Financial Planning & Accounting Manager

The Nueva School • San Mateo, CA

6d • $110,000 - $130,000

About The Position

The Nueva School is seeking a mission-aligned financial leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, stewardship, and service. The Financial Planning and Accounting Manager plays a vital role in ensuring Nueva’s financial systems not only run with precision and integrity but also actively support the school’s innovative programming and long-term sustainability. This position blends thoughtful financial analysis with meaningful partnerships across campus, offering the opportunity to contribute to a collaborative community dedicated to educational excellence.
The Nueva School is seeking a collaborative, detail-oriented Financial Planning and Accounting Manager to play a key role in stewarding the school’s financial health and supporting its mission-driven work with gifted learners. In this role, you will partner closely with the Controller, Business Office team, and department leaders across campus to lead budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis that directly supports Nueva’s innovative academic programming. You will manage and refine the school’s annual budget and forecast model, facilitate budget conversations with program leaders, and help translate financial data into clear, actionable insights for decision-makers. You will also contribute to the monthly close process by preparing journal entries, reconciliations, and variance analysis, ensuring the school’s financial reporting is timely, accurate, and aligned with nonprofit accounting standards. As a key partner to the Development team, you will track and reconcile donations and endowment activity, helping ensure transparency and strong stewardship of philanthropic support. This role also oversees the school’s credit card purchasing program (Ramp), ensuring smooth workflows, clear policies, and accurate expense reporting across the organization. In addition, you will support audit and tax preparation, partner with faculty and staff to build and manage budgets for student trips and programs, and take on special projects that strengthen financial operations and systems. This position is ideal for someone who enjoys both detailed accounting work and collaborative, cross-functional partnership in a mission-driven environment. If you are energized by using financial expertise to support students, educators, and a vibrant school community, this role offers an opportunity to make a meaningful impact at an organization known for innovation, inclusion, and excellence.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance or the accounting field with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience
• Excellent analytical skills, ability to consistently exercise sound judgment
• Must demonstrate accuracy and attention to detail, and be highly organized
• Exceptional time management and prioritization skills; ability to work with minimum supervision and to set priorities
• Strong knowledge of accounting concepts, GAAP, and financial analysis required
• Advanced Excel, database, and computer skills (Ramp, Financial Edge)

Nice To Haves

• Resourceful, flexible to wear many hats, high level of initiative, and strong work ethic
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and interpersonal skills are essential in this collaborative work environment
• Ability to maintain professionalism and exercise strict confidentiality
• Strong customer service and communication skills, both written and oral
• Independent school or non-profit experience is a plus

Responsibilities

• Manage budget/forecasting process, including timeline, budget meetings, and reporting; an in-depth understanding of school programming and business flows is key for this position
• Assist with monthly close, including journal entries, accruals, balance sheet, and revenue reconciliations
• Liaison between the Business Office and Development, tracking donations from receipt to recording to reconciliation
• Understand and track Endowment gifts, balances, gains/losses, and accounting entries.
• Prepare monthly budget vs. actual expense variance analysis reports for budget/department owners to discuss significant variances
• Manage the credit card purchasing system (Ramp), the authorization process, the related entry posting, and the expense account reconciliation
• Responsible for the financial audit and tax return preparation portions under this purview.
• Manage the budget and forecast model and upload to the financial system
• Support school employees who lead curricular and other trips with budgets and cash management
• Other special projects and analysis

Benefits

• We offer a full benefits package that includes fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees, employer contributions toward dependent insurance premiums, a generous match on our 403(b) retirement plan, long-term disability insurance, flexible spending accounts, and free lunch.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager