Controller
Young Musicians Unite — Miami, FL
Full-Time | In-Office | Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer
About the Organization
Founded in 2013, Young Musicians Unite (YMU) provides free, high-quality music education to students in under-resourced communities across Miami-Dade County. Through deep partnerships with public schools, YMU reaches more than 12,000 students across 75 schools, with an annual operating budget of approximately $7.6 million. YMU is known for its ambitious growth, strong school partnerships, and large-scale fundraising events, all powered by a lean, high-performing team committed to excellence, accountability, and long-term impact.
Position Overview
Young Musicians Unite (YMU) is seeking a highly capable Controller to lead, strengthen, and own the day-to-day financial operations of the organization. This role is designed to build and maintain the financial engine behind YMU's long-term sustainability — bringing discipline, clarity, structure, and reliable financial stewardship to an organization that has grown quickly in size, complexity, and visibility.
Reporting directly to the COO and working closely with the COO and CEO, the Controller serves as YMU's senior accounting and financial operations leader. This leader will own the integrity of the organization's financial reporting, oversee all day-to-day accounting operations, strengthen internal controls, lead audit and compliance efforts, and provide the timely, accurate financial information needed for sound organizational decision-making.
This is a highly hands-on role in a lean environment. The Controller will personally own, execute, and review core accounting and financial management work. This is not a high-level strategic role — it is a working financial leader who ensures the books are right, the reports are timely, the grants are tracked, the team is supported, and the organization's finances are managed with precision and accountability every single day.
Success in this role will look like timely and reliable monthly closes, stronger budget discipline, clean audit preparation, tighter grant and payroll controls, and a finance function that gives leadership and the board confidence in the organization's financial data and decision-making.
Core Responsibilities
Finance Department Leadership & Operations
● Serve as the day-to-day leader of YMU's finance function, managing staff, priorities, workflows, deadlines, and performance.
● Directly supervise YMU's Finance Associate, ensuring work is well-distributed, well-managed, and consistently delivered.
● Establish clear expectations, workflows, quality standards, and review processes across the finance function.
● Maintain and refine finance systems, processes, and standards that support clarity, accountability, and institutional discipline.
● Act as the primary point of ownership for finance operations so that senior leadership is not managing accounting details, reporting follow-up, or day-to-day financial coordination.
● Maintain a culture of accuracy, ownership, responsiveness, and follow-through across all financial work.
Core Accounting, Close, & Financial Integrity
● Own and execute all core accounting functions, including general ledger management, journal entries, reconciliations, month-end close, year-end close, and financial statement preparation.
● Ensure YMU maintains highly accurate, audit-ready financials at all times.
● Personally review and validate financial outputs for accuracy, completeness, consistency, and proper classification.
● Establish and maintain internal controls appropriate for a lean but growing organization with increasing operational complexity.
● Ensure balance sheet accounts, accruals, revenue recognition, restricted funds, interdepartmental allocations, and supporting documentation are handled with rigor and precision.
● Strengthen month-end close discipline and reporting cadence so leadership receives timely, reliable financial information on a consistent basis.
Budget Management, Forecasting & Reporting
● Lead the annual budgeting process in partnership with the COO, working with department leaders to build accurate, well-supported budgets.
● Own ongoing budget-to-actual reporting, variance analysis, and re-forecasting to ensure the organization has clear visibility into financial performance throughout the year.
● Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reports for senior leadership, translating financial data into clear, useful information for non-financial leaders.
● Use existing Board Reporting templates to prepare accurate, timely reporting materials for quarterly board meetings, the Finance and Organizational Growth Committee, and other board-related financial reporting needs. This role fills in the numbers — not the strategic narrative.
Grant, Restricted Fund, & Revenue Management
● Oversee the financial management of grants and restricted funding, including budget tracking, compliance, allocations, reporting support, and reconciliation to actual activity.
● Provide the financial component of grant proposals — using existing templates to prepare projected budgets and financial information for new grant applications in partnership with the Development team.
● Ensure restricted and unrestricted funds are tracked with precision and transparency.
● Partner with Development and program leadership to support grant budgeting, financial reporting, and responsible stewardship of awarded funds.
● Ensure revenue is recorded, classified, and monitored accurately across grants, contributions, earned income, and other funding sources.
● Build strong internal practices around grant spend tracking and documentation so the organization can scale funding without creating financial disorder.
Cash Flow, Liquidity, & Financial Stewardship
● Actively manage cash flow, liquidity, reserves, and short-term financial planning.
● Monitor the timing of grants, donations, earned income, reimbursements, payroll obligations, accounts payable, and major commitments to ensure strong cash management.
● Help leadership make financially sound operating decisions by providing timely visibility into commitments, constraints, and tradeoffs.
● Strengthen processes around receivables, payables, cash forecasting, and reserve planning so YMU can operate proactively rather than reactively.
Audit, Compliance, & Risk Management
● Lead the annual audit process end-to-end, including preparation, coordination, support schedules, follow-up, and implementation of recommendations.
● Ensure compliance with GAAP, nonprofit accounting standards, payroll and tax requirements, grant requirements, and other applicable financial and regulatory obligations.
● Maintain clean documentation, support files, and audit trails across all financial activity.
● Oversee the accuracy and timeliness of required financial filings, reports, and compliance deliverables, including Form 990 and other regulatory reports.
● Identify financial control gaps, compliance risks, or process weaknesses and implement practical improvements.
Payroll, Benefits Coordination, & Administrative Oversight
● Own payroll oversight across the organization, working closely with internal operations staff to ensure payroll is accurate, timely, and well-coordinated.
● Oversee payroll processes across multiple systems and employee groups.
● Provide financial oversight related to benefits administration and related processes, in coordination with the Office Manager and Operations team.
● Ensure payroll-related liabilities, reconciliations, reporting, and documentation are accurate and well-managed.
Systems, Tools, & Process Improvement
● Own and improve YMU's finance-related systems and workflows, including QuickBooks, Ramp, payroll systems, budgeting tools, and finance-related process tracking.
● Work effectively within YMU's current systems and processes first, while identifying practical improvements over time.
● Build processes that are simple, repeatable, scalable, and appropriate for a lean but growing nonprofit.
● Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, visibility, and financial discipline without sacrificing reliability or control.
● Strengthen documentation and institutional knowledge so the finance function is not dependent on heroic effort or informal knowledge.
External Partner Management
● Serve as the primary financial point of contact for YMU's external auditor, tax preparer, payroll providers, insurance broker, banking partners, and other financial service providers.
● Manage outside relationships with professionalism, responsiveness, and strong follow-through.
● Coordinate with outside legal counsel on finance-related matters as needed.
● Ensure outside partners receive accurate information on time and that YMU is well-represented in all financial and compliance interactions.
Cross-Functional Partnership
● Serve as a trusted partner to the COO, CEO, Director of Operations, Development team, and departmental leaders by bringing financial discipline and clarity into planning, spending, and execution.
● Partner across departments to ensure budgets, contracts, purchasing, and operational changes are grounded in sound financial analysis and accurate data.
● Support department leaders with clarity and visibility while maintaining strong controls and clear approval structures.
● Help the broader organization experience finance as rigorous, responsive, clear, and solutions-oriented.
Qualifications
Required Experience & Skills
● 6+ years of progressive experience in accounting, finance, or financial operations roles, with increasing responsibility and ownership.
● Strong technical accounting foundation, including ownership of close processes, reconciliations, financial statements, payroll oversight, and internal controls.
● Demonstrated success operating in a highly hands-on role within a lean or resource-constrained environment.
● Experience owning or leading major portions of an annual audit.
● Proven ability to produce highly accurate financial data, reporting, and analysis.
● Strong budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, and variance analysis skills.
● Experience managing at least one direct report and building accountability within a finance function.
● Ability to bring order, structure, and follow-through to a fast-moving environment.
● Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism in working with senior leadership, board members, staff, and external partners.
● High level of organization, reliability, and attention to detail.
● Fluency with accounting systems, spreadsheets, and Google Workspace.
Preferred Background
● Strongly preferred: experience in nonprofit finance, including fund accounting, grants management, restricted fund tracking, and nonprofit financial reporting.
● Experience working with grant proposal budgets and financial reporting for funders.
● Experience supporting an organization through growth, increased complexity, or scaling.
● Familiarity with multi-revenue-stream environments that include philanthropy, grants, events, public funding, and earned income.
● Experience with QuickBooks, Ramp, ADP, Paylocity, Asana, and Google Sheets-based budgeting processes.
● Strong process improvement instincts and the ability to design systems that actually get used.
● Collaborative, conscientious, practical, and results-oriented approach.
Education
● Bachelor's degree required in accounting, finance, or a related field.
● CPA strongly preferred.
● MBA or other advanced degree is a plus, but not required.
Compensation and Benefits
● Salary Range: $110,000–$130,000 annually, depending on experience
● Health Insurance offered and partially covered by the organization.
● Generous paid time off and holidays.
● Mission-aligned, collaborative work environment.
● Opportunities for professional development and advancement.
Application Question(s):
As part of our hiring process, all candidates are required to complete the Culture Index Survey. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and helps us better understand your natural work style, communication preferences, problem-solving approach, and how your strengths align with the responsibilities of the role. There are no right or wrong answers—we simply ask that you answer honestly based on your natural tendencies. The survey is one component of our hiring process and is considered alongside your resume, experience, qualifications, and interviews.
Please complete the Culture Index Survey using the link below:
https://go.cultureindex.com/p/BEO1oa14EBhlg
Applications will only be considered after both your Indeed application and the completed Culture Index Survey have been received.
Pay: $110,000.00 - $130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Application Question(s):
As part of our hiring process, all candidates are required to complete the Culture Index Survey. The survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and helps us better understand your natural work style, communication preferences, problem-solving approach, and how your strengths align with the responsibilities of the role. There are no right or wrong answers—we simply ask that you answer honestly based on your natural tendencies. The survey is one component of our hiring process and is considered alongside your resume, experience, qualifications, and interviews.
Please complete the Culture Index Survey using the link below:
https://go.cultureindex.com/p/BEO1oa14EBhlg
Applications will only be considered after both your Indeed application and the completed Culture Index Survey have been received.
Work Location: In person
