Chief Financial Officer

Chief Financial Officer
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA)

TheLos Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is seeking torecruit a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) located in Los Angeles,CA.

About LAHSA

In December of 1993, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors,the Los Angeles mayor and City Council created the Los AngelesHomeless Services Authority (LAHSA) as an independent, joint powersauthority. LAHSA is the lead agency in the Los Angeles Continuum ofCare, which is the regional planning body that coordinates housingand services for homeless families and individuals in Los AngelesCounty. LAHSA coordinates and manages over $800 million annually infederal, state, county, and city funds for programs that provideshelter, housing, and services to people experiencing homelessness.LASHSA has approximately 800 professional staff working to serve themission of the organization.

Through LAHSA, funding, program design, outcomes assessment, andtechnical assistance are provided to more than 100 nonprofit partneragencies that assist people experiencing homelessness achieveindependence and stability in housing. LAHSA’s partner agenciesprovide a continuum of programs ranging from outreach, accesscenters, emergency shelters, safe havens, transitional, interim, andpermanent housing, and prevention, along with the necessarysupportive services designed to provide the tools and skillsnecessary to attain a stable housing environment. Additionally,LAHSA partners with both the city and county of Los Angeles tointegrate services and housing opportunities to ensure widedistribution of service and housing options throughout the LosAngeles Continuum of Care.

LAHSA is guided by Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum. When Dr. AdamsKellum became CEO in late March 2023, the first thing she noticedwas they had the right goal – reduce unsheltered homelessness – anda dedicated workforce that successfully housed thousands of peopleevery year. Last year, LAHSA announced an internal reorganizationthat would drive the rehousing system’s strategic vision of reducingunsheltered homelessness. Dr. Adams Kellum reimagined and narrowedthe agency’s focus around five key strategic areas of focus:

Addressing the Emergency.

Improving Rehousing System Efficiency.

LAHSA’s Purpose, Accountability, andTransparency.

Contracting and Grant Management.

Equity.

LAHSA has accomplished many key strategic goals, including:

Serving as a critical partner in MayorBass’ Inside Safe program by directly supporting contractingthat sheltered over 1,300 people from 19 encampments during theMayor’s first six months in office.

Collaborating with CEO/HomelessInitiative and Board of Supervisors to launch County’s responseto State of Emergency, including the County’s encampmentresolution plan, Pathway Home.

Launched LAHSA’s new Multi-DepartmentalCrisis Response Team.

LAHSA’s reimagined Winter ShelterProgram served six times more people than the previous winter.

Housing fairs were held for nearly 500Inside Safe participants.

Decreased the time to lease-up permanentsupportive housing by 75%, from 120 days to 45 - 60 days.

LAHSA streamlined and expedited itscontracting process. Executed 80% of new and renewal serviceprovider contracts for fiscal year 2023- 2024 by June 30th.

Implemented innovative process ofutilizing long-term flexible resources as working capital fundsto expedite payment to providers.

To counteract the effects of years ofsystemic racism, LAHSA created the Ad-Hoc Committee onDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Committee will dive deeperinto the causes of homelessness for various subpopulations anddevelop equitable practices to end homelessness for ourunsheltered neighbors of color.

Another major accomplishment has been announcing LAHSA’s newWelcome Navigation Center. The new 24,000 sq. ft. facility willpilot a new design to move people experiencing homelessness (PEH)from tents to interim housing, and onward to permanent housing, with24/7 site accessibility. The Welcome Navigation Center will provide41 rooms, with about 84 participants at any given time. During theirtime at the Center, LAHSA will assist participants with documentreadiness and expedite housing navigation services that will movethem from interim to permanent housing faster. In addition,participants will have daily opportunities to tour availablepermanent housing and participate in weekly onsite housing fairsthat will provide transportation to view available units.

About the Position: Chief FinancialOfficer

The Chief Financial Officer reports to the CEO and serves as astrategic member of the LAHSA Leadership Team. The CFO isresponsible for developing and implementing LAHSA’s financialstrategy, leading, and implementing policies and practices to guideLAHSA’s financial and operational activities. The CFO will manage adepartment of approximately 120 professional staff and has oversightof three departments: Finance; Contracts & Procurement; andCompliance. The CFO should be a proven leader with stronganalytical, finance, and operational skills to contribute to timelyexecution of LASHA’s strategic goals. The CFO should possess greatpeople skills and excellent business acumen. The CFO will guide thethoughtful and strategic deployment of the finances and operationsof LAHSA. Overall, the CFO will partner with LAHSA’s leadership toensure that the workplace operates smoothly.

The broad goals and objectives for the Chief Financial Officerare the following:

Ensure the overall financial health ofthe organization by preparing and recommending an annual budgetfor Commission approval. Manage personnel and financialresources within the annual budget; monitor budgetary andfinancial procedures to guarantee that generally acceptedaccounting practices are being followed.

Provide timely administration offederal, state, and local funding to almost 1,000 serviceproviders. Responsible for procurement and administration offederal, state, and private (grant and foundation) monies tofulfill programmatic and organizational responsibilities andneeds.

In partnership with the CEO, prepare andprovide an annual/activity report and quarterly and monthlyprogress reports to the LAHSA Commission. Maintain accurate andappropriate records of all proceedings.

Provide leadership in labor negotiationsto address short-and-long term implications of labor proposalsincluding determining proposal costs, affordability, andforecasts.

Provide oversight of financial systems,policies, and procedures in alignment with state and federalrequirements, including preparation of annual operating budgets,financial reports, and regulatory filings.

Continually assess and upgrade LAHSA’sapproach to internal controls, compliance with accountingstandards, and other relevant finance policies and practices.

Submit to the City and the County of LosAngeles complete written reports of LAHSA’s financial activitiesin a timely manner and advise the Chief Executive Officer andother key LAHSA leaders on financial planning, budgeting, cashflow, and other financial matters.

Ensure continual development,implementation and communication/training of fiscal policies,accounting procedures, automated accounting system, and costallocation plan for LAHSA and sub-recipients.

The CFO should ideally embody the following professionalqualifications and personal attributes:

Professional Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree in accounting,finance, management, with an MBA and/or CPA – familiarity withgovernment accounting and audit issues strongly preferred.

Strong financial management skillsincluding oversight of budget preparation and analysis, decisionmaking, and reporting.

Ability to prepare financial forecastsand strong data analysis, communication, problem-solving, andstrategic thinking skills.

Demonstrated expertise in contractnegotiations, collective bargaining, contingency planning, andother labor-related activities.

High level strategic thinking andplanning. Ability to envision and convey LAHSA’s strategicfuture to the CEO and staff leaders.

Proven leadership skills in financialanalysis and an ability to translate data into strategic toolsto enhance workplace performance.

Ability to effectively communicate theorganization’s mission to donors, elected officials, communitystakeholders, and others.

Demonstrated ability to work bothindependently and collaboratively as a team player and withgrace and flexibility when faced with multiple time-sensitivepriorities and a changing environment.

Strong organizational abilities,including planning and staff development.

Personal Attributes

Passionate commitment to LAHSA’s missionand its guiding principles; inspires respect and trust.

A record of success serving as the chieffinancial officer and demonstrated competence with personnelmanagement, team building, and problem solving; More than 15years' experience total accounting/finance experience.

Demonstrated familiarity with computersoftware programs specifically, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel,Access, Power Point and Outlook) and the internet.

Demonstrated integrity and leadership inworking with and managing budgets, financial forecasting,performance measurement metrics.

Demonstrated commitment to a diverse,equitable and inclusive workplace.

Commitment to results; 'can-do" mindset;outstanding problem-solving ability.

Excellent analytical, communication andpresentation skills.

Collegial, trustworthy, and possessingthe highest level of personal and professional integrity.

A team builder who inspirescollaboration; demonstrated success in collaborative work withexternal colleagues as well as internal ones.

Adept interpersonal communicationsskills including ability to present complex ideas in acompelling manner and an ability to build trust and listeneffectively.

Compensation

Compensation for the Chief Financial Officer includes acompetitive base salary, and an excellent package of health andemployee benefits, which includes health, life, vision, and dentalinsurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, deferredcompensation, and pension plan, use of company vehicle, andvacation, sick leave, and paid holidays.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter,responding specifically to the experience and qualificationsrequired, to Daniel Sherman, President, Explore Company atresumes@explorecompany.com . Refer to LAHSA/CFO in the subjectline. No phone inquiries please.

LAHSA is an equal opportunity employerand seeks a diverse pool of candidates in this search. Diversity isan asset essential to accomplishing their work. They valuedifferences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or maritalstatus, gender identity or expression, language, national origin,physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion,sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and othercharacteristics that make employees unique. All qualified candidatesare encouraged to apply.

All correspondence will remainconfidential.