Director of Finance

*We are taking applications and conducting interviews for this position on a rolling basis. Please apply early!

Position Summary

MediaJustice is seeking our first Director of Finance to drive financial strategy and operations in support of our mission to challenge the collusion of big tech/media and the state. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in accounting, month-end close, as well as financial planning and analysis (FP&A), with a forward-thinking approach to strategy.

We’re looking for someone with a proven ability to establish and refine financial processes in nonprofit organizations with budgets between $5M–$10M, particularly those that are primarily grant-funded. The Director of Finance will work closely with MediaJustice’s accounting firm to oversee financial procedures, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting, ensuring strong financial operations and compliance.

This role requires deep expertise in bridging Finance and Development for grant funded organizations, with extensive experience in managing grant cycles, revenue recognition, and compliance. They will have enough expertise to lead the Director of Development through creating and improving processes.

In addition to day-to-day financial management, the Director will collaborate across departments to foster transparency and sustainability. The ideal candidate will be a detail-oriented communicator, skilled at working with both accounting teams and program staff, and passionate about advancing social justice through effective financial stewardship.

About MediaJustice

MediaJustice (based in Oakland, CA) is committed to building a powerful front of organizations capable of dismantling the collusion of power inside of the media and tech system and replacing it with people-centered media and technology that drives us towards human liberation. In order to build our collective power, we are committed to cohering a field that is accountable to social movements and driven by a common vision for media and technology that centers racial justice and economic justice. We believe it is our mandate and responsibility in this moment to disrupt the pattern of reactive and siloed struggles around media and technology that fail to weaken the power of the media and tech industry and which are not driven by the experiences of the people being harmed.

Here’s how we do it:

• Building a cross-movement long-term vision and strategy for media and technology that allows MediaJustice and our partners to orient toward and engage in power building.
• Generating assessments about the present forces shaping media and technology to better anticipate emerging threats and develop proactive interventions.
• Developing and advancing narratives and cultural interventions that influence popular consciousness to uproot the fundamental logic upholding the media and tech industry under racial capitalism.
• Curating opportunities to build political and values-based alignment through convenings and campaigns between social movements and media and tech advocates that can build the foundation for deeper collaborations.
• Leading major political education events, training and actions that respond to the current political moment around media and technology.

Essential Responsibilities

• Lead annual budget development (at organizational and department levels), with support from the Head of Operations, including organizing the Directors and Development, improving processes, leveraging appropriate tools and technology, and providing training to all participants in the process.
• Accountable for the accuracy and completeness of MediaJustice’s accounting records including ensuring a timely, and accurate, month-end close and audit preparation, in collaboration with our accounting firm and the Development team and Directors.
• With support from the Head of Operations, identify opportunities for, and implement, continual improvements to Finance at MediaJustice including staffing structure, policies and procedures, technology, and trainings.
• Manage report creation, and conduct analysis to support the Executive Team, Leadership Team and Development Team’s financial, budgeting, and fundraising needs.
• Own the Finance side of grants and resource management by working closely with the Development team to ensure a collaborative approach to grant applications, lead grant budgeting with inputs from appropriate programmatic teams, gather information required to be compliant with all grants, and track resource streams and spend-down.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support teams as needed to support budget changes, and provide clarity on coding and tracking expenses.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external policies, including all local, state, federal, financial reporting, and regulatory requirements, including tax filings, audits, and other reporting requirements. Assist our auditing firm in our annual audit and tax return preparation.
• Contributes to a culture of collaboration, transparency and alignment around finance at MediaJustice by communicating effectively with all staff across MediaJustice to clearly explain our finance needs in a way that accommodates a variety of levels of finance literacy.
• Provide supervision, coaching and learning development opportunities to the staff they supervise.
• Engaging in organizational strategy as a member of the MediaJustice leadership team.
• Advance MediaJustice’s core competency of Learning and Growing by committing to individual political education on topics related to MJ’s strategy and participating fully in staff-wide political education activities.

Must Haves

The skills and qualities we are not compromising on

• 10+ years of finance experience working with accrual based-accounting in non-profits with budgets in excess of $3 million, or 5+ years with a relevant formal finance certification or degree
• 5+ years of experience in non-profits whose revenue model is restricted foundation grants funding work across multiple departments
• Strong understanding of US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and bookkeeping procedures.
• Solid understanding of how financials work within the larger organizational health and structure (programmatic, operational, and fund development).
• Experience creating and managing solid financial processes, including defining roles, in organizations with multiple finance and development staff
• Experience creating and managing budgets at organizational, department and grant levels.
• Sophisticated understanding of day-to-day accounting processes, general ledger work, and detailed budget processes.
• Proficiency in QuickBooks Online or a comparable financial cloud based management software, and Excel required. High degree of comfort with technology and online applications needed (Google Suite Apps / Microsoft Office environment).
• Ability to communicate finance concepts to people at all levels, with all levels of financial literacy.
• Entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving with a diverse set of people, including risk assessment and management.
• Demonstrated experience creating and overseeing finance processes, including integrating cross-teams in finance processes, and Dev/Finance processes.

Nice to haves

The skills and qualities that are a plus but not required

• Formal Finance certification or degree.
• Experience in a similar finance role in a movement organization.
• Experience managing staff, contractors and consultants.
• Experience in a supervisory role.

You are perfect for this position if

• You see patterns and categories - you can see quickly how to bucket, and account for, every expense.
• You are a translator - you see how finance is integrated into everyone’s work and you love to explain that to them! You are able to explain to someone why coding an expense is not just busy work, it actually connects to MJ’s mission.
• You are creative - you expect the unexpected and you’re excited to dive in and figure out solutions. You evaluate all possibilities and then some.
• You can take numbers, and turn them into meaning - seeing where these numbers take us into the future.
• You are willing to make mistakes, and to distill the lesson of that mistake in order to improve and grow.

Timeline for hire

We are taking rolling applications, looking for the right candidate.

Core Competencies

MediaJustice’s Core Competencies are the skills we expect all of our staff to have and continually develop - regardless of role or level. We believe that transparent and clearly articulated core competencies support a consistency of staff experience across MediaJustice, and help us understand what is expected of us and where we have room to grow.

Collaboration

Collaboration at MediaJustice is about thoughtfully and strategically involving others in the achievement of our goals. This includes proactively sharing information, seeking input and alignment, considering both my own goals as well as the team’s/others’ goals, and engaging impacted team members as we seek to make decisions and achieve our mission.

Learning and Growing

Learning and Growing at MediaJustice is about embracing the practice and cycle of making mistakes, self-reflection and team reflection, adaptation, and application of new knowledge and skills. We try, take risks, stay curious, learn new things, extend grace, and innovate. We also invest with intention in professional development (time and resources) for everyone at MediaJustice.

Anticipatory Thinking

Anticipatory Thinking at MediaJustice is about recognizing and preparing for upcoming successes and challenges, many of which may not be understood until they are encountered. It includes proactively anticipating roadblocks in our work and strategizing with your colleagues about how you will respond in these situations.

Self-Management

Self-Management at MediaJustice is about “freedom with responsibility.” We are trusted (and supported, and expected) to manage our time and our work, communicate our boundaries, and prioritize our dimensions of success (relationships-process-results).

Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at MediaJustice is the awareness of not just systems of privilege but also how power is codified in systems of oppression, and how this often extends to our interactions with people, AND a collaborative practice and commitment to action that supports all of us to challenge and dismantle systems of privilege and oppression, continue our own learning and growth, and create a workplace environment that lets all of us feel as though we belong here.

SALARY & BENEFITS/ COMPENSATION PHILOSOPHY

MediaJustice practices a negotiation-free compensation policy and has set salaries based on the level in the organization and years of experience, with salaries benchmarked to be in the top 25% for the three most expensive U.S. cities. The salary level for this role is that of Director of Finance, and the range is $114,122-$131,722 annually, based on the experience tier you land in.

In addition to the salary, total compensation includes the following benefits:

• A fully remote organization with work flexibility to meet your schedule
• 3 weeks of vacation, 3.5 weeks of office closures, and 13 paid holidays
• Monthly $165 wellness and $125 home office, and $75 cell phone stipends
• Medical, Vision, and Dental premiums are covered at 100% for staff, and 70% for their family.
• Non-elective 401K contributions - regardless of employee contribution
• Paid sabbatical after 5 years
• And more

MediaJustice strongly believes in honoring all our staff’s humanity and doing what we can to support them to be fully engaged in their work. Our policies, benefits, and compensation attempt to ensure people are treated equitably and fairly. We are constantly assessing and revisiting our compensation, benefits, and HR policies to respond to the needs of our staff.

Read more about our Compensation Philosophy here.