Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) is a nonprofit organization focused on accelerating innovative solutions for American energy security. The Vice President of Finance will lead the financial operations, planning, and stewardship of the Foundation, ensuring that financial systems support mission delivery and operational excellence.
Responsibilities
- Oversee all core finance operations, including accounts payable and receivable, cash management, payroll coordination, and expense reimbursement
- Lead and manage rigorous fund accounting across all revenue streams—including federal-adjacent philanthropic activity, restricted donor funds, and unrestricted operating capital—ensuring traceability, accuracy, and compliance at all times
- Maintain and continuously improve finance systems, workflows, and internal controls; current systems include Sage Intacct, Martus, and Bill.com
- Ensure timely, accurate processing of payments, invoices, and financial transactions
- Supervise finance staff and external bookkeeping or accounting partners as applicable
- Ensure timely, accurate reporting for the board, donors, partners, and regulators
- Lead the annual budgeting process in collaboration with the COO and leadership team
- Develop and maintain multi-year financial forecasts aligned with strategy and program plans
- Support ongoing budget management, variance analysis, and re-forecasting
- Provide decision-making financial insights to support program execution, advancement strategy, and commercialization timelines
- Develop and oversee the organization’s financial strategy in alignment with mission, programmatic priorities, and commercialization activity
- Leads implementation and day-to-day management of the Foundation’s investment strategy in accordance with the IPS (investment policy statement), including cash management, reserves, and any mission aligned or catalytic investment vehicles
- Serves as the primary internal expert on investment structures, risk, liquidity, and financial performance, advising the COO, CEO, and Board as appropriate
- Collaborates with the VP of Commercialization Platform to evaluate, structure, and execute mission aligned investment opportunities that support commercialization, deployment, or market activation, ensuring consistency with the IPS, financial controls, and risk parameters
- Over time, advise senior leadership on philanthropic capital strategy, including blended and braided financing structures that combine government funding, philanthropic capital, and earned revenue
- Over time, ensures that investment activity (enterprise or program adjacent) supports organizational sustainability, protects public trust, and reinforces the Foundation’s role as a credible philanthropic partner to the U.S. Department of Energy
- Ensure strong financial controls, audit readiness, and compliance with nonprofit accounting standards, GAAP, and all applicable regulatory requirements
- Manage compliance related to restricted and donor-advised funds, grants and awards, and DOE-adjacent philanthropic activities
- Track and report on multiple grants, donors, and fiscal reporting requirements with precision—maintaining clear documentation across all funding streams
- Partner with the COO to manage organizational risk and strengthen financial governance
- Prepare financial materials for board and committee review; support a culture of transparency and accountability at the leadership level
Skills
- Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, business administration, or a related field; CPA or Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional (CNAP) strongly preferred
- 10+ years of progressive financial management and leadership experience, preferably in nonprofit, philanthropic, or mission-driven organizations
- Strong knowledge of nonprofit accounting, fund accounting, and GAAP - with hands-on experience managing restricted and unrestricted funds across multiple grants and donor relationships
- Demonstrated experience working with boards, audits, and complex financial structures
- Experience in public-private partnership finance: blending or braiding public and private capital from the nonprofit side of the house; candidates from community foundations, hospital foundations, or similar intermediaries are encouraged to apply
- Exceptional analytical, communication, and leadership skills; executive presence with the ability to build trust across government, philanthropic, and private sector stakeholders
- Comfort operating in ambiguity and designing systems and processes from scratch
- Experience in energy technology scale-up, demonstration programs, or early market deployment environments
- Demonstrated experience working with both private sector operators and public-sector decision makers
- Experience working in or alongside foundations, nonprofits, or other mission driven intermediaries with complex capital structures
- Strategic systems thinking: the ability to see the full financial picture while managing the operational details
- Market and commercialization fluency: an understanding of how capital flows through innovation ecosystems
- Strong judgment in politically and commercially complex environments
- Familiarity with mission-related investment (MRI) or program-related investment (PRI) structures is a signal of the strategic range we're looking for, though not required at this stage
Benefits
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 403(b) retirement plan with employer match
- Short- and long-term disability and life insurance
- Paid time off (15 days) and all federal holidays, plus the week between Christmas and New Year9s
- Flexible work schedule and hybrid options
- FESI will cover reasonable, job-related travel expenses
Company Overview
The Foundation for Energy Security & Innovation (FESI) was created to help accelerate innovative solutions in support of American energy security, prosperity, and leadership. It was founded in 2022, and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, USA, with a workforce of 2-10 employees. Its website is https://fesi.org.