Director of Financial Planning and Analysis

First Place for Youth offers a mission-driven environment where finance leaders help remove barriers and support programs serving young people. This onsite role in Oakland, CA partners closely with the CFO and executive teams, with a strong focus on building reliable budgeting and reporting systems, improving financial decision support, and strengthening organizational planning as the organization scales.

What you’ll do

As the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, you will serve as a hands-on strategic partner to the CFO for budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis. You will own the accuracy of monthly financial reporting and lead the evaluation, selection, and integration of a new budgeting/FP&A system connected to the general ledger.

• Lead the annual organization-wide budget process and mid-year forecasts with the CFO, developing revenue and expense assumptions and running scenario planning.
• Build and maintain financial models for long-range planning, new program investment decisions, and Board-level financial presentations.
• Monitor monthly performance versus budget at the organizational level, analyze variances, and proactively surface risks and opportunities to the CFO.
• Develop dashboards and management reporting that turn complex financial data into actionable insights for the CFO and Executive Team.
• Partner with Programs, Development, and National Expansion teams, translating financial information for non-finance stakeholders.
• Own the development, monitoring, and modification of county and government contract budgets, ensuring alignment with contract terms and expenditure rules.
• Support RFP budgets, contract renewals, and budget amendments, maximizing expense reimbursement and overhead recovery.
• Track spending against contract and grant budgets throughout the year, identifying underspending or overspending risk early and driving corrective action.
• Support grant budget development and financial narratives for new and renewing private and government funding proposals.
• Review monthly and quarterly financial reports for accuracy before distribution, partnering with the Controller and Accounting Manager to resolve discrepancies before close.
• Validate that revenue and expense allocations across contracts, grants, and programs are properly reflected in monthly financial statements.
• Serve as a second set of eyes on the monthly close package, flagging unusual variances, coding errors, or reconciliation issues for follow-up.
• Lead the selection of a new budgeting/FP&A system by evaluating tools for fit with contract and grant structure.
• Drive design and integration of the new budgeting system with the general ledger (Sage Intacct), ensuring clean data flow between planning and actuals.
• Partner with the IT Director and implementation partners to test, document, and roll out new financial planning tools and reporting structures.
• Build repeatable processes and templates so budgets, forecasts, and actuals stay consistent as the organization grows.
• Identify and implement process improvements and automation opportunities to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Other duties as assigned.

What you’ll bring

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field and 4+ years of related experience required.
• Alternatively, candidates without a degree must demonstrate relevant education plus minimum 7 years of related experience.
• Progressive FP&A experience, including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis required.
• 5+ years of managerial experience required.
• Strong dedication to cultural competency that creates conditions that remove barriers.
• Demonstrated experience building and managing contract or grant-level budgets, including budget modifications.
• Experience reviewing financial reports for accuracy and partnering with accounting teams to resolve discrepancies.
• Excellent analytical, modeling, and communication skills (written and verbal), including translating financial data for non-finance audiences.
• Experience with budgeting and planning systems, including system selection and implementation or improvement projects.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial modeling; high proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• Prior program budget management experience is required.
• Availability for occasional evening and weekend work and some travel as needed.

Compensation

Salary: USD 122,600 to 153,260 per year. Pay is determined based on education and experience.

Benefits

• 15 days of vacation time in the first year
• 12 days of sick time
• 2 floating holidays
• 15 paid holidays
• Employee health options: Kaiser or UCH HMO/PPO with up to 90% of the premium covered by First Place on certain plans
• Principal dental and vision coverage with up to 90% of the premium covered by First Place
• Healthcare and Dependent care FSA plans
• Principal basic life and voluntary life insurance coverage
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid sabbatical

Technologies

• Sage Intacct
• Excel
• Microsoft Office

Additional hiring and legal notes

• First Place is unable to sponsor work visas now or in the future.
• First Place will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and applicable law.
• No relocation assistance; local candidates preferred.