The Director of Financial Planning and Analysis is a key strategic business partner that will develop a deep understanding of all aspects of NOLS’ finances, financial systems, business model, and operations. 

This position will lead all aspects of financial planning and analysis for NOLS including the annual budget process and monthly forecasting for all departments. Through profitability analysis, variance analysis, developing and managing complex financial models, and an ability to apply critical thinking to uncover solutions to complex business issues, this role will provide significant financial and strategic support to senior management. 

Key Information:

• Location: Remote with some occasional travel

• Start date: Immediately or as soon as practical.

• Questions: Please contact peopleteam@nols.edu

What does a Director of Financial Planning and Analysis do?

This role is in our Finance team and reports directly to the Vice President of Finance. In your role, you will be expected to own and lead the FP&A function at NOLS.

• Use business modeling and analytics to understand and explain financial and operational trends, increase profitability, and support and maintain the long-term business plan.

• Build and track annual operating and capital budgets.

• Monitor and report monthly operating expense and variance analyses as part of forecasting process.

• Monitor and report capital spending. 

• Own and regularly update company-wide cash flow forecast. 

• Develop a deep understanding of NOLS business and operations while building dynamic internal financial partnerships.

• Serve as acting Vice President of Finance when VPF is unavailable.

What makes a great Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at NOLS? 

We are looking for people who share our values and are keen to learn and develop their expertise. We are looking for candidates with a minimum of the skills listed below. We expect to provide training and development support in some of the areas.

• Deep understanding of complex financial and accounting concepts. 

• Ability to work with and explain financial and accounting concepts to non-financial employees to support and assist in developing actionable business decisions. 

• Experience with budget tracking, variance reporting, and cost analysis.

• Exceptional ability to build and maintain financial models to support business decisions and planning. 

• Experience in a management-level role.

• Ability to build and make presentations to senior management.

• Advanced-level skills with spreadsheet (Excel), presentation (PowerPoint), and word processing (Microsoft Word)

• Undergraduate degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.

• 10+ years experience in Finance and/or Accounting.

  In your first 6 months, you will: 

• Work closely with the Finance and Operations teams to gain a complete understanding of NOLS financial reporting systems, general ledger accounts, financial statements, and business operations for our world-class wilderness education school.

• Partner with and support departments school-wide as you manage the annual budget process. 

• Build financial analyses that will become the foundation of NOLS course profitability system. 

• Implement and oversee a recurring operations financial performance review and forecast process.

• Build relationships with key stakeholders to gain buy-in to the financial planning process.

• Evaluate and establish policies and procedures that positively impact NOLS financial controls and performance.

How to Apply

It’s super easy! Just enter your email and click the “start your application” button at the top of the screen, answer a few simple questions, and upload your cover letter and resume as one PDF document when you are prompted to upload your CV/resume.

At NOLS we use the Applied platform for our recruitment. The Applied platform will ask you some demographic questions before you start your application. We at NOLS never see the responses to these demographic questions with your application. We only see summary statistics to help us check if our candidate pool is balanced and if everyone has an equal chance to get hired irrespective of their background. If you prefer, you can easily opt out of answering these questions.

Who is NOLS?

NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that strives to be the leading source and teacher of wilderness skills and leadership that serve people and the environment. Our community—staff, students, trustees, and alumni—shares a commitment to wilderness, education, leadership, safety, community, and excellence. 

We believe that anyone can be a leader; it is our role to provide the environment and training to help people discover their full potential. We do that in classrooms close to home and in remote wilderness areas around the world. We are an organization with heart, expertise, and wildness, and these qualities help us support powerful, authentic experiences.

Why is NOLS a great place to work?

• We have locations in seven U.S. states, and six countries; and courses in all 50 U.S. states and over 10 countries.

• We have fantastic employee discounts on top outdoor gear brands

• We offer discounts on NOLS Courses for you and your family

• All employees can benefit of free outdoor equipment rental" at our various locations

• Insurance Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision benefits are available at a special NOLS rate to seasonal employees. Full-time employees are eligible for benefits package. 

• Wellness Time: Accrued leave that may be used for many HR-approved reasons throughout the season.

• Employee Assistance Program: Access to counselors that are available 24/7 to assist employees with work-life balance concerns.

Additional Information

In order to be considered for this role you must upload your cover letter and resume as one PDF document.

Please note in order to ensure pay transparency and pay equity the range posted is non-negotiable. If you are unwilling to accept an offer within the posted range, please review our other opportunities to see if one better aligns with your salary expectations.

NOLS currently can support remote employees with legal working rights in the following US locations: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

• A criminal background check is required from all NOLS employees.

• NOLS participates in e-verify

• Current NOLS employees please note it is NOLS policy to conduct an internal reference check with People Team and/or your current supervisor as part of the reference check process. If you have any questions or concerns about this process please contact peopleteam@nols.edu.

NOLS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetics information, disability unrelated to job or admission requirements, or status as a protected veteran.

Reasonable accommodations may be requested for disability; limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition; religion; and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. Reasonable accommodations may be requested at any point of the employment process, including during recruitment. Please email peopleteam@nols.edu with your request.