Finance Analyst

Education First is seeking an early career professional Finance Analyst to join our Finance Team. The Finance Analyst will be a solutions-oriented, strategic thinker who will execute the firm’s day-to-day financial management processes and provide direct service to our employees. Reporting to the Finance Manager, the Finance Analyst will analyze the past and present financial data and estimate the financial goals and obligations of the firm. Our ideal candidate is committed to serving the firm and its consultants as primary customers. The Financial Analyst will learn and execute our day-to-day financial management processes and provide direct service to our project teams.

What You’ll Do

• Coordinate with the Finance team to complete regular transactions
• Manage internal analysis of client and employee related expenses
• Support consultant team with data-informed guidance on long-term and strategic decision-making
• Build trust with internal team members to effectively assist them with finance-related questions
• Perform financial forecasting, annual business and rolling planning, variance analysis of actuals versus plan and reconciliation of financial data to assess strategic decision alternatives
• Manage key operational procedures that are critical to the firm’s financial health
• Document financial procedures and collaborate with the Finance team to prioritize business processes
• Identify data and reporting needs and improvements
• Administer timecodes and timesheets to track project financials

• You are experienced with Enterprise Resource Planning systems
• You have a high degree of comfort with data collection and analysis (expense analysis, variance analysis or forecasting)
• You have experience working in high-paced environments and managing competing priorities
• You like taking initiative and being a resourceful and solutions-based contributor
• You enjoy working independently and collaboratively
• You have excellent organizational skills and have demonstrated experience managing competing priorities
• You communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing

• 100% remote, U.S. based team

• Firmwide in-person engagements a few times a year
• Telework subsidy
• Professional development stipend
• 20 PTO days, 11 holidays and biannual firmwide shutdown weeks
• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance
• 401(k) match
• Sales bonus eligibility

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $64,000 - $73,600. Employees living in the following locations are eligible for a location-based supplement: San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, Portland, Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Madison (WI) and Salt Lake City.

Travel Policy

You should be able to travel for in-person firmwide engagements twice a year or as needed (roughly 5% of the time).

About Education First

Education First is a mission-driven education policy consultancy dedicated to ensuring that all students – and particularly students in poverty and students of color – are prepared for success in college, careers and life. We work with organizations that are shaping the future of P-16 education across the nation, including school networks and districts, state departments of education, policy and advocacy organizations, youth empowerment organizations, talent organizations and foundations.

We help these system leaders catalyze change through our services:

• Conduct research and analysis on policies and provide contextual recommendations and strategic support to translate findings into concrete, sustainable action
• Develop and implement visionary, coherent strategies and strategic plans by prioritizing inclusive voices, focusing on the right problems, and providing space to explore
• Plan and facilitate meaningful convenings for organizations and individuals to learn, problem solve, collaborate, and advance their work
• Design actionable and equitable solutions that meet client needs, achieve program goals, and implement initiatives with clarity and quality
• Support grantmakers, funders, and foundations to develop thoughtful, high-impact investment strategies that align with their goals, interests, and resources

We are a team of more than 75 former teachers, district and state education leaders, policy advisors, and grant makers who live and work virtually in more than 20 states. Because of our experience, we approach the challenges our clients face with humility, realistic solutions, and a commitment to follow-through. Our culture is built on genuine care for our clients and for each other. We celebrate original thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurialism, authenticity and fun.

Our Equity Commitment

We recognize that in order to pursue our own organizational mission at Education First, we must approach our work by studying gaps and inequities, asking tough questions about structural racism and more deliberately engaging diverse voices in problem-solving. We’ve been building our own skills to deliver solutions that center racial equity, with particular attention to equitable ways of thinking and working, and we are committed to helping our clients do the same in projects that have a goal of increasing equity at their core. Within Education First, we have committed to building a race equity culture – creating the conditions to adopt antiracist mindsets and actions.

We believe:

• Black lives matter. We are collectively responsible to amplify and support Black students, families and leaders.
• People are experts in their own experience. We cannot effectively support our clients to problem solve and innovate without centering the people they aim to serve.
• Racism and inequity were designed, and can be redesigned. People make up the systems, policies and processes that govern our experience, and we must support our clients to explore their role in reimagining what could be possible.

For greater detail about our Equity Commitment, please visit our website.

Education First actively engages our team with a robust Race, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (RIDE) strategy to build our staff and organizational capacity to lead on issues of equity and to increase diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels of the firm. As a proud equal opportunity employer, we strongly encourage applications from candidates of all races, national origins, ages, religions, creeds, veteran or disabled statuses, sexual orientations, gender identities or gender expressions. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Education First makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.