Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer Goodwill Greater Milwaukee and Chicago The Company Our Commitment to Strengthen Communities At Goodwill, we enhance the dignity and quality of life for individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people connect to valuable employment and community resources. Our Programs and Services We are focused on taking ... Learn More

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Graystone Group Advertising

Encoded

Chief Financial Officer

Goodwill Greater Milwaukee and Chicago

The Company

Our Commitment to Strengthen Communities

At Goodwill, we enhance the dignity and quality of life for individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people connect to valuable employment and community resources.

Our Programs and Services

We are focused on taking a targeted approach to transform lives and communities through The Power of Work.

Workforce Development

Job training, placement support and access to resources and services that help people navigate employment challenges, prepare for the workplace and maintain employment.

Community-based Support

Supporting health, independence and economic stability by connecting people of all abilities to training, resources and support while removing barriers so they can lead more independent lives.

Helping Teens & Young Adults

Career exploration, job readiness training, sustained employment, career advancement and independence to activate and support the workforce of the future in their career aspirations.

Deepening Our Community Impact

We are committed to deepening our community impact in the neighborhoods we serve. We believe in the power of collective community and the difference we can make —together.

With a deep-rooted spirit of volunteerism among our more than 5,000 employees, we give back across greater Milwaukee and Chicago year-round through a variety of initiatives like our Acts of Goodwill and Goodwill Cares voucher program.

This cannot be done alone. Our long-standing partnerships with employers and community allies give us the opportunity to serve as a collective community, providing workforce development solutions and thought leadership where people need it the most.

Contributing to a Sustainable Future

We are proud to offer the community a resource to extend the life of usable goods. And we are passionate about our goal of maximizing the value of every single donation. What that means in practice is that we take a relentlessly systematic approach to keep goods out of landfills through repurposing, recycling, and as a last resort, responsible disposal. When you donate to Goodwill you are helping create jobs, strengthen families and reduce our collective impact on the planet.

The Opportunity

Position: Chief Financial Officer

Location: Hybrid* / Location must be based in WI or IL

Website: https://www.goodwillgreatermc.org/

*Hybrid is a blend of onsite attendance to select meetings and events at any location with Goodwill GMC territory (predominately NW Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine and downtown Chicago locations) and remote work.

The Opportunity

This is a compelling opportunity for a business-oriented financial executive to help shape the next chapter of an organization with significant scale, a powerful mission, and ambitious plans for growth. As the organization expands its retail footprint and extends its mission more deeply into the communities it serves, the CFO will help ensure that growth is financially sound, appropriately funded, and sustainable over the long term. The role calls for a leader who can protect the fundamentals while bringing a forward-looking perspective to capital allocation, investment strategy, enterprise performance, and the financial implications of strategic choices.

Reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, the CFO will be an important thought partner on the broader direction of the enterprise. This leader will translate complex financial considerations into clear business insights, strengthen financial acumen across the leadership team, and help connect commercial performance with mission impact. The CFO will bring the perspective to challenge assumptions, anticipate emerging risks and opportunities, and help leadership understand how decisions made today will shape the organization three to five years into the future.

Equally important, the CFO will have the opportunity to build for the future, developing the Finance and Procurement organization, strengthening talent and succession, and ensuring that systems, processes, and capabilities evolve alongside the enterprise. The opportunity is ultimately broader than leading a finance function: it is to help build a stronger, more scalable, and more sustainable organization capable of expanding both its business and its impact.

Position Summary

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), sets the long-term vision and enterprise strategy for the organization and ensures alignment of financial Shared Services business functions to the overall organization strategies and plans. Partners with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to execute on the vision across enterprise. In addition, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will actively participate with Goodwill Industries International (GII) and Goodwill agency affinity groups in the development of common strategies and capabilities to ensure the sustainability of the overall Goodwill movement.

Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer is focused on long term growth and sustained profitability, building and delivering core capabilities that drive performance and growth. Sets long-term strategic vision (10+ years) and provides operational oversight for Accounting, Procurement, and Financial Planning and Analysis. Additionally, acts as a strategic business partner to all members of the Senior Team and provides insightful, innovative thinking and problem solving on critical issues.

Principal Duties

The Chief Financial Officer will serve as a key enterprise leader and strategic partner to the CEO, Senior Leadership Team, and Board of Directors, with responsibility for ensuring the organization has the financial strength, discipline, and capabilities necessary to advance its mission and support its next phase of growth. The CFO will balance rigorous stewardship of the organization’s financial fundamentals with a forward-looking approach to enterprise strategy, capital allocation, investment, and sustainable growth.

Beyond leading the Finance and Procurement functions, the CFO will bring a broad business perspective to the organization, helping leaders understand the financial implications of strategic and operational decisions and connecting financial performance to longer-term organizational impact. The CFO will be expected to strengthen financial acumen across the enterprise, develop a scalable and high-performing Finance and Procurement organization, and ensure that financial insights inform decision-making at every level.

Specific responsibilities include:

• As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, collaborates with SLT on strategic business direction, corporate goals, the 3-year strategic plan, and annual budgets to continuously increase organizational impact across the community. Advises the CEO on matters of financial strategy, enterprise performance, capital planning, and long-term sustainability, keeping the organization’s mission, values, and strategic vision at the forefront of decision-making and actions.
• Sets the long-range financial vision and strategy for the organization, providing executive leadership for Accounting, Procurement, and Financial Planning and Analysis to ensure financial stewardship, operational discipline, risk-informed decision-making, and sustained profitability.
• Develops and oversees enterprise financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and performance management processes that provide timely, accurate, and actionable insights to the CEO, Senior Leadership Team, and Board of Directors.
• Provides executive oversight of enterprise financial performance, including revenue, margin, cash flow, expense management, capital allocation, and investment prioritization; recommends short- and long-term actions to achieve financial targets and support sustainable growth.
• Partners with the Chief Operating Officer to align financial planning, operational performance, pricing, capital investments, and business case analysis with enterprise growth objectives, operational priorities, and expected return on investment.
• Partners with the Chief Compliance and Administrative Officer on regulatory, contractual, grant-related, and risk management matters to ensure fiscal compliance, cost allowability, documentation integrity, internal controls, audit readiness, and alignment between financial practices and applicable funding, contract, donor, and regulatory requirements.
• Leads enterprise financial governance, internal controls, external audits, tax and reporting obligations, insurance, treasury, banking relationships, investment oversight, and financial policies to safeguard organizational assets and support strong fiduciary accountability.
• Ensures Finance and Procurement Shared Services capabilities, service delivery, systems, and staffing are aligned to enterprise strategy, customer needs, and operational requirements; drives continuous improvement, process discipline, and scalable financial infrastructure across the organization.
• Cultivates effective relationships with the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors to assure open and transparent communication on financial performance, enterprise risk, capital needs, and progress toward strategic and operating goals.
• Advises on major transactions, contracts, partnerships, funding models, and strategic initiatives, ensuring financial implications, risks, and opportunities are clearly understood and aligned with organizational priorities.
• Board of Director meetings: provides updates on financial performance, enterprise financial strategy, capital needs, operational results, risk considerations, and progress toward goals for areas of responsibility.
• Leading and Developing Talent: Directs organizational design for multiple departments and oversees development and training of staff. Ensures ongoing succession planning and development within and outside of unit. Actively networks and sources for positions throughout the organization.
• Project and Continuous Improvement: Establishes project priority and timing, articulates vision for organizational changes. Authorizes use of organizational time, talent, and financial resources to support projects and improvement initiatives. Manages change through effective communication and coaching throughout the organization. Builds and participates in leadership coalition supporting and implementing the change and frequently serves as Project Sponsor for major initiatives.
• Community Engagement: Represents organization in affinity groups inside and outside of Goodwill. Demonstrated leadership presence in the community through board and committee service.
• Responsible for completing all other duties /responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting required and a minimum of 15 years of experience, advanced degree preferred.
• CPA license required.

Leadership Competencies

Success in this role will require more than deep financial expertise. The CFO must bring the strategic perspective, business judgment, leadership presence, and courage to operate as an enterprise executive, balancing disciplined stewardship with the organization’s ambitions for growth and increased mission impact. This leader will think beyond the finance function, anticipate changing market and organizational dynamics, and help translate the organization’s vision into thoughtful, sustainable action.

The CFO will also be expected to lead with a strong connection to the organization’s mission and values, building credibility across a diverse set of stakeholders while constructively challenging assumptions and helping the organization navigate complexity and change.

• Strategic Mindset: Develops and integrates organizational strategies to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Explores future scenarios and leverages organizations differentiators to develop viable long-term strategy. Adjusts business strategies in response to changing market dynamics and business need.
• Drives Vision and Purpose: Demonstrates and a commitment to the organizations purpose and vision and ensures clarity around mission, vision, and the guiding principles. Articulates with energy and optimism a compelling vision of the positive impact the organization.
• Business Insight: Demonstrates thorough business/industry knowledge and can synthesize business information and respond to changing market dynamics effectively. Proactively monitors external factors and policies that may affect the organization. Uses knowledge to plan work and guide decision making.
• Courage: Fosters a culture that supports people taking well-reasoned risks, regardless of outcome and appropriately advocates for decisions that are for the good of the organization. Confronts actions that are inconsistent with the Guiding Principles and demonstrates the ability to provide leadership through high-stakes situations, crises, or conditions of uncertainty.

Application

• Interested candidates can send resume and letter of interest to the email address shown after clicking on the “Learn How to Apply” button below.

Physical/Sensory Demands

Job requires the following: remain stationary for sustained periods of time; ability to move about to accomplish tasks; must be able to operate a computer or similar technology, which typically involves substantial motions of wrist, hands and/or fingers; visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing data, operating equipment or review thoroughness of work; ability to communicate with others and exchange information. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Job Category

Southeast Wisconsin

A Learn More

Chief Financial Officer

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Goodwill Greater Milwaukee and Chicago

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• As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, collaborates with SLT on strategic business direction, corporate goals, the 3-year strategic plan, and annual budgets to continuously increase organizational impact across the community. Advises the CEO on matters of financial strategy, enterprise performance, capital planning, and long-term sustainability, keeping the organization’s mission, values, and strategic vision at the forefront of decision-making and actions.

• Sets the long-range financial vision and strategy for the organization, providing executive leadership for Accounting, Procurement, and Financial Planning and Analysis to ensure financial stewardship, operational discipline, risk-informed decision-making, and sustained profitability.

• Develops and oversees enterprise financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and performance management processes that provide timely, accurate, and actionable insights to the CEO, Senior Leadership Team, and Board of Directors.

• Provides executive oversight of enterprise financial performance, including revenue, margin, cash flow, expense management, capital allocation, and investment prioritization; recommends short- and long-term actions to achieve financial targets and support sustainable growth.

• Partners with the Chief Operating Officer to align financial planning, operational performance, pricing, capital investments, and business case analysis with enterprise growth objectives, operational priorities, and expected return on investment.

• Partners with the Chief Compliance and Administrative Officer on regulatory, contractual, grant-related, and risk management matters to ensure fiscal compliance, cost allowability, documentation integrity, internal controls, audit readiness, and alignment between financial practices and applicable funding, contract, donor, and regulatory requirements.

• Leads enterprise financial governance, internal controls, external audits, tax and reporting obligations, insurance, treasury, banking relationships, investment oversight, and financial policies to safeguard organizational assets and support strong fiduciary accountability.

• Ensures Finance and Procurement Shared Services capabilities, service delivery, systems, and staffing are aligned to enterprise strategy, customer needs, and operational requirements; drives continuous improvement, process discipline, and scalable financial infrastructure across the organization.

• Cultivates effective relationships with the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Directors to assure open and transparent communication on financial performance, enterprise risk, capital needs, and progress toward strategic and operating goals.

• Advises on major transactions, contracts, partnerships, funding models, and strategic initiatives, ensuring financial implications, risks, and opportunities are clearly understood and aligned with organizational priorities.

• Board of Director meetings: provides updates on financial performance, enterprise financial strategy, capital needs, operational results, risk considerations, and progress toward goals for areas of responsibility.

• Leading and Developing Talent: Directs organizational design for multiple departments and oversees development and training of staff. Ensures ongoing succession planning and development within and outside of unit. Actively networks and sources for positions throughout the organization.

• Project and Continuous Improvement: Establishes project priority and timing, articulates vision for organizational changes. Authorizes use of organizational time, talent, and financial resources to support projects and improvement initiatives. Manages change through effective communication and coaching throughout the organization. Builds and participates in leadership coalition supporting and implementing the change and frequently serves as Project Sponsor for major initiatives.

• Community Engagement: Represents organization in affinity groups inside and outside of Goodwill. Demonstrated leadership presence in the community through board and committee service.

• Responsible for completing all other duties /responsibilities as assigned.

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Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting required and a minimum of 15 years of experience, advanced degree preferred.