The Organization
Skills Society is a not-for-profit organization providing support services to children and adults with developmental disabilities, survivors of brain injuries, and their families. Supporting people to be valued citizens is at the heart of its work. Services range from a few hours of outreach support each week to 24/7 supported community living, with each approach shaped around the unique needs, choices and aspirations of the individual.
Skills Society’s vision is a community where all individuals are valued citizens deserving respect, dignity and rights. Its services strengthen belonging and support people with disabilities in their right to learn and grow in community, make individual choices, pursue opportunities, build relationships, and share their gifts and talents. Citizenship at Skills Society is reflected through rights, participation, relationships and belonging.
Known nationally for innovative approaches, Skills Society has built a culture that values creativity, learning, relationships and continuous improvement. Its core values include practicing in person-centred ways, seeking creative collaborations, building and sharing knowledge, embracing complexity, and adapting and evolving. The organization takes its work seriously while remaining curious, relational and open to new ideas about how to better support people to live fulfilling lives in community.
For more information about Skills Society, please visit their website.
The Opportunity
- Reports to: Executive Director
- Direct Reports: 1: Payroll Accountant
- Location: Edmonton, AB
Mandate
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Senior Accountant oversees Skills Society’s accounting operations, financial reporting and compliance, ensuring sound financial management, robust internal controls, and timely and accurate financial reporting in accordance with policy, legislation, government requirements and nonprofit accounting standards.
The Senior Accountant joins Skills Society at an important point in the evolution of its finance function. Working alongside the Executive Director, Payroll Accountant and external accounting support, the successful candidate will strengthen systems and processes, improve the accessibility and usefulness of financial information, and help guide the organization through anticipated systems modernization. In keeping with Skills Society’s culture, they will approach change with curiosity, first seeking to understand the history and purpose behind existing practices before determining what should evolve.
This role requires someone who can work comfortably at both the strategic and hands-on levels. The Senior Accountant will provide financial insight and oversight while remaining willing to step into detailed accounting and payroll activities when required. They will also help colleagues across Skills Society better understand and use financial information, bringing the same emphasis on relationships, clear communication and collaborative problem-solving that characterizes the organization’s broader work.
Key Accountabilities
Financial Reporting and Accounting
- Maintain an accurate, up-to-date general ledger and ensure financial reports are produced on a timely basis.
- Oversee the preparation and delivery of accurate financial statements in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
- Analyze financial information and clearly communicate monthly and annual results.
- Manage cash flow monitoring and forecasting to support the financial health and resiliency of Skills Society.
- Improve the accessibility and usefulness of financial information for program and department leaders.
Compliance, Payroll and Government Reporting
- Prepare accurate financial reports for government funders.
- Ensure compliance with accounting standards, internal procedures, governing legislation and regulatory requirements.
- Oversee required payroll and government reporting, including T4s, T2200s, WCB and applicable tax filings.
- Provide oversight and occasional hands-on coverage for payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable.
- Stay current on labour standards and other requirements relevant to payroll administration.
- Provide effective oversight within a complex payroll environment involving approximately 450 employees and more than 800 positions, including employees working in multiple roles at different rates of pay.
Audit, Internal Controls and Systems
- Lead the annual audit process, including preparation of year-end working papers, coordination with external auditors and implementation of required adjustments.
- Maintain and continuously strengthen internal controls, accounting policies and financial procedures.
- Recommend and implement improvements to accounting systems and management practices.
- Play a leadership role in the continued modernization of finance and payroll systems.
- Bring curiosity rather than judgement to existing practices, understanding what has worked well before introducing change.
- Champion systems and process changes internally through clear communication, thoughtful questions and an understanding of how change will affect others.
Budgeting and Strategic Support
- Take a lead role in preparing the annual organizational budget in collaboration with the Executive Director.
- Support the Executive Director and, as required, the Board Finance Committee with financial analysis and reporting.
- Strengthen forecasting and data-informed decision-making across the organization.
- Work collaboratively with program and department leaders to build financial literacy and understanding.
- Develop financial processes that support strong program delivery while recognizing that administrative systems ultimately exist to support Skills Society’s mission.
Leadership and Collaboration
- Supervise and mentor the Payroll Accountant, providing guidance, support and opportunities for continued development.
- Foster a collaborative, respectful and accountable Finance function.
- Build strong relationships across Skills Society and create healthy communication between Finance and other departments.
- Explain complex financial information clearly and appropriately for different audiences.
- Bring forward challenges, ideas and solutions proactively.
- Balance high-level financial leadership with a willingness to contribute directly to day-to-day accounting activities when required.
First-Year Deliverables / Measures of Success
Success in the first year will be determined by the candidate’s ability to:
- Establish strong, trusting relationships with the Executive Director, Payroll Accountant, leadership team and Board Finance Committee.
- Strengthen communication between Finance and other departments, ensuring leaders can access and understand the information they need to make sound decisions.
- Develop a strong mentoring relationship with the Payroll Accountant and create opportunities for knowledge sharing and continued development.
- Assess existing finance and payroll systems and contribute meaningfully to the next phase of systems modernization.
- Strengthen forecasting, reporting and financial processes while maintaining reliable day-to-day accounting operations.
- Demonstrate the ability to move comfortably between strategic financial oversight and detailed operational work.
- Lead the organization through the successful completion of the annual external audit process, ensuring readiness, timely completion, and follow-up on findings.
- Proactively bring forward challenges, ideas and possible solutions while demonstrating comfort with ambiguity, change and continuous learning.
Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will have the following:
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or a related field.
- A professional accounting designation, CPA or equivalent, is strongly preferred.
- Experienced candidates without a professional designation may be considered where they bring strong education and significant, directly relevant accounting experience.
Experience:
- Minimum five years of progressive accounting or finance experience.
- Strong technical knowledge of financial reporting, general ledger accounting, internal controls, budgeting and compliance.
- Demonstrated knowledge of nonprofit accounting standards and government-funded programs.
- Experience with grant and fund accounting.
- Strong payroll knowledge and the ability to provide hands-on support within a large and complex payroll environment.
- Experience leading an annual audit process and working effectively with external auditors.
- Experience developing budgets, forecasts and financial analysis for organizational leaders.
- Experience improving financial systems, processes or internal controls.
- Experience contributing to organizational change, systems implementation or significant process improvement.
- Demonstrated experience supervising, mentoring or developing accounting staff.
- Nonprofit or charitable sector experience is preferred; however, candidates from other sectors who understand the fundamentals of nonprofit and government-funded accounting will also be considered.
Competencies and Attributes:
- Financial and Technical Acumen: Brings strong accounting expertise, attention to detail and sound judgement while understanding how financial stewardship supports Skills Society’s broader mission.
- Strategic and Hands-On Leadership: Comfortable moving between high-level oversight and detailed accounting work and willing to roll up their sleeves when required.
- Person-Centred and Relational Approach: Builds healthy relationships and understands that finance processes ultimately affect the people Skills Society supports, their families and the teams who work alongside them.
- Clear Communication: Makes complex financial information understandable and useful to people with different levels of financial knowledge.
- Creative Collaboration: Works openly and productively with others, recognizing that stronger solutions emerge through trust, shared knowledge and collaboration.
- Build and Share Knowledge: Demonstrates curiosity, actively learns from others and generously shares expertise to strengthen financial understanding across the organization.
- Embrace Complexity: Comfortable navigating ambiguity and interconnected challenges and willing to explore multiple approaches to difficult problems.
- Adapt and Evolve: Remains focused on organizational purpose while being flexible about how systems and processes can change to better support the work.
- Problem Solving and Judgement: Assesses options and implications carefully and develops practical, thoughtful solutions.
- Values Alignment: Demonstrates empathy, respect, accountability and a genuine commitment to supporting the citizenship, choice, opportunity and belonging of people with disabilities.
Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Skills Society is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognizes that a diverse team benefits the organization and is essential to service excellence. As an equitable employer, Skills Society has long-established practices that reflect its commitment to diversity, equity and social justice, and continues to learn and improve in support of its vision of citizenship and deep belonging for people with disabilities in the community.
Skills Society has intentional practices in place to achieve fairness in employment and create a diverse workforce. No person will be denied employment opportunities or opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to their abilities. Recruitment and advancement will not discriminate on the grounds of any protected characteristics under Alberta Human Rights or Canadian Human Rights legislation. Individuals will be recruited to positions based on their skills, qualifications and attributes required for employment and alignment to agency core values.
In accordance with provincial legislation, accommodation will be provided by Mullen Leadership Recruitment and Skills Society throughout the recruitment, selection and/or assessment process, upon request. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.
Application Instructions
If this opportunity excites you, please send an application package, including your resume and cover letter, to [email protected]. In the subject line of your email, please include the organization’s name and the position title.
