Job Title: Chief Financial Officer / Director of Finance and Administration
Salary: $240,000 – $300,000; final salary commensurate with job title and experience
Job Type: Full-Time
Location: Requires California residency. Peninsula Clean Energy is a remote-first work environment with a preference to hire staff that live in or within a 100-mile radius of San Mateo County, CA. Employees are expected to attend in-person meetings as needed (generally weekly or monthly/quarterly) at the PCE office located in Redwood City, CA as well as any local stakeholder or vendor meetings as may be required.
POSITION SUMMARY
Concerned about sustainability and climate change? Want to apply your talents to the fast-growing, vitally important area of clean energy and do meaningful work that helps the community and the environment? Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) is a dynamic, not-for-profit governmental organization that seeks a seasoned and skilled Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who wants to work in a collegial, innovative, and mission-driven environment. Come grow with us as we address climate change and lead the way forward with clean energy solutions.
The Chief Financial Officer reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and is a member of the senior management team and a strong partner to both the CEO and Chief Operating Officer (COO), providing executive leadership in the overall growth, management, and strategic planning of the organization.
This position has direct responsibility for planning, implementing and managing all aspects of the Agency’s Finance department including budgeting, accounting, investments and other finance-related activities. The CFO will also manage relationships with Peninsula Clean Energy’s external accounting and audit teams and will staff the Agency’s Audit and Finance Committee which meets six times/year. The CFO will manage a small finance team and may also oversee the Data and Technology, Human Resources and potentially Account Services departments, depending on the organization’s needs and candidate management qualifications in these respective areas.
Near-term priorities for the CFO position include continuing and improving on Peninsula Clean Energy’s investment grade ratings from credit agencies; managing and overseeing a cost-of-service rate study and potential implementation of a structural rate change; managing cash to an appropriate reserve level for the agency; and exemplary cash management of the agency’s funds. Relevant strategic and analytic endeavors include working with third-party banking, accounting, and audit teams, executing and overseeing economic modeling, and creating necessary policies, procedures, and compliance processes where needed. Excellent management skills, ability to execute quickly and accurately, strong technology skills, and attention to financial detail are a critical part of this executive’s immediate and ongoing responsibilities. Experience with renewable energy asset ownership models and familiarity with the Inflation Reduction Act provisions, including tax equity models, is also helpful.
Peninsula Clean Energy is a public agency with a relatively small staff; hence, this position is a hands-on Chief Financial Officer or Director of Finance role.
Position Responsibilities
Leadership
- Collaborate with CEO/COO and other key players in managing and optimizing PCE revenue streams and implementing appropriate finance and fiscal spending policies.
- Participate as a member of the senior management team in the development and implementation of organization-wide policies and programs that will contribute to its overall success.
- Work closely with and present robust financial information and data to members of the Board of Directors to support strategic and informed decision making.
- Provide oversight of the finance, human resources, data/technology and potentially the account services functions of PCE.
- Act as staff liaison to the Audit and Finance Committee of the Peninsula Clean Energy Board of Directors.
Finance and Accounting
- Direct responsibility for accounting, finance, organization-wide budgets, banking relationships, and administrative purchasing and contracting.
- Responsible for managing and reviewing the monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
- Ensure timely and accurate analysis of budgets, financial trends and forecasts, and monthly financial statements/reports.
- Lead cost-of-service analysis to evaluate and potentially implement alternative customer rate structures.
- Work closely with procurement team to understand energy pricing and verify accuracy of invoices for energy purchases.
- Monitor invoice approvals and processes to ensure that all invoices and wires are thoroughly and appropriately reviewed prior to payment.
- Maintain Peninsula Clean Energy financial/operations model and update regularly to reflect current conditions.
- Review and approval of employee expense reports.
Policies, Procedures, and Compliance
- Ensure policies and procedures are developed and implemented for each functional area, including finance, HR and IT.
- Monitor and ensure effective internal controls are in place to safeguard assets and ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including office procedures with respect to Covid-19 safety and/or any other state/local health regulations.
- Actively participate in energy, credit, and enterprise risk management oversight and activities.
- Work in collaboration with Department directors and staff to ensure that all contracts with outside vendors are in compliance with all policies and procedures of the organization.
- Identify, develop, and implement best practice improvements to processes and procedures to achieve meaningful results, greater productivity, efficiency, and consistency.
HR and IT Functions
- Manage human resources functions, currently consisting of approximately 40 employees, growing to 50 in the coming 12 to 18 months.
- Review and approval of semi-monthly payroll to ensure that changes are accurately incorporated.
- Oversee the activities of the Senior Director of Data and Technology that includes management of PCE’s information technology function and related external vendors, purchase and setup of equipment for employees, IT and network security, data security and governance, regular maintenance of IT assets, and continued development and enhancement of the organization’s internal Data Warehouse that supports most other organizational functions in their ad-hoc reporting and analysis.
- Review and approval of employee PTO requests.
External Relations
- Prepare presentations and financial metrics for review by credit rating agencies and other financial stakeholders as may be requested/warranted.
- Direct and manage the annual financial audit.
- Directly interface with and manage certain aspects of outside vendors/ contractors providing products or services to Peninsula Clean Energy, including but not limited to accounting, audit and tax filings, insurance, payroll services, and IT.
EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will bring many of the following qualifications and areas of experience:
- Minimum of 15 years of increasing responsibilities in the accounting/finance function and at least 50% of that time supporting organizations of comparable business size. Total experience will also include a minimum of 10 years of managerial experience of individuals and/or secondary departments, and is strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of and experience with community choice energy programs in California are highly desired.
- Knowledge of electricity rates and rate setting/forecasting
- Government finance and accounting experience is highly desired.
- Demonstrated track record of managing the Human Resources functions.
- Successful management of internal IT function or external IT organizations, including experience with both Mac and PC Windows environments.
- Track record of developing, reviewing, and revamping, as necessary, organization policies and procedures as they specifically relate to internal controls and external compliance.
- Experience working with a Board of Directors, including presenting at board meetings, and directing the efforts of and staffing the Finance and Audit as well as Executive Committees.
- Previous experience working with outside auditors and implementing financial controls.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively lead and manage in a fast-paced, hands-on, team‐oriented and collegial work-from-home environment.
- The intelligence, energy, intellectual range and care in judgment that are necessary to be an effective adviser to the CEO and the Board on individual decisions and on the overall quality of Peninsula Clean Energy operations.
- Previous experience working with outside auditors and implementing financial controls.
- Previous experience with energy pre-pay structures and agreements
- Previous experience working with governmental agencies; this would include being well experienced and highly competent in making public presentations; knowledge of the Brown Act is desirable.
Education
- An undergraduate degree is required, preferably in Accounting, Finance, Business, Engineering or Economics.
- A graduate degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or Financial Management or a CPA license is strongly preferred.
SALARY AND BENEFITS
Compensation range is $240,000- $300,000 commensurate with experience. Compensation is commensurate with experience. Peninsula Clean Energy offers a generous benefits package including:
- Individual, family and domestic partner health (medical, dental, vision) insurance
- Retirement and employer matching contributions
- Health and dependent care flex spending account
- Long term disability benefits
- Cell phone and internet stipend for remote work
- Paid parental leave
- Paid vacation
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit the items listed below in PDF format to hr@peninsulacleanenergy.com with the email subject line title “Chief Financial Officer: YOUR NAME”
Application Materials:
1. Cover letter expressing your interest in the position
2. Resume
3. Written responses to 3 supplemental questions:
- Please describe your experience with credit rating agencies and achieving/improving investment grade credit ratings.
- Please describe your experience with energy rate setting/design and, if applicable, cost of service rate design and revenue requirements planning
- Provide an example of a difficult finance issue that you’ve had to manage in a current or previous role, and what was the outcome.
ABOUT PENINSULA CLEAN ENERGY
Peninsula Clean Energy is the community choice aggregation program (known as a “CCA”) for San
Mateo County and portions of Merced County. Peninsula Clean Energy’s customer base includes
almost 310,000 accounts, serving a population of 810,000, with a total electrical load of almost 4
million megawatt-hours. Our staff currently numbers 38 people, several additional consultants, and
plans for growth going forward. Peninsula Clean Energy’s mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by expanding access to sustainable and affordable energy solutions. This includes providing cleaner power at lower rates with virtually GHG-free power as its standard power service. We have aggressive decarbonization goals including delivering 100% renewable energy on an hourly basis by 2025 and supporting our service territory in reaching comprehensive decarbonization for transportation and buildings by 2035. Peninsula Clean Energy is making significant and growing investments to advance these
objectives, providing a full spectrum of programs and pilots to serve the community.
Peninsula Clean Energy is committed to complying with applicable laws, including the Americans with Disability Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act, ensuring equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability. Peninsula Clean Energy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), genetic information or characteristics, gender identity, gender expression, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, marital status, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or on any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local laws.
The information contained herein has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The information also does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract, and these provisions are subject to change.