Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, the Budget Director is responsible for helping EpicWorks Participating Organization leaders understand their financial position, plan effectively, and make sound financial decisions. The ability to translate financial data into clear choice points and implications for leaders is essential to success in this role.
The Budget Director will support the CFO at an enterprise level across all Participating Organizations. A significant focus of this role will be providing extensive support to department heads at Working Families Party and Working Families Power (our largest and most complex Participating Organizations). The leaders of our Participating Organizations require support developing and managing budgets, identifying risks, evaluating tradeoffs, and monitoring spending, cash reserves, and forecasts in order to make informed decisions about their resources. The Budget Director will work in close partnership with the Working Families Party and Working Families Power Director of Management & Budget, who owns the budget process, strategy and decision process for those organizations. The Budget Director will lead the technical financial work necessary to complete those processes.
The Budget Director will also provide financial guidance to a portfolio of EpicWorks Participating Organizations. The role requires an ability to translate complex financial information into clear, practical guidance and build trusted relationships with leaders with varying levels of financial expertise. The Budget Director will work in close partnership with the Director of Participating Organization Services who is responsible for the overall experience of these additional leaders.
The Budget Director will supervise finance staff and balance strategic leadership and relationship management with hands-on financial analysis and problem-solving.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Serve as a financial partner to department heads and senior leaders at Working Families Party and Working Families Power.
- Lead the technical financial work needed for annual budgeting and regular forecasting to support department leaders and budget managers.
- Review budgets, actual spending, forecasts, staffing assumptions, and financial commitments with leaders on a regular basis.
- Identify significant variances, emerging risks, and financial trends and help leaders understand their possible implications.
- Model financial scenarios and help leaders evaluate staffing, programmatic, and operational decisions.
- Translate financial information into clear, actionable information for non-finance audiences.
- Provide hands-on support to departments of particular priority as identified by the CFO and Director of Management and Budget.
- Develop a strong understanding of the accounting system and the revenue and expenses underlying budget-versus-actual reports, including fundraising revenue projections and actual results.
- Support the development of financial dashboards tailored to the reporting and decision-making needs of Working Families' department and division directors. Participating Organization Support
- Provide financial guidance to our portfolio of Participating Organizations and fiscally sponsored projects, including budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, reporting, and financial planning.
- Meet regularly with organizational leaders to review financial performance, identify risks, and support sound decision-making.
- Develop training, tools, dashboards, templates, and written guidance that strengthen financial management across organizations.
- Support the financial onboarding of new Participating Organizations, including workflows, expectations, and financial systems.
- Collaborate with other EpicWorks teams to provide coordinated and responsive support. Financial Planning, Systems & Team Leadership
- Develop and continuously improve budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting tools and methods, and enterprise level financial planning processes.
- Partner with the Controller and accounting staff to ensure management reporting is timely, accurate, and grounded in sound accounting practices.
- Support improvements to NetSuite and other financial systems and identify opportunities to streamline or automate reporting and analysis.
- Supervise and develop finance staff, setting clear priorities and expectations and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and excellent service.
- Step into detailed financial analysis and operational work when needed.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
- 7–10 years of progressive nonprofit finance experience, including leadership or supervisory experience.
- Significant experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, cash flow management, and management reporting.
- Experience serving as a strategic financial partner to executives, department heads, or other organizational leaders.
- Experience working in complex, multi-entity nonprofit environments, including 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations.
- Strong understanding of GAAP, internal controls, and nonprofit financial management.
- Exceptional ability to translate complex financial information into practical guidance for non-finance leaders.
- Strong relationship-building and service orientation, with excellent communication and follow-through.
- Commitment to EpicWorks values of Accountability, Justice, Resilience and Collective Responsibility.
- Experience improving financial processes, reporting tools, dashboards, and systems.
- Experience supervising and developing finance staff.
- Experience with NetSuite or similar financial management systems.
- Experience with fiscally sponsored projects and grant-funded organizations strongly preferred.
- Experience in political, advocacy, movement, or other mission-driven organizations preferred.
Skills Required
- 7-10 years of progressive nonprofit finance experience, including leadership or supervisory experience
- Experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, cash flow management, and management reporting
- Experience serving as a strategic financial partner to executives, department heads, or organizational leaders
- Experience working in complex, multi-entity nonprofit environments, including 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations
- Strong understanding of GAAP, internal controls, and nonprofit financial management
- Ability to translate complex financial information into practical guidance for non-finance leaders
- Strong relationship-building, service orientation, communication, and follow-through
- Commitment to EpicWorks values of Accountability, Justice, Resilience, and Collective Responsibility
- Experience improving financial processes, reporting tools, dashboards, and systems
- Experience supervising and developing finance staff
- Experience with NetSuite or similar financial management systems
- Experience with fiscally sponsored projects and grant-funded organizations
- Experience in political, advocacy, movement, or other mission-driven organizations
- Currently authorized to work for any employer in the United States
What We Do
The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive political organization for the multiracial working class, dedicated to building a party that fights for workers and people over the powerful. WFP recruits, trains, and runs people-powered candidates for office to advance a progressive agenda, aiming to win major victories for working families, such as higher wages, fairer criminal justice, and getting money out of politics.
