Managing Director of Financial Partnership
About the role
Rocky Mountain Prep is a movement dedicated to democratizing college access for historically marginalized students and families. We operate twelve college-preparatory schools from early childhood through twelfth grade, investing deeply in our educators to foster a world-class learning environment.
Responsibilities
Budget Accuracy: Maintain less than 5% variance between budget and actuals across RMP school and network-support budgets, with monthly variance analysis and corrective forecasting.
Stakeholder Budget Literacy: Design and deliver an ongoing learning & development curriculum that builds budget fluency across both school leaders and NST (central office) budget owners, measured by leader confidence surveys and reduced budget-related escalations.
Financial Sustainability: Support the network's enrollment and philanthropy goals (5,100 enrollment / $4M philanthropy) by ensuring campus and grant budgets are accurate, timely, and audit-ready.
Board & Executive Reporting: Prepare and, when needed, present clear, board-ready financial materials that translate complex budget data into decision-useful narratives for the Board of Directors and executive team.
Staff Retention: Contribute to RMP's 75% staff retention goal by giving school leaders, ops staff, and NST staff the financial clarity and support that reduces operational stress.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Partnership & Budget Literacy (Learning & Development): Design and facilitate a structured budget-literacy training curriculum for both principals and NST (central office) budget owners, including onboarding training for new leaders and refresher sessions tied to the budget calendar. Train principals and NST department leads to read, interpret, and act on their budgets, building their independent capacity to forecast and manage their controlled expenditures. Provide monthly reports to principals and NST budget owners on their schools' or departments' year-to-date financial performance, paired with a working session to build understanding. Develop tools, templates, and job aids that make budget forecasting accessible and repeatable for non-finance leaders across schools and NST. Evaluate the effectiveness of the existing FP&A process and budget-management system; identify and implement improvements, including ways to scale training as RMP grows. Track and report on budget-literacy outcomes across school and NST budget owners alike (e.g., leader confidence, self-service accuracy, reduction in errors) as a core measure of program success.
Financial Planning & Analysis: Assist the MD of Finance and Planning in developing and maintaining the annual budget for RMP schools, including forecasting revenue from public funding, grants, and donations, and managing staffing, district fee, instructional materials, and facilities expenses. Prepare monthly P&L reports for RMP schools and NST, including variance analysis against budget and forecast for the remainder of the year, with a standing target of maintaining variance under 5%. Develop monthly salary, variable pay, and substitute-teacher cost analysis and forecasts. Review monthly financial outcomes and discuss risks, opportunities, and variance drivers with the ED of Finance and Planning. Build financial models to support ad hoc, network-level decision-making.
Board & Executive Reporting: Translate FP&A results, variance analysis, and forecasts into clear, board-ready materials as needed, in partnership with the ED of Finance and Planning. Present financial updates to the Board of Directors or executive team when called upon, with the same clarity and "no surprises" standard expected of all RMP leaders. Anticipate the questions Board members and executives will ask about variance, sustainability metrics, and grant compliance, and prepare supporting detail in advance.
Governmental & Private Grant Budgeting and Management: Collaborate with RMP's grant managers to build and maintain budgets for governmental and private grants. Develop partnerships with school districts' grant teams; ensure RMP schools meet district requirements for grant budgets and submit fund request forms before the monthly deadline. Collaborate with RMP's private grant managers to ensure reimbursements are submitted promptly per foundation and grant letter requirements. Communicate with RMP's Controller to ensure grant revenues and expenditures are allocated to the correct locations and reconciled quarterly. Report governmental and private grant budget status — including reimbursements, receipts, and spending — to the ED of Finance and Planning monthly.
Risk Identification & Options Analysis: Monitor budget performance, enrollment trends, grant timelines, and staffing costs monthly to proactively identify financial risks before they become crises — at both the campus and network level. When a risk is identified, develop and present a range of concrete options with clear tradeoffs — giving the ED of Finance and Planning and school leaders the information they need to make a timely, informed decision. Flag budget exposure from mid-year enrollment shifts, grant underspend or overspend, and variable compensation variances; partner with the Controller to validate underlying actuals before escalating. Build scenario models (e.g., enrollment decline, staffing changes, grant loss) that quantify the financial impact of key decisions and allow leadership to stress-test plans before committing. Bring a risk lens to board and executive reporting — ensuring that financial materials surface not just current performance but forward-looking exposure and the options available to address it.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with the Controller/MD of Accounting on monthly close, payroll accuracy, and grant reconciliation — ensuring that the actuals feeding into variance analysis are accurate and that both teams are working from the same numbers. Collaborate with school principals as ongoing financial thought partners: reviewing campus budget performance together, building shared forecasts, and translating financial data into decisions principals can act on. Work with NST (central office) department leads — including HR, Operations, and other budget-holding teams — to align departmental spending with network-level plans and surface risks or trade-offs that cross departmental lines. Partner with grant managers and the Development team to ensure that grant budgets are built correctly, spending is on track, and reimbursement timelines are met — coordinating with the Controller on allocation and reconciliation. Serve as a resource across functions when a financial question touches multiple teams: model the data, facilitate the conversation, and help the group land on a shared understanding and a clear next step.
Auditing & Compliance: Prepare supporting materials and documentation for audits and board reports — ensuring underlying data, schedules, and backup are accurate, well-organized, and readily accessible. Maintain records and respond to auditor requests related to FP&A, grant budgeting and management, and financial partnership with school leaders and NST (central office) staff. Maintain records and respond to compliance requests for governmental and private grants.
Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field.
Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in financial planning, budgeting, accounting, financial analysis, or a related field.
Demonstrated ability to analyze complex financial data and communicate insights to a variety of stakeholders.
Experience developing budgets, financial forecasts, and data-informed recommendations to support strategic decision-making.
Strong organizational, project management, and relationship-building skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and financial management systems.
Commitment to Rocky Mountain Prep's mission, values, and belief that every student deserves an excellent education.
Pay
This is a full-time position with a salary range of $120,000 to $170,000, based on experience and qualifications.
Schedule
N/A
Benefits
Rocky Mountain Prep offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Paid Time Off – including vacation, personal, and sick days
- 5 Weeks of Paid Organizational Holidays – including Winter and Summer breaks
- Comprehensive Health Insurance – medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of medical coverage for employee-only plans
- Retirement Through PERA – Public Employees' Retirement Association of Colorado
- Paid Leave of Absence Options – including parental, medical, and disability leave
- Mental Health & Wellness Support – to help you thrive personally and professionally
- Pre-Tax Accounts – flexible spending accounts (FSA), dependent care accounts, and health savings accounts