Description

Museum Vision and Mission:

MOHAI is treasured locally and respected nationally as a vibrant resource where history inspires us to build a better future. To serve our region, we bridge the past, present, and future by collecting, preserving, and sharing stories through compelling, innovative exhibits and community engagement. 

Position Title:    Controller                                      

Reports to:        Chief Financial Officer (CFO)                    

Location:            MOHAI McQuaid Resource Center in Georgetown

Classification:    Non-exempt; Part-time (22.5 hours/week); Hourly

Schedule:           Monday – Friday, to be agreed

Rate of Pay:       $44 – $49 per hour

Benefits:             Vacation and sick pay; 403(b) plan

Position Description:

The Controller is responsible for overseeing the accounting operations of the museum and ensuring compliance with regulations and reporting requirements. This person will help coordinate the budgeting process, ensure the accuracy of financial statements, and provide financial analysis and insights to museum leadership. They will prepare and review payroll and will ensure that MOHAI has the systems and procedures in place to consistently obtain clean audits. This person believes in streamlined processes and financial transparency and effectively manages financial communications. This is a forward-looking individual with an optimistic outlook and the humor and patience necessary to work within a transformative environment. As a member of the Fiscal team, the Controller supervises two people, while interacting collaboratively with all levels of the organization and serving as a thought partner to the CFO.   

Key Responsibilities:

•        Oversee all accounts, ledgers, and reporting systems to ensure compliance with appropriate GAAP standards and reporting requirements.
•        Review and approve final reports to perform thorough, accurate, and timely month-end and year-end accounting close.
•        Prepare monthly financials. Provide financial analysis and insights to museum leadership. 
• Ensure that all interactions are culturally responsive, respectful, and based on a foundation of MOHAI’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.
•        Develop and maintain financial forecasts, including cash flow projections.
•        Ensure regulatory and other reporting for all Federal, State of Washington, King County, and City of Seattle agencies and departments is prepared accurately and filed in a timely manner.   
•        Manage accounting workflow and implement process improvements.
•        Develop and implement accounting policies and procedures. Maintain controls and safeguards for receipt of contributions and revenue. Update internal controls to modify or improve the financial model.
•        Prepare and monitor budgets, analyze variances, and provide insights into financial performance.
•        Oversee all financial, project/program, and grant accounting. Ensure that expenditures are consistently aligned with grant budgets throughout the funding period. Collate financial reporting materials for government, corporate, and foundation grants.
•        Oversee the MOHAI Mercantile annual inventory process.
•        Review the work of the Senior Accountant.
•        Coordinate all audit activity. Prepare and review audit schedules, ensuring compliance with audit requirements.  
• Prepare and submit biweekly payroll.
•        Submit 403(b) contributions to TIAA-CREF and federal 941 tax deposit to IRS.
•        Manage employee benefit enrollment, including onboarding, and issue COBRA notices as required.
•        Maintain employee payroll files and records including W-9s, I-9s, onboarding, and change forms.
•        Manage and track the performance of invested assets in keeping with policies and investment guidelines. Record monthly journal entries.
•        Administer staff credit cards and train staff in proper use of internal forms and policies.
•        Attendance at museum-sponsored events may be required.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• 5-7 years of professional accounting experience, preferably in a museum or nonprofit organization.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in accounting, finance, or business or any equivalent combination of experience and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills, and abilities have been achieved. CPA a plus.
• Demonstrated knowledge of GAAP accounting for nonprofits.
• Demonstrated ability to represent the Fiscal team with a high level of integrity and professionalism.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to exercise discretion and independent judgment.
• Strong organizational skills. Successful track record of managing multiple concurrent assignments and meeting deadlines with little direct supervision.
• Detail-oriented, with strong analytical skills.  
• Proven experience in problem-solving.
• Successful supervisory experience.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to translate financial concepts to individuals at all levels and experience. Open to feedback.
• Manage sensitive matters effectively and with diplomacy.
• Ability to assist and instruct museum staff/volunteers with a patient, respectful, and supportive approach.
• Extensive experience with Microsoft Office suite. Proficiency with MIP Fund Accounting preferred.
• Proficiency with CRM applications such as Blackbaud Altru. Experience with capital campaigns a plus.
• Bilingual and multilingual skills valued.
• Enthusiasm for MOHAI’s exhibits, programs, and mission.

Find yourself checking many of these boxes but doubting whether you should apply? If you meet some of the requirements and you share MOHAI's values and support our mission, we encourage you to apply. As part of our ongoing commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace, we’re invested in building teams with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

Museum Overview:

For 70 years, MOHAI has been dedicated to enriching lives by preserving, sharing, and teaching the diverse history of Seattle, the Puget Sound region, and the nation. With a collection of 6.5 million artifacts, photographs, oral histories and archival items, and an expansive schedule of exhibits and programs, MOHAI is the region’s premier history center. MOHAI operates a dramatic and award-winning museum in Seattle’s vibrant South Lake Union neighborhood and a resource center in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. MOHAI also hosts the Bezos Center for Innovation, focusing on the history and future of innovation in the Puget Sound region. MOHAI is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and has been selected by USA Today as one of the Top Ten History Museums in the nation. For more information, please visit mohai.org.

To Apply:

Please e-mail letter of interest and resume to Human.Resources@mohai.org. No phone calls, please.

MOHAI is a 501(c)(3) organization and an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a team and an organizational culture that fosters inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. We encourage candidates of color to apply.