Senior Accountant

Originating in Chicago, Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education, and ultimately succeed in school and life. Our organization is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs and capacity-building initiatives, directly serving more than 13,000 youth.

At Youth Guidance, we believe that no matter what challenges a young person faces, they can do anything with the proper support. Our professional staff are trained to work with schools, parents, and families to meet kids where they are, so they stay on the right path toward a bright future.

We are looking for a Senior Accountant who will be responsible for applying accounting principles and procedures to analyze financial information and to prepare accurate and timely financial reports. This is a very exciting role that will help you grow whether you are beginning or are advanced in your career.

When you join our Finance Team, you will:

• Manage both private and public funders including budgets, financial reports, vouchering, and reconciliations.
• Understand and assist in monthly and year-end closings, prepare financial statements, as well as preparation of journal entries
• Manage liaison opportunities with government funders on outstanding receivables
• Assisting, training, and communicating with program staff on proper coding of expenditures for government grants
• Owning the responsibility for providing satisfactory customer service in responding to staff and funder inquiries, issues, etc. to investigate and resolve timely

You've Been Prepared for Greatness:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting/Finance and/or 3-5 years of experience in an accounting related field
• Experience working in a nonprofit preferred but not required
• Grant reporting experience preferred

Your Greatness Will Shine Through:

Skills/Abilities

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)

• Strong critical thinking, excellent organizational and analytical skills with high attention to detail and accuracy

• Exceptional knowledge of finance, accounting, budgeting, cost accounting and cost control principles, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

• A Commitment to the continuous improvement of service quality and the organization’s mission

• Succinct and clear verbal and written communication with internal staff, and teams.

• The building of strong relationships with teams and colleagues; enhances effective teams and collaborative interactions

• Capacity to work well under pressure and meet deadlines

• Proven leadership and organizational ability

YG Competencies

Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with internal staff, teams, and community served; demonstrates empathy and listening.

Client Orientation: Recognizes needs of diverse stakeholders and approaches relationships with a service orientation to ultimately maximize impact.

Equity Mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace.

Growth Mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if change is required; demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn.

Ownership and Quality of Work: Effectively manages own work, and work of teams when relevant, ensuring delivery of high-quality work.

Mission Driven: Demonstrates commitment to the mission of the organization as a whole and alignment with organizational values.

What You’ll Love About Us:

• Opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of the youth we serve using data to creatively tell our program stories
• On-going professional development and access to our Learning Management System (LMS)
• Health and wellness benefits including paid time off, various insurances, an Employee Assistance Program and more

Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• The duties are performed via a hybrid work model within an office/business setting. Vaccination is required.

DEI Statement

At Youth Guidance, we understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate the diversity of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions meant to support youth are inequitable and unjust.

As such, we are committed to advancing DE&I through our words and our actions, both internally and externally, by:

• Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies, practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff;
• Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, language, and cultural and religious beliefs and practices;
• Influencing systems that youth, their families and communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding community, to apply approaches that embrace DEI in addressing the needs and supporting the aspirations of young people.

***Please submit a cover letter along with your resume.***

Youth Guidance is an equal opportunity employer and proudly values diversity. Youth Guidance does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law and is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values diversity along all of these lines. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

EOE/M/F/D/V/SO