Who We Are:

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit www.tpl.org 

Position Summary:

The Trust for Public Land receives funding from a variety of public and private sources. This role applies advanced finance and accounting expertise to manage and optimize the full lifecycle of grants and contracts, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and alignment with organizational priorities.
The position operates with a high degree of autonomy in monitoring and managing all phases of awards, including analyzing funding in the context of broader portfolios, overseeing entry into financial systems, preparing invoices and reports, and driving follow-up on receivables. The role requires the ability to assess risk, identify opportunities for efficiency, and evaluate how financial processes and decisions impact multiple departments.

This individual serves as a key cross-functional partner, effectively collaborating with and influencing stakeholders across finance, legal, and programmatic teams. Success in this role requires strong communication skills, a proactive and solutions-oriented mindset, and the ability to navigate complex information in a highly organized manner.

This is a high-touch role that provides guidance and support across multiple levels of the organization. The ideal candidate brings a customer service mindset, a passion for improving systems and processes, and demonstrated experience working with financial data, contracts/agreements, and database systems.

Essential Functions:

Revenue Management (35%)

• Review award or contract documentation and meet with key contacts to go over major provisions concerning budget and restrictions, waived and un-waived budget categories, period of award, and deadlines for progress invoices
• For public grants, manage the periodic reporting required by public agencies, such as federal Section 3 CDBG compliance forms
• Ensure that all federal funding requirements and internal tracking are on schedule
• Work closely with philanthropy partners and programmatic leads on developing grant proposals and donor grant reporting
• Setup Funds in the finance system with all conditions/restrictions for the grant and in line with other funding sources for the given project/programs
• Work with field /finance directors/ legal staff to restructure approach to contracts, creating cash flow in advance of expense payments i.e., leaning toward positive working capital
• Prepare all documentation for requesting payments on grants and contracts
• Setup an invoicing schedule and manage timing on all current grants
• Monitor all outstanding invoices / collections past due, follow-up on scheduled payments, request extensions if necessary
• Participate in annual audit

Close, Analysis & Reporting (35%)

• Apply advanced subject matter expertise to perform complex financial analysis, synthesizing data across funding sources to inform decision-making and support organizational priorities
• Complete monthly close responsibilities including reconciling cash and accrual balances for all funds
• Setup Funds in the finance system with all conditions/restrictions for grants and in line with other funding sources for the given project/programs
• Partner with Finance Directors to ensure accurate integration of contract awards within the Expense Funding Matching process, proactively identifying risks, gaps, and opportunities to optimize revenue alignment across funding sources
• Update grant reporting for both internal and external audiences
• Provide process improvement and ad hoc analysis projects
• Support broader finance and accounting functions by identifying risks, aligning priorities across teams, and contributing to the successful delivery of cross-functional financial objectives

Budget Management (30%)

• Serve as a strategic finance partner to program and project leads, aligning financial management with program goals and organizational priorities
• Responsible for advising program leads and project managers on to ensure programmatic sustainability and project profitability

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, or grant management, preferably within a nonprofit or complex funding environment
• Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
• Subject matter expertise in accounting, finance, and budgeting principles, including nonprofit revenue recognition standards, with the ability to apply this expertise in complex and dynamic funding environments
• Excellent communication skills are required to translate complex financial information for diverse stakeholders and work cooperatively with different personalities and financial aptitudes across the organization
• Superior analytical and organizational skills are required, as are strong attention to detail, good recordkeeping, responsible time management, and the ability to juggle many projects and deadlines at once
• Demonstrated ability to apply financial theories, principles, and practices related to grant and contract administration to develop insights, identify risks, and make informed recommendations
• Advanced Excel skills (e.g., pivot tables, lookups, multi-source data analysis) and experience working with large, complex datasets to support decision-making
• Experienced computer user, including proficiency with financial systems and multi-dimensional databases
• Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy, prioritizing and managing competing demands while exercising sound judgment under time constraints
• Strong critical thinking skills, including the ability to identify risks, challenge assumptions, and solve complex problems
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategies to improve financial processes and systems across teams
• Self-starter with a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset and the ability to collaborate effectively while driving work forward independently
• Ability to keep confidential information with discretion and professionalism
• Contributes to the creation of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work culture that encourages and celebrates differences

Compensation:
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near a Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $91,000-110,000.

Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.

 

www.tpl.org/careers