Purpose of the Position
The CFAO provides strategic operational, financial, and risk management and guidance to support Orbis’s mission, vision, programmatic strategies, and goals ensuring organizational growth, impact, and sustainability. Position oversees all aspects of finance and accounting, investments, audit along with IT/IS, awards management, facilities, supply chain and general administration. The CFAO leads and directs a global team delivering financial management, reporting, and controls, cash management and forecasting and rigorous policies, procedures, and systems.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Management and Operations
- Oversees all financial operations, including accounting, financial reporting, and compliance. Ensures the accuracy and integrity of financial records and reports, adhering to regulatory requirements and best practices. Manage cash flow, investments, and financial risk to maintain the financial health of the organization.
- Oversee and deliver Orbis’s investment portfolio, including investment policy formulation, selection, and oversight of outside investment management firms.
- Prepare and present accurate and timely financial statements, reports, and analyses, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, to the Executive Leadership Team, Board of Directors, and external stakeholders.
Financial Strategy and Planning
- Serve as the strategic finance leader and business partner for Orbis. This role provides strategic financial oversight, performs risk management, and annual sensitivity analyses to ensure the fiduciary success of Orbis, working closely with the CEO, Executive Leadership Team, Board of Directors, and key constituencies.
- Lead the multi-year and annual budgeting processes, ensuring alignment with organizationalpriorities and resource allocation.
- Deliver global finance and administration vision and strategy including multi-year and annualplanning, budgeting, and goals with a focus on operational efficiency and effectiveness and riskmanagement and financial impact.
- Manage relationships and communications with financial institutions, external auditors, and otherstakeholders. Oversee the production of financial statements, tax documents, and other financial regulatory documents.
Risk Management
- Chair the Risk Management Committee and maintain Orbis’s Risk Register.
- Serve as the primary liaison with external auditors, regulators, and financial institutions.
- Identify, review and report on areas of potential organizational risk. Establish and maintaineffective internal controls to safeguard organizational assets and mitigate these financial risks.
- Ensure compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, and reporting requirements related to finance and administration including audits and tax. Continually assess the company’s financial strategies to ensure they remain compliant with regulatory, operational, and legal requirements/standards in countries where Orbis works.
Awards Management
- Oversee development, implementation, and optimization of full range of award managementactivities and practices across Orbis to deliver strong support to project teams and programmaticleadership and achieve operational excellence.
- Deliver grant, cooperative agreements, contract, and subcontract workflows, processes and tools including knowledge management, reporting, and ensuring compliance with all requirements and regulations.
Information Technology and Systems
- Oversee Orbis’ IT roadmap and vision, management, and guidance on all aspects of the technology infrastructure and security supporting business operations to improve cost effectiveness and service quality through technology innovation.
- Lead the organization’s global technology infrastructure and operations including security, disaster recovery, cloud services, servers, networks, communication systems, operating systems, storage, backups, data center, virtualization and end-point support.
- Ensure secure Orbis technology operations are safe with the highest regard for data privacy and security.
Supply Chain and Administration
- Oversee development, implementation, and advancement of global supply strategies and processes to ensure efficient and effective delivery of goods and services, and best practice implementation across procurement, inventory management, logistics, travel and facilities.
- Drive adaptation and implementation of best in-class supply chain management practices aimed at improving vendor sourcing, procurement, and material management to strengthen and streamline the overall supply chain performance and meet organizational objectives.
Leadership and Team Management - Lead, attract, manage, motivate, develop, and retain a high-performing Global Finance andAdministration team to optimize performance to optimize performance and support organizationalstrategy.
- Offer vision, strategy, and successmetrics for teams andmarshal their talents to achieve newbenchmarks of success by providing consistent leadership, coaching, and accountability.
- Collaborate with senior leadership to drive organizational effectiveness and operational excellence and serve as critical key contributor to the ELT and senior leaders across Orbis.
Leadership and Team Management
- Lead, attract, manage, motivate, develop, and retain a high-performing Global Finance and Administration team to optimize performance to optimize performance and support organizational strategy.
- Offer vision, strategy, and success metrics for teams and marshal their talents to achieve new benchmarks of success by providing consistent leadership, coaching, and accountability.
- Collaborate with senior leadership to drive organizational effectiveness and operational excellence and serve as critical key contributor to the ELT and senior leaders across Orbis.
The Organization
Orbis International is a global nonprofit that builds strong and sustainable eye care systems globally that put treatment and prevention within reach. We believe in a world where everyone can access the eye care they need to thrive.
A staggering 90% of all vision loss is treatable or preventable. That equates to 1 billion people on this planet living with vision loss from avoidable causes. Nine out of ten people with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries, and 55% are women and girls. To combat this, we build strong eye care systems that cover the full range of eye care services — from educating people about eye health and the importance of preventive care to identifying eye conditions in the community to providing treatment and follow-up services for those who need them.
Founded in New York City, Orbis is a $270M annual budget non-profit with 325 full-time employees, located around the world. We not only improve access to eye care in the communities that need it most, but we do it in a sustainable and strategic way that leaves a lasting legacy of vision.
Strong and Sustainable Eye Care Systems: To make eye care systems strong and sustainable, Orbis works with Ministries of Health and partners with local medical facilities to ensure that:
- public health agendas and budgets prioritize eye care
- eye care is seamlessly incorporated into existing healthcare systems so that eye health contributes to patients’ overall health and wellbeing, and vice versa
- quality eye care services are available and accessible where patients need them—whether in rural health centers or urban hospitals
- eye care teams have the training and equipment they need to deliver high-quality sight-saving care.
Our values of Accountability, Commitment, Innovation, Integrity and Equity are the threads that connect our global team across geographies, languages, job functions and time zones.
Changing the Way the World Sees
Orbis International is the only eye care nonprofit delivering sight-saving programs in over 200 countries and territories. This work is delivered by integrating cutting-edge digital training tools, dedicated in-country programs and the world’s first and only Flying Eye Hospital, and utilizes Orbis eye care experts and more than 400 world-renowned medical volunteers known as Volunteer Faculty.
Training
Orbis provides advanced training and mentorship to eye care teams in nearly every country in the world, empowering them to deliver sight-saving care where the need is greatest. We have been delivering innovative training to eye care teams for over four decades. When eye care teams get the training they need, patients get the care they deserve.
Orbis runs long-term country programs across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean that provide access to training opportunities for local eye care teams, including courses offered in their home institutions under the mentorship of Orbis’s renowned medical volunteers. Our specialist training is delivered in partnership with local hospitals, public health agencies and governments. It takes place on board our incredible Flying Eye Hospital, through our online mentoring platform, Cybersight, and through our long-term country programs. It is made possible thanks to the generosity of our remarkable volunteer ophthalmologists, anesthesiologists, nurses and biomedical engineers who give up their free time every year to train eye teams in communities around the world.
Technology
Orbis develops and scales access to innovative technology that is revolutionizing training for eye care professionals and treatment for patients. For too long, the most cutting-edge tools have only been accessible in high-income settings, though their greatest impact can be made in the most underserved places.
Through our award-winning telemedicine platform Cybersight, artificial intelligence diagnostic technology, virtual reality training, and the world’s first and only Flying Eye Hospital, we're revolutionizing ophthalmic training around the world. Orbis has spent two decades developing Cybersight, which offers free virtual access to world-class ophthalmic training resources developed by international medical experts.
Treatment and Prevention
Through our long-term country programs we provide equitable access to quality eye care that transforms lives and communities. Orbis puts eye care within reach through programs that serve communities where they are. To reach the most underserved populations, quality care must be not only available, but also easily accessible.
Our long-term country programs increase access to eye care across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Our programs include vision centers that ensure rural communities can access eye care; administration of antibiotics to fight trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness; and facilities to address children's unique eye care needs.
Over the past ten years, Orbis has conducted over 14.3 million sight-saving eye screenings and exams at community outreach projects, trained more than 424,000 eye care professionals and health workers, and treated more than 19.6 million patients at Orbis-supported health facilities. We have also distributed more than 84 million doses of trachoma-fighting antibiotics, making it 106.4 million doses in total.
Teamwork
Through support from donors, corporate sponsors, employees, governments, and a team of more than 400 world-renowned medical volunteers, we work in collaboration with local partners to improve the quality and availability of eye care, ensuring our impact endures long term and becomes self-sustaining. We cultivate long-standing relationships with local hospitals, ministries of health, and others to build not just individual centers of excellence, but also strong eye care systems and to influence national policies to prioritize eye care.
Our original research is regularly published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals. What we learn is used to inform our evidence-based approach to programming and innovation. Our findings also have implications that can strengthen outcomes for others in the eye care sector—and beyond.
The Candidate
Professional Experience, Qualifications & Competencies
- The CFAO candidate has led an enterprise-wide finance function or will have served as a senior finance business leader/partner for a significant business unit or large non-profit organizations implementing programs around the globe.
- The ideal candidate should have a minimum of 15 years of progressive technical, operational, and strategic non-profit financial management experience of a mid-large sized organization operating in an international context.
- Experience working closely with the President & CEO, Senior Leadership Team, and Board in developing strategy, best practices, and policy of a comparable / larger organization by anticipating market trends and leveraging expertise to advance the organization.
- Working knowledge of USG, bilateral funder, and private foundation rules and regulations and requirements required. Familiarity with grant management, contracts, cooperative agreements, fundraising, donor reporting, and other government funding mechanisms.
- Understanding of US and international legal, regulatory, reporting and tax aspects of not-for-profit enterprises, particularly regarding issues in foreign jurisdictions.
- Demonstrated success in leading / delivering core finance processes, including budgeting, forecasting, accounting, reporting, controls, FP&A, treasury services, accounts payable/receivable, and revenue processing.
- Demonstrated a strong balance of hands-on operational / technical finance management and strategic financial leadership. Able to stay close to the details while also able to contribute at a broader level.
- Demonstrated success managing multiple US and international revenue sources as well as global, multi-functional diverse teams and cultures is essential.
- Knowledge and understanding of Information Technology systems and requirements to effectively oversee the IT infrastructure for a global organization.
- Thrives operating in a fast-paced and demanding environment; ability to pivot in response to growth and organizational priorities. Considered an effective change agent and sponsor of best practices and business growth.
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills that resonate well with both financially oriented and less financially oriented audiences and individuals. Confident and effective at communicating across all levels of the organization, presenting to Boards and other diverse external constituencies.
- Excellent analytical, abstract-reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Strong listening skills, empathy, patience, and the ability to lead through influence and by example.
- Consistent track record of attracting, motivating, mentoring, developing, and retaining high performing accounting and finance talent at all levels, both on an individual and team basis.
- Demonstrated engagement and initiative with organizational diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts both internally and externally. Unquestioned personal and professional integrity.
- A deep commitment to the overall mission of the organization. Passion and respect for the global eye care issues that affect the organization’s work. Ability to quickly become conversant in the organization’s work and to communicate with all relevant constituencies.
EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS
Bachelor’s degree is required, ideally in accounting or finance or a related field. Advanced degree (e.g., MBA or MS, Accounting) is preferred but not required. A CPA is preferred but not required.
PROCEDURE FOR CANDIDACY
Orbis International has retained Korn Ferry to lead this search. Screening will begin in January 2025 and continue until an appointment is made. Applications (including resume or CV and a cover letter addressing interest), nominations and inquiries should be submitted electronically to [email protected].
Salary
Estimated salary: $325,000 - $340,000. A competitive benefits package will be offered.