Chief Financial Officer, Remote (Anywhere in BC)
About Open Door Group
Established in 1976, Open Door Social Services Society, doing business as Open Door Group (“ODG”) started as a small group of volunteers in Vancouver offering woodworking and sewing workshops for individuals living with disabilities.
ODG has now grown to be one of BC's largest independent not-for-profits in the employment services sector, providing employment and vocational rehabilitation services to over 6,000 individuals a year, including those facing significant barriers to employment. While BC represents the majority of ODG’s current service area, in 2023, the organization expanded its reach nationally, adding Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario to its service footprint. ODG operates with an annual budget of $25 million, 150 staff, and additional supervision over 50 partner staff across 13 urban and rural locations throughout BC and multiple employees working from remote locations in Alberta through to Ontario.
The vision of ODG is a world where all people have access to opportunities that provide purpose, prosperity, and belonging. ODG’s mission is to foster well-being for all by opening doors to sustainable and meaningful employment. This includes direct service delivery, contract management, and working with employers to access untapped pools of talent. Working in partnership with all levels of government, more than 20 service organizations, and thousands of businesses, at their core, ODG is about people and relationships.
In 2014, ODG incorporated Open Door Ventures CCC Ltd. (“ODV”), a wholly-owned subsidiary and for-profit social enterprise. ODV's mandate is to develop entrepreneurial businesses and engage in impact investing options that generate positive social impact and financial support for ODG's mission by generating discretionary funding for the Society.
As one of Canada’s Certified Great Places to Work, a Living Wage Employer, and a CARF-accredited organization, ODG prides itself on modelling a culture of compassion for others.
Read more about ODG’s Mission, Vision, and Values on their website.
The Opportunity
Chief Financial Officer
Due to the upcoming retirement of the long-term incumbent CFO, who has successfully led the finance team for 13 years, ODG is now recruiting a new financial executive to lead the organization’s team and strategically support its growth for the years to come.
Approaching its 50th anniversary, ODG is well-established and remains focused on providing person-centered, relevant services that support people’s success in achieving meaningful and sustainable employment. ODG is in a defining period of growth, modernization, and integration with its recent transformative acquisition of a leading private sector employment services agency.
This acquisition, among other initiatives, has evolved the portfolio of the CFO, now requiring attention to capitalizing on ODG’s broader reach and scale while ensuring cultural, operational, and financial optimization across entities.
Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is pivotal in ensuring ODG’s (Society and Ventures) financial health, strategic direction, and regulatory compliance. As a key member of the C-Suite, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) plays a critical role in shaping organizational strategy as well as helping to guide the broader Executive team and organization, with a particular focus on financials.
Primary responsibilities include:
Aligning financial strategy with organizational goals, including budget planning and risk management
Overseeing the development and maintenance of robust financial structures and systems to support and enhance the growth of ODG and its subsidiaries
Ensuring compliance with all relevant financial regulations and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, including the Board Finance Committee
Fostering a positive and service-oriented culture within the finance team
This hybrid role, based in British Columbia, requires occasional travel to ODG’s head office in Vancouver for in-person meetings (2-3 times per month). Travel will also be required less frequently to other operating areas across British Columbia.
Key Responsibilities
The CFO’s main responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Strategic Leadership and Financial Planning:
Provide strategic, collaborative, and decisive financial leadership to the organization, ensuring financial methodologies and team composition proactively evolve to support the current and future needs of the organization
Conceptualize, develop and implement best financial practices and tools to ensure a well-controlled yet flexible organization that has strong fiscal management, project coordination, workflows, and accessible and accurate financial data within and across ODG’s entities
Research revenue opportunities and economic and political trends, analyze internal operations, and identify areas for cost reduction and process enhancement
Collaborate with the Board, C-Suite and Executive teams to develop business plans and execute the organization’s strategic initiatives
Financial Management, Accounting, and Administration:
Oversee the preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements and related contracts, financial reports, and claims
Manage financial resources with budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling processes
Risk Management and Compliance:
In collaboration with the Director of Business Enablement, develop and implement risk management policies and procedures to safeguard the organization’s assets
Ensure the organization complies with all financial, legal, and government regulatory requirements as well as prescribed financial reporting standards (e.g. Canadian Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit organizations)
Capital Structure Management:
Manage the organization’s capital structure, including debt and equity financing where applicable
Develop strategies for optimizing working capital and managing cashflow effectively
Identify investment opportunities that will support the organization’s expansion and growth
Stakeholder Relations:
Manage relationships with financial stakeholders, such as financial institutions, investors, foundation executives, government regulators, and board members, by providing regular updates on financial performance, growth initiatives, and strategic plans
Ensure timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness of financial and management reporting for stakeholders
Team Leadership and Development:
Lead, mentor, support, motivate, and empower the finance team, with support from the Director of Accounting
Foster a culture of collaboration and encourage continuous professional development of finance staff
Financial Systems and Technology:
In collaboration with the Director of IT and Cyber Security and the Director of Business Enablement, review and analyze the business requirements of all departments to determine technology requirements and modernization opportunities
Evaluate new technologies and tools to improve financial reporting, analysis, and operations
Essential Qualities and Experience
The ideal CFO candidate will thrive leading in a dynamic and results-driven environment, have the proven ability to add meaningful strategic insights at the executive level, and lead an impact-focused finance team devoted to quality, accountability and results.
The CFO will be expected to advise and collaborate with the Leadership Team and Board on how to best position ODG towards its ambitious strategic plan, which includes expanding and enhancing access to its services, while managing current risks including complex bidding strategies and approaches to meet ODG’s performance obligations, and optimizing technology and systems as the organization continues to scale.
Accordingly, the ideal candidate will come with demonstrable experience that includes implementing a future-focused financial strategy; they will have the proven expertise to elevate operations and forecasting through the adoption of effective business processes, technologies, and structure.
They will have a strong track record of managing large-scale financial operations within comparably complex mission-driven organizations that generate funding through performance-based government contracts or comparable revenue streams.
Since ODG is a non-profit organization with a for-profit subsidiary competing primarily with private sector organizations, it will be a major asset for the CFO to have an entrepreneurial spirit while understanding public sector and non-profit sector contracting, reporting, and compliance requirements.
Qualifications:
Education:
A bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business or related discipline
Chartered Professional Accounting (CPA) designation
Experience:
Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in finance and accounting with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role (e.g. Senior Controller, Director of Finance, Chief Financial Officer)
Proven experience in financial planning and budgeting, risk management, and regulatory compliance
Experience reporting to (or delivering reports to) a Board
Experience with post-merger or acquisition integration would be an asset
Skills and Abilities:
In-depth knowledge of accounting and financial management principles, tax regulations, and industry-related practices, including Canadian Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations
Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, external partners, and community organizations
High level of proficiency with financial software, ERP systems, and Microsoft Office Suite
Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with a broad range of staff and stakeholders
Ability to consistently make good decisions through a combination of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgement
Personal Attributes:
A seasoned leader, adviser, and influencer
Strategic thinker with a high degree of business acumen
Strong decision-maker with excellent problem-solving skills
Ethical, trustworthy, and able to maintain confidentiality
Location:
This is primarily a remote position (work from home) with an expectation to commute for in-person meetings in Vancouver 2-3 per month.
Search Process
This position is a strategic leadership role and ODG will pay competitively commensurate with comparable opportunities. Compensation and benefits include:
Salary range: $140,000 - $160,000 annually, commensurate with experience
Five weeks of vacation to start, increasing to six weeks after three years
Comprehensive benefits, including extended health and dental coverage, Municipal Pension Plan enrollment, Telus virtual health services, a health and wellness spending account, and a professional development allowance
The search process may include conventional longlist, shortlist, and committee interview stages. We will request for finalists to offer comprehensive recent references and to complete a background check. We expect to process our first review of applications by Wednesday, March 12th, 2025.
Diversity is part of ODG’s DNA. They are proud to offer equal employment opportunities, and they actively encourage equity, diversity, and inclusion in their workplaces. They seek leaders who represent, at all job levels, the diversity of the people they serve, and they encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, individuals of all genders and sexual orientation, origin and ethnic affiliations, disability, age, and religion.
Accommodation will be provided by ODG and Mosaic Executive Search throughout the recruitment, selection, and assessment process, upon request, to applicants with disabilities.
Applications (cover letter and curriculum vitae) or nominations for the CFO opportunity with Open Door Group should be submitted in confidence to: info@mosaicsearch.ca
You are also welcome to email:
Dave Namkung (dave@mosaicsearch.ca) or
Alana Briggs (alana@mosaicsearch.ca) with any related questions.
