Finance Specialist

About CEA

The Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) stewards the movement of people putting effective altruism principles into practice to solve the world's most pressing problems. We’re working to build a flourishing future by applying evidence, reason, and compassion to challenges like global poverty, animal suffering, and existential risks.

Our work centers on growing and supporting a global community of people who rigorously analyze where they can do the most good—and take action on those insights. Current strategic priorities include increasing understanding of effective altruism (EA) and its principles, growing the number of people who are motivated by EA principles to take significant action to address pressing problems, and diversifying funding sources for high-impact work.

About the Finance Team

CEA is exiting a fiscal sponsorship relationship with Effective Ventures (EV) and is building out the financial capacity and systems needed for long-term independence.

CEA’s finance team manages the systems that move money into, within, and out of the organization across our US and UK entities. We handle finances for both our own operations and our grantmaking, including budgeting, forecasting, accounting, payments, and compliance, with a focus on clear processes, accurate records, and giving budget owners the information they need to make good decisions.

About the role

We’re seeking a Finance Specialist to own our budgeting processes, financial modeling, and reporting infrastructure. In this role, you’ll run our organization-wide budget cycle, build and maintain financial models and tools, and provide reporting and analysis that supports decision-making across teams. CEA has an annual operating budget of over $25M across multiple entities and teams in the US and UK, and you’ll help ensure we use those resources thoughtfully and effectively. In this role, you will report to Cole Varvel, the Head of Finance at CEA.

We’re looking for someone with strong technical skills and direct experience managing budgets at the organization-wide level, who’s comfortable with complexity and enjoys building systems that others can rely on.

Key Responsibilities

Budget Management and Planning

• Own and project manage the annual budget preparation process, working with teams across CEA to develop and update budgets

• Compile and prepare consolidated CEA budgets for review and approval by leadership and board

• Design and implement improved budget templates and systems for future planning cycles

• Prepare user guidance and training materials for teams on all budget processes and tools

• Develop and maintain controlled process for mid-year re-forecasting and budget reallocations

Financial Reporting, Analysis, and Modeling

• Take ownership of regular financial reporting processes including monthly budget vs actual reporting and runway analysis by fund

• Develop and maintain sophisticated forecasting tools and financial models

• Build new system reports and develop methods to standardize and automate the reporting workflow

• Prepare cash flow analysis and provide timely financial insights to leadership

• Handle ad-hoc analysis requests and build bespoke reports as needed by various CEA teams

• Respond to financial inquiries from leadership with confidence and accuracy

What we're looking for

We are looking for:

• Strong financial planning & analysis experience at the analyst level, with demonstrated experience managing budgets for mid-sized to large organizations (over $5M preferred).

• Advanced spreadsheet and financial modeling skills, with comfort building complex financial models from scratch

You might also be a great fit if you have:

• Experience working in finance within complex global organizations or nonprofits

• Experience developing custom financial reports and dashboards within accounting systems (Netsuite experience preferred), or with integrating accounting/ERP data into Business Intelligence tools

• Strong SQL skills and comfort working with relational databases

• Ability to handle complex analysis without getting lost in the details

• Certification in accounting or financial analysis (e.g., CFA, CPA, etc.)

• Experience working across multiple entities and currencies

• Strong communication skills to present information to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Excitement to build out new processes and systems for the future rather than just maintaining what exists today

Other information

• This is a full-time, remote position. We prefer applicants who are able to work in time zones between US Pacific Time and CET, with a preference for US/Canada overlap. UK candidates are welcome; unfortunately, candidates outside of UTC -8 to UTC+2 time zones are not suitable for this role.

• Target start date: February 2026 or earlier

• Reports to: Cole Varvel, Head of Finance

• Compensation:

  • US: total compensation package of $109,867, comprising a base salary of $99,879, and a 10% unconditional 401k contribution.

  • UK: total compensation package of £66,095, comprising a base salary of £60,087, and a 10% pension contribution.

  • Other locations: For candidates outside the US and UK, we base compensation on our UK salary structure and adjust for the cost of employment and fixed local benefit costs to create an equivalent package.

  • Benefits include private insurance, flexible work hours, a $6,000 / £5,000 annual professional development allowance, a $6,000 / £5,000 mental health support allowance, extended parental leave, ergonomic equipment, 25 days of paid vacation, and more.

• This role will involve travel. Depending on the location, there are likely 2-3 trips annually, including several international trips to attend team retreats.

We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from self-identified women and people of colour who are excited about contributing to our mission. The Centre for Effective Altruism is an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, or have any other questions about applying, please contact jobs@centreforeffectivealtruism.org.

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Interview plan

• Application

• First work test

• Short interview

• Second work test

• Final interviews (3-4)

• Reference checks

• Offer