding, dedicated, and hard-working.

An integral member of the school’s business team and a strategic partner to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Head of School, and the Executive Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees, the Director of Finance will work closely with this team and provide oversight of the business office. Following a longstanding leader in this area who has provided excellent stewardship of the school’s financial health, the new leader will be critical in setting and implementing a vision for the school’s next chapter.

At the highest level, the ideal candidate will be an effective manager, knowledgeable and experienced in accounting and financial leadership, a pragmatic visionary, collaborative, self-motivated, and decisive. They will garner trust through open and direct communications and a strong work ethic, and they will have a high energy level that matches the dynamism of the Wheeler School environment. The candidate of choice will act with humility and good humor. They will be organized, an excellent, strategic, thoughtful communicator, and have strong relational skills.

Specific responsibilities include:

Fiscal Management and Leadership

• Coordinate and strategically manage the school’s financial resources in partnership with the COO and the Head of School.
• Work closely with key departments in the school, including enrollment & advancement
• Manage the team that runs the business office functions.
• Develop, discuss, and implement the annual operating budget by obtaining input from all relevant stakeholders.
• Monitor and report budget variances via quarterly forecasts and suggest corrective actions.
• Oversee cash, investments, and asset management, with direct treasury management responsibility.
• Establish a regular process for review, update, and consistent application of appropriate internal controls, policies, and financial procedures.