Senior Strategic Finance Manager

About this role

About DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose is an education nonprofit ensuring every US public school student has the classroom resources they need to learn, grow, and thrive.

Founded by a teacher in 2000, DonorsChoose connects educators with a nationwide community of supporters who believe investing in students today will transform tomorrow. Educators request the materials they know their students need, and donors can choose the classroom, community, or cause they want to support. Since our founding, donors have supported 90% of US public schools. Every request is vetted, resources are delivered to classrooms, and donors can see the impact of their support through transparent reporting and updates from students and teachers. Raising $1.9 billion for classrooms, DonorsChoose has earned top ratings from Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and CharityWatch for its transparency, trust, and impact. Our dedicated team works from across the United States to turn resources into opportunities for students and teachers.

About the Finance Team

The Finance team is responsible for ensuring the overall financial health of DonorsChoose. We work cross-functionally to support millions of revenue and purchase transactions annually, in addition to supporting traditional operational finance activities. Specific areas of responsibility for the Finance team include forecasting/budgeting, management reporting, accounting, financial operations (AR/AP), treasury & investments, and financial data analytics.

With a focus on continuous improvement, technology, and adopting scalable solutions, we serve internal and external customers alike. We are seeking an energetic and creative team member who will thrive in our highly-collaborative work environment.

About the Role

DonorsChoose is seeking a tactical, collaborative Senior Strategic Finance Manager who will report to the VP, Finance & Accounting. You will work closely with senior leaders to provide insights that drive growth, optimize resource allocation, shape cash and margin decisions, and enhance financial performance across the organization. This is a highly cross-functional role for someone who thrives at the intersection of financial analysis and strategic decision-making. We are looking for candidates who have deep scenario planning and modeling experience – who are able to analyze financial data, build financial models, generate financial forecasts and play a key role in driving business decisions.

About a third of your time will be dedicated towards budgeting, forecasting, and month-end reporting activities as needed while maintaining primary focus on strategic finance and decision support.

Success in this role requires equal parts analytical rigor, curiosity, creativity, and business judgment. You'll build sophisticated financial models from scratch, pressure-test assumptions, synthesize information from multiple sources, and communicate recommendations that help leaders make better decisions. You'll thrive if you enjoy moving between spreadsheets and strategy conversations and are equally comfortable diving into the details and presenting the story behind the numbers.

Primary Responsibilities

Financial Modeling & Business Analysis:

• Build and maintain a 3-statement financial model for budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, scenario analysis, and net asset impacts

• Independently develop ROI analyses and cost-benefit frameworks that shape prioritization decisions and track the end-to-end lifecycle of initiatives from investment through post-launch impact measurement

• Serve as a strategic partner to senior leaders by providing actionable financial insights, to solve key business challenges and evaluate investments that encourage company growth

• Partner across the organization to evaluate deal economics, optimize margins, and improve efficiency

• Develop executive-ready analyses, dashboards, and Board materials that translate complex financial information into meaningful business insights

Budget & Forecast Management:

• Lead critical FP&A processes, including annual budgeting process, recurring forecasts, month-end reporting, and preparation of financial reporting for senior leadership and Board presentations

• Improve and automate FP&A processes, systems, and reporting as the company scales by using modern tooling (including AI-enabled solutions) to improve speed and accuracy

• Guide senior leaders on resource allocation and strategic decisions, occasionally presenting at leadership meetings and playing a critical role in cross-functional workstreams

• Manage vendor renewal calendars and ensure no material contracts auto-renew without review

Special Projects:

• Support the build-out of an internal procurement process, one that establishes a centralized function for spend management, contract reviews, vendor selection, and purchasing process.

• Own mission-critical initiatives such as an updated pricing strategy to optimize our margins

Qualifications

• Have 6-8 years of related work experience in strategic…