Job Description
Job Description
About the California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is a globally renowned scientific and cultural institution located in the heart of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Home to a world-class planetarium, aquarium, research center, and natural history museum—all under one living roof—our mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.
Our extensive collections span plants, animals, fossils, and cultural artifacts from across the globe and throughout history. We are a diverse team of leading biodiversity scientists, educators, storytellers, designers, and communicators who work collaboratively to advance knowledge and inspire action through science and storytelling.
When you join the California Academy of Sciences, you become part of a mission-driven community that values curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. Whether you're working behind the scenes in research or engaging the public on the museum floor, your work will help connect people to the natural world and empower them to protect it.
About the Opportunity
Reporting to the CFO, you will play a pivotal role in shaping financial strategy, optimizing resource allocation, and driving operational efficiency across the Academy's divisions. By leveraging your expertise in financial planning and analysis, you will help strengthen the Academy's operational excellence and scalability, directly supporting our mission to regenerate the natural world through science, education, and collaboration.
This role requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams and the Academy's leadership to ensure business plans align with strategic priorities and are grounded in sound assumptions. As a business partner, you will bring strong analytical skills, business acumen, and a collaborative mindset to deliver meaningful, organization-wide impact.
POSITION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Board Support
- Create and maintain all financial schedules presented to the Board of Trustees and its committees, including the Full Board, Finance Committee, Investment Committee, and Executive Committee.
- Lead the development of financial analyses required by senior management for matters presented to the Board and Board committees.
Budgeting/Forecasting
- Manage the annual budgeting process, including establishing timelines, setting expectations for budget owners, reviewing submissions, and presenting the final budget to the Board of Trustees for approval.
- Collaborate with the Chief Financial Officer to oversee the development of a long-term financial plan aligned with the organization's strategic objectives.
- Partner with senior leaders and department heads to produce quarterly rolling forecasts, incorporating updated assumptions based on actual performance and evolving market conditions.
- Serve as the primary liaison for the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) budgeting process, preparing budget submissions and completing quarterly financial reporting.
Fiscal Management
- Support key business initiatives by delivering financial analyses to inform decisions and identify opportunities to improve outcomes.
- Develop, monitor and analyze key financial metrics (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, etc.) to ensure alignment with organizational goals and support strategic decision-making.
- Conduct profitability and margin analyses across business units, product lines, and markets to assess trends, risks and opportunities, and to identify key performance drivers such as pricing, product mix, and cost structure.
- Utilize advanced Excel and Google Sheets skills to build and maintain scenario models that evaluate the financial impact of decisions, risks, and opportunities.
Management Reporting
- Develops accurate and timely monthly, quarterly, and annual financial and operational dashboards/reports for executive leadership including tracking income and expenses, capital expenditures and reporting monthly progress to budget/forecast and highlighting issues and areas for focus.
- Collaborate with the CFO to develop and track investment performance metrics in partnership with outsourced investment managers.
- Perform other job-related duties as assigned
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Lead and manage a team of Finance Business Partners.
QUALIFICATIONS: A successful candidate will have the following:
EXPERIENCE and/or EDUCATION:
- Minimum of 10–12 years of experience in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and/or Accounting, including leadership and people management responsibilities.
- A formal finance and accounting education; a master's degree in business administration (MBA) or a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation is preferred.
- FP&A experience in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
- Experience working with the Board of Directors/Trustees.
- Demonstrated ability to independently lead the budgeting process for an organization with a multi-million-dollar budget.
- Strong track record in building long-range P&L and cash flow models, deriving strategic insights, and presenting findings to executive leadership.
- Proficiency with financial systems such as Adaptive Insights / Adaptive Planning and NetSuite (or comparable platforms) is preferred.
- Prior experience implementing FP&A systems is a plus.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
- Exceptional financial acumen with a demonstrated ability to align fiscal stewardship with mission-driven priorities.
- Excellent project management skills, including the interest in and ability to lead cross-functional matters across the organization and manage multiple projects in a collaborative environment.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex data, findings, and ideas clearly to diverse audiences.
- Advanced analytical skills, with the ability to synthesize large datasets and distill key trends, insights, and recommendations.
- Expert proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, including advanced financial modeling and data analysis.
- Working knowledge of GAAP (Accruals, COGS, and Capitalization versus Expense).
Organizational Culture
Join a team dedicated to the Academy's mission, vision and values!Currently, the Academy has a new strategic plan including three initiatives – Hope for Reefs, Thriving California, and Islands 2030 – that leverage biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement to regenerate fragile ecosystems around the world. Learn more at https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/major-initiatives.
We hope you are inspired by what we do and are excited to contribute to our mission. The mission of the California Academy of Sciences is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The Academy is looking for candidates who do great work, and we know they may come from a number of different backgrounds and experiences. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every qualification for the position.
This position is based in San Francisco, California. Staff are currently expected to work from the Academy offices at least 2-3 times per week, which may fluctuate based on business needs. Please do not apply if you are not able to work onsite.
Compensation and Benefits:
The salary range for this position is $127,000 - $203,000. Actual compensation will be commensurate with the final candidate's qualifications and experience, including skills, knowledge, relevant education, certifications and aligned with the internal peer group. We believe in fair and equitable compensation practices and are committed to providing competitive salaries within the industry and market standards. The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked. Further details regarding compensation and benefits will be discussed during the interview process.
Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours per week
How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and application through our Careers Page portal.
The California Academy of Sciences will give full consideration for employment to all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of theSan Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code, Article 49).