The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is an independent, nonpartisan, governmental agency whose mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable. The CFB administers the largest public campaign financing system in the nation, which provides candidates for elected office in the City of New York with matching funds for small-donor contributions. Its work helps to increase the size and diversity of the candidate pool, enhance the impact of small-dollar donations, and diminish the influence of large private party contributors and corporate donors.

Equally important, the CFB is mandated to engage more New Yorkers in voting, with a particular focus on under-represented communities. The CFB provides New Yorkers with information about elections, publishes the City’s official Voter Guides for each election, and administers debates among candidates for Mayor and other citywide offices. The CFB also provides New Yorkers with a transparent view of money in City elections by publishing comprehensive data on campaign finances and independent expenditures.

Established in 1988, the Board consists of five members who serve staggered five-year terms which are not term limited. Two of the members are appointed by the mayor; two are appointed by the Speaker of the NYC Council; and the Chair is appointed by the Mayor after consultation with the Speaker. The Executive Director reports solely to the Board. The agency’s FY 2024 operating budget is $65 million, and it employs approximately 200 passionate, professional, and dedicated staff members. During the 2021 elections, the CFB distributed $127 million in matching funds to 308 candidates for City offices.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board is seeking a highly effective leader and manager with the highest ethical standards and a deep commitment to democracy to become its next Executive Director. This position plays a critical role in advancing the vision of the organization, supervising all aspects of the organization’s work, implementing internal policies, responding to outside stakeholders, and ensuring a culture that values diversity, inclusion, collaboration, integrity, and excellence.

The Executive Director must be a proven leader and consensus builder who can promote collaboration and partnerships while advancing the core goals of the organization. Candidates should have substantial experience working for or with government officials and exhibit strong leadership skills while managing a talented and diverse staff.

The successful candidate will be politically astute, a hands-on manager, a strategic thinker and planner, a problem solver, and able to respond to crises quickly and effectively. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Leadership
- Set the agency up for long-term success by working diligently to lead and empower executive staff, by creating long-term strategies for the agency, and by establishing and implementing agency-wide priorities and goals
- Establish a positive agency culture by setting clear expectations, maintaining an environment of transparency, incorporating staff feedback, when reasonable, and adhering to uniform work standards
- Promote professional development of staff to advance agency objectives and encourage employee retention
- Motivate and inspire staff to enable greater teamwork, cooperation, and performance
- Champion principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion as they relate to CFB’s practices, policies, and programs including but not limited to staff hiring and retention
- Recognize, create, and support opportunities for innovation in technology and programming

Management
- Consistently evaluate the organizational positioning, processes, and functions of the agency to build out and improve upon the agency’s performance and ensure that its work product is excellent and completed promptly so that the goals of the agency are achieved
- Coach high-level managers to help staff achieve success and to attract, recruit, retain, and develop our workforce
- Prioritize the use of agency resources to implement a forward-looking vision
- Create and maintain the organization’s budget by working with staff, the Board, and external city partners
- Implement and enforce workplace policies and procedures, including those prohibiting discrimination and harassment.

Board Support
- Communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the Board on all matters of importance
- Provide guidance and staff point of view to the Board on advisory opinions and policy issues
- Supervise the preparation of materials for use in the Board’s adjudicative process
- Provide regular updates on staff work and present issues of potential agency risk

Public Face of the CFB
- With the Board and Public Affairs team, define agency press message and appear in media interviews and at other public events such as conferences and lectures
- Help develop and support legislative agenda and testify before City Council and represent the agency positively before other government bodies
- Provide assistance to other jurisdictions based on CFB’s work

Preferred Experience & Knowledge
- Five years of senior-level experience in management, including staff supervision and team leadership, strategic planning, organizational development, finances, budgeting, and negotiation
- Advanced degree in a field related to law, public administration, business, or finance
- Impeccable ethical standards with a history of maintaining the highest levels of integrity and professionalism
- Demonstrated record of success in leadership, management, and communications
- Demonstrated ability to supervise a senior management team and provide support to developing leaders, as well as identifying and hiring new talented team members
- Successful track record in setting organizational priorities and meeting goals
- Prior work experience reporting to a Board of Directors
- Familiarity with election, campaign finance, and voting rights law and policy
- Familiarity with financial and forensic auditing procedures
- Experience navigating government processes and operating within a complex multi-stakeholder environment
- Knowledge of New York City and State government, including experience in developing relationships with key government agencies and individuals
- Experience managing or working on complex technology projects and distilling information to arrive at a productive resolution
- Experience managing or working with a unionized workforce.

Essential Skills
- Ability to work collaboratively and build meaningful relationships with staff and external stakeholders to achieve buy-in and support for the agency’s long-term strategic goals.
- Outstanding analytical skills relating to public policy and comprehensive organizational needs
- Ability to understand, apply, and explain complex financial and legal concepts
- Excellent writing, editing, and oral communication skills
- Ability to manage complex situations and prioritize multiple responsibilities, including long-term projects and immediate crises and demands
- Meticulous attention to detail while also maintaining an overarching view of departmental and agency goals and objectives
- A high level of emotional intelligence
- Personal qualities of integrity, empathy, credibility, and dedication to the mission of CFB

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or its educational equivalent and two years of satisfactory, full-time progressively responsible administrative experience requiring independent decision-making concerning program management or planning, allocation of resources, and the scheduling and assignment of work, 18 months of which must have been in a supervisory, administrative, managerial or executive capacity; or

2. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" above. However, all candidates must possess the 18 months of supervisory, administrative, managerial or executive experience as described above. Education may be substituted for the general clerical-administrative experience (but not for the supervisory, administrative, managerial or executive experience described in "1" above) at a rate of 2 years of graduate study substituting for 2 years of experience

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.