Galileo Learning
Director, Strategic Finance
🇺🇸 Oakland, CA
🕑 Full-Time
💰 TBD
💻 Finance
🗓️ November 4th, 2025
Power BI
Salesforce
SQL
Edtech.com's Summary
Galileo Learning is hiring a Director of Strategic Finance. The role involves shaping financial strategy, partnering cross-functionally to drive growth, and leading financial planning and operational analytics tailored to the unique seasonal nature of camp operations.
Highlights
- Lead annual and multi-year financial planning aligned with company growth goals.
- Develop financial and operational models to guide resource allocation and investment decisions.
- Provide actionable insights at the site level across 90+ camp locations, focusing on enrollment, labor, utilization, and margins.
- Collaborate with Marketing, People, Technology, Supply Chain, and Field Operations teams to identify growth and efficiency opportunities.
- Design scalable financial tools and dashboards; oversee strategic financial systems and reporting infrastructure.
- Mentor and develop team members, fostering an analytical and collaborative culture.
- Advanced skills in Excel and financial modeling; familiarity with Salesforce, Power BI, SQL, or similar technologies preferred.
- 8 to 12 years of experience in Strategic Finance or FP&A with leadership background; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- Strong communication and leadership skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership and board members.
- Experience partnering with commercial or operational teams to translate financial insights into business outcomes; multi-site retail or services experience is a plus.
Director, Strategic Finance Full Description
Company Description
Galileo is a nationally recognized summer day camp dedicated to empowering young innovators to change the world! Since 2002, we’ve inspired hundreds of thousands of kids across 90+ diverse communities, becoming a leader in the Innovation Education Movement.
At Galileo, innovation, purpose, and personal growth come together to create an environment where your unique talents shine, and your impact is celebrated. We’re committed to fostering a culture that champions inclusion for all, continually innovating to ensure every voice is heard. We have been named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation four times, including in 2024, and we’ve made the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area list over 12 times.
Come join us for a joy-filled summer in a mission-driven environment where you'll be part of something truly special!
Job Description
As the Director of Strategic Finance, you will shape the company’s financial direction and partner across departments to drive growth, improve decision-making, and ensure every strategic initiative is grounded in data-driven insight. This role sits at the intersection of finance, analytics, and business operations—you’ll pair sharp financial acumen with a deep understanding of how the business truly runs day to day.
You’ll operate as a player-coach on a small, scrappy team with big ambitions for growth. Equal parts strategist and builder, you’ll model the business, analyze performance at the site level, design decision-support tools, and partner with leadership and cross-functional teams to improve efficiency and outcomes. The ideal candidate is as comfortable in front of executives as they are in Excel—able to influence decisions, simplify complexity, and build the systems and metrics that power growth.
Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Planning & Decision Support
- Lead annual and multi-year planning processes, aligning budgets and forecasts with company growth goals.
- Develop and maintain forward-looking financial and operational (e.g., staffing) models and scenario analyses to guide resource allocation, pricing, and investment decisions.
- Translate strategic priorities (e.g., expansion, pricing, scholarships) into clear financial implications.
- Ensure all financial planning and forecasting aligns with the seasonal nature of our business, supporting the unique rhythm of camp operations from strategic planning, to dynamic forecasting, to performance management.
- Act as a trusted advisor to leadership, clearly communicating financial insights, risks, and opportunities in plain language.
2. Operational Finance & Analytics
- Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, People, Technology, Supply Chain, and Field Operations teams to understand business drivers and identify opportunities for growth, efficiency, and ROI.
- Deliver actionable reporting and insights at the site level, reflecting the realities of 90+ unique camp locations, tracking enrollment, labor, utilization, and margins to identify risks and opportunities in real time.
- Build and refine simple, actionable KPIs and leading indicators that are analytically sound and operationally meaningful, with particular focus on:
- Labor – Optimize hiring, deployment, and daily management of ~2,500 seasonal employees, Galileo’s largest cost driver and primary determinant of program quality
- Unit maturity – Build and refine the “camp ramp” model to ensure new camps successfully scale from launch to maturity
- Scale – Identify opportunities for operating leverage as Galileo grows, supporting improvements in org design, systems, and processes
- Champion a “business-first” approach to analytics: ensuring financial insights translate into stakeholder adoption and measurable action.
- Collaborate with end users to align financial tools and processes with the way the business actually operates.
3. Systems, Tools & Team Leadership
- Oversee the roadmap for strategic financial systems and reporting infrastructure in partnership with Technology and Data teams.
- Design lightweight, scalable tools and dashboards and recommend systems that improve data quality, visibility, and automation.
- Mentor and develop team members in and outside of Finance, fostering an analytical culture rooted in curiosity, rigor, and collaboration.
What We’re Looking For
1. Business Partnership Mindset
- A connector who builds strong relationships across teams and thrives on collaboration
- Willingness to spend time with end users to understand pain points and co-create better processes
- Preference for engaging directly with the business—balancing analytical work with hands-on problem-solving
2. Exceptional Analytical and Strategic Thinking
- Ability to identify true leading indicators and build simple, powerful metrics that drive real behavioral change
- Strong commercial intuition: understands what truly moves the business and can turn data into actionable insights
- Expertise in financial modeling, forecasting, and scenario planning, with the creativity to look beyond standard reporting
3. Systems and Design Thinking
- Comfort working with data architecture, reporting tools, and automation—able to bridge the gap between finance and technology
- Understands how systems and processes shape behavior; designs financial tools that are both scalable and user-friendly
- Familiarity with Salesforce, Power BI, SQL, or similar technologies preferred
4. Leadership and Communication
- Excellent communicator who can distill complexity into clarity
- Demonstrated success leading small teams, influencing cross-functional peers, and managing up effectively
- Strong presentation skills and confidence working directly with senior leadership and the board
Qualifications
- 8–12 years of experience in Strategic Finance, FP&A, or related fields, including leadership experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred
- Proven experience partnering with commercial or operational teams to translate financial insights into business outcomes. Multi-site retail and/or services experience is a plus.
- Advanced Excel and modeling skills; experience with BI or analytics tools strongly preferred
- Strong problem-solving, communication, and relationship-building skills
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and strongly encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences. If you think you have what it takes to be successful in this role, we encourage you to apply.
Additional Information
Physical Demands
- Occasionally lift and carry up to 30 lbs.
- Constantly operate a computer (including typing, reading)
- Frequently remain in a stationary position for extended periods of time
- Constantly communicate in-person, virtually, and from a range of distances
- Frequently remain in a stationary position for extended periods of time, sitting or standing
Additional Information:
During your onboarding process, you may need to complete a Tuberculosis (TB) screening, a background check, and mandated reporter training (California only). More details will be provided during your onboarding process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Galileo Learning is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
We comply with the ADA and provide reasonable accommodation that allow qualified applicants/employees to perform the essential functions of the job. To request an accommodation, contact our People Services team. Please note that our job descriptions are only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible responsibilities, tasks, and duties.
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