School Business Administrator

Empowerment Academy’s long-time School Business Administrator (SBA) is looking to retire. The school

is looking for a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who has a MINIMUM of three years experience with an

accounting firm and has New Jersey public school accounting (not just school auditing) experience to

take over the position. To effectuate a smooth transition, the school’s current SBA is willing to work

part-time to provide support.

School Business Administrators oversee a school's accounting, business operations and finances,

compliance with governing laws and regulations, and business office staff.  Additionally, they serve as

Secretary to a school's Board of Trustees.

Empowerment Academy’s SBA will perform school accounting and financial reporting, will be centrally

involved with school budgeting, purchasing, contracting and construction projects, and will oversee

other school Business Office personnel, including the school’s Human Resource Specialist, who handles

payroll, benefits administration, on-boarding and credentials tracking. This is, accordingly, a full-time

position where the candidate hired will be expected to work onsite. 

This would be an excellent position for Certified Public Accountants with high level transactional and

interfund transfer accounting skills who want to be centrally involved in the broader management of a

rapidly growing enterprise, and who would find working in urban public education to be especially

meaningful and satisfying.

Salary Range: $145,000-$195,000 depending upon CPA and school accounting experience.

SCHOOL OVERVIEW

Empowerment Academy is a high-performing and rapidly growing charter school in Jersey City, NJ,

where the population is booming.  In SY24-25 it will serve 1,320 students. Within just the next four

years, its enrollment will grow 50% and its budget will grow to approximately $60,000,000. Managing

the accounting, finance, budget, purchasing and contracting operations of an enterprise growing this

rapidly requires that one possess high level skills and be highly organized.

Requirements

Candidates must be a CPA and hold a School Business Administrator Certificate of Eligibility (CE) from the New Jersey

Department of Education to be hired. Candidates can review the requirements to obtain such

certification at https://www.nj.gov/education/certification/leaders/slcerts/0109CE.shtml.

Certified Public Accountants will generally have had the formal course work needed to obtain a CE. CPAs who do

not have the necessary certification in hand, but would be able to obtain one after submitting the

required materials to the State, are welcome to apply.

The school seeks candidates with significant New Jersey public school accounting experience (again, not

just school auditing experience) because the New Jersey Department of Education requires monthly and

annual financial reports that are highly idiosyncratic. Accountants familiar only with GAAP-based

accounting would need signficant support before being ready to take the reins. Moreover, it is

important to note that because public schools receive significant amounts of federal grants that must be

managed in accordance with detailed federal and state regulations, school accounting requires

familiarity with these regulations and strong interfund transfer accounting skills.

Finally, candidates must have strong writing skills. The applications, reports and disclosure documents

that will need to be prepared in connection with grant and construction bond funds will require not just

the preparation of financial statements and tables, but also narrative descriptions of how funds will or

have been used.

REPORTING AND STAFF RELATIONSHIPS

The Business Administrator reports to the school's Board of Trustees and Executive Officer, and will

work closely not only with their Business Office staff, but also with the school's two other Divisional

leaders: the Director of Education and the Director of Operations.

Benefits

Charter schools ARE public schools. Our teachers and instructional staff are part of the New Jersey Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF), same as teachers and staff at traditional public schools, and can transfer their pension credits from a traditional public school to our school and vice versa. Additional benefits include:

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development

As an equal opportunity employer, Empowerment Academy hires without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability.

INDINSTRUCTION