Controller, CommonLit
$120-150k
Literacy eLearning platform
Be an early applicant
Literacy eLearning platform
101-200 employees
Be an early applicant
$120-150k
101-200 employees
Company mission
To close the opportunity gap in literacy instruction and ensure that all students have the reading, writing, communication, and collaboration skills needed to unlock their potential.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance; CPA desirable
- 8+ years progressive accounting experience with minimum 3 years in management/supervisory role
- Nonprofit accounting experience strongly preferred (grant compliance, restricted funds, audit management)
- Multi-revenue stream experience including SaaS, professional services, and/or manufacturing cost accounting; edtech, online publishing, and software industry experience highly desirable
- Public accounting/audit background preferred
- Advanced technical accounting expertise across complex revenue recognition (ASC 606), contributions revenue, exempt organizations, grant & contract accounting
- Proven systems leadership with Sage Intacct expertise and experience managing ERP implementations or integrations
- Audit management excellence including single audit experience and federal compliance requirements
- Advanced financial analysis skills including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis
- Expert-level Excel proficiency and experience with FP&A tools (Mosaic experience a plus)
- Team leadership excellence: Proven ability to build, develop, and retain high-performing finance teams
- Strategic partnership: Experience serving as financial advisor to executive leadership and board-level stakeholders
- Process optimization: Track record of implementing efficiency improvements and system enhancements
- Communication leadership: Exceptional written and verbal communication with ability to translate complex financial information for non-finance audiences
- Change management: Experience leading organizational transitions, system implementations, and process improvements
- Mission alignment: Genuine passion for educational equity and student success
- Remote leadership excellence: Proven success leading distributed teams with high engagement and performance
- Professionalism: Communication and presentation appropriate for C-suite partnership and board interaction
What the job involves
- CommonLit's finance team manages all financial and accounting operations across our ~$20M organization
- As Controller, you will serve as the senior financial leader responsible for all accounting operations, financial reporting, and team management, reporting directly to the VP of Finance
- This role requires an experienced strategic professional who combines deep technical accounting expertise with proven management capabilities
- You will own the complete accounting function and work hands-on while leading a growing high-performing finance team, and serve as a primary steward of data critical to organizational decision-making
- In the first 90 days in the role, you will be responsible for an accurate month-end close with an eye on improving timeline and efficiency, implementing process improvements that enhance efficiency and reduce risk, and be expected to demonstrate strategic thinking in financial analysis
- This department leadership role comes with significant responsibility for team development, process optimization, and strategic financial analysis that directly impacts organizational sustainability and growth
- This is the ideal role for candidates who want to establish best-in-class financial reporting and dashboard capabilities, develop a high-performing finance team with clear succession planning, and serve as key financial advisor to leadership on operational decisions in an impact-oriented, non-profit organization
- Own complete month-end close process with target of <10 business days, including all balance sheet reconciliations, variance analysis, and financial statement preparation
- Lead technical accounting decisions across complex revenue streams including SaaS subscriptions, professional services, grants, and print operations
- Oversee cash management strategy including daily cash positioning, investment decisions, and banking relationships
- Direct all GL management with accountability for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with GAAPTax
- Compliance & Regulatory Management
- Manage comprehensive tax compliance including state registrations, sales & use taxes, employment taxes, and coordination with payroll vendors across 30+ states
- Lead annual audit coordination including PBC management, auditor relations, testing support, and Form 990 preparation and filing
- Oversee vendor management including 1099 processing and AP/AR system administration
- Ensure regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions with proactive monitoring of changing requirements
- Manage 2-4 finance team members including Finance & Accounting Coordinator and Accounts Receivable Coordinator
- Drive professional development through mentoring, training, and succession planning
- Establish performance standards and accountability systems that support both individual growth and organizational excellence
- Foster collaborative culture aligned with CommonLit's SLAY values
- Prepare sophisticated financial reports for board, leadership, and external stakeholders including monthly financial packages, grant reports, and strategic analysis
- Lead budget process collaboration including cost-center budgeting, variance analysis, and quarterly business reviews
- Support strategic decision-making through financial modeling, scenario analysis, and profitability assessment
- Advise VP of Finance on complex accounting matters, system implementations, and organizational financial strategy
- Optimize financial systems architecture including Sage Intacct, BILL, and integration management
- Lead process improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability
- Support system implementations including potential Salesforce-Intacct integration and sales tax automation
- Maintain internal controls ensuring single-audit level rigor appropriate for organizational size and complexity
- Senior management responsibility with meaningful impact on organizational strategy and success
- Direct partnership with experienced VP of Finance and executive leadership team
- Team development opportunity to build and lead high-performing finance function
- Mission-driven environment where your expertise directly supports educational equity and student success
- Sophisticated systems and processes operating at best-in-class standards for organizations of our scale
Application process
- Apply By: Friday, September 26 at 5 pm ET
Our take
The US Department of Education has reported that over 50% of US adults over the age of 16 lack proficiency in literacy. This figure is remarkable, and with educators still struggling to fill gaps in education, many fear it will rise. So CommonLit’s tailored literacy lessons may prove more critical than ever.
CommonLit is a non-profit edtech platform that provides research based reading lessons and resources for all literacy levels, grades 3-12. The curriculum is in use by over 20 million registered teachers and students worldwide, and 88,000 schools in the US alone - the majority of them low-income. It’s localizing many of its materials into Spanish too, to tap into the substantial Latin-American markets.
This kind of global reach and deep market penetration is a real coup for the business, especially given the highly competitive nature of the US edtech scene. Lalilo, OgStar Reading, and Simbi are among the many for-profit edtech startups looking to address the same issue, but they will struggle to compete with CommonLit's comprehensive free offering. Plus, CommonLit's non-profit status could mean it’s less vulnerable to the looming threat of the edTech bubble bursting. New products such as a Chat GPT detector for teachers exemplifies how CommonLit is keeping its finger on the pulse so as to maintain relevancy.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
51% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Oct 2018
$3.5m
GRANT
Oct 2016
$3.9m
GRANT
Total funding: $7.4m
Company benefits
- Health
- Dental
- Vision
- 401K
- Commuter benefits
- Company holidays
- Parental leave
- Sick leave
- Personal leave
Company HQ
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
Leadership
Michelle Brown
(CEO)Graduated with a Master's in Education from Harvard, and subsequently spent time as a middle school reading and languages teacher.
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