Conservation Chief Executive Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Founded in 1876, Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the nation’s longest-serving conservation and recreation organization. AMC’s mission is to foster the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the outdoors. Through conservation, outdoor recreation, lodging and hospitality, education, volunteer engagement, policy advocacy, and membership, AMC works across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to ensure that the outdoors is protected, accessible, and valued for generations to come.

AMC is a complex nonprofit enterprise with an annual operating budget of approximately $40 million, a significant endowment, diverse earned and contributed revenue streams, a large seasonal workforce, thousands of volunteers, and a wide range of mission-driven operations including lodging destinations, trails, land conservation, outdoor programming, research, and public policy.

AMC seeks a strategic, collaborative, and mission-driven Chief Financial Officer to serve as the organization’s senior financial leader and a key member of the executive leadership team.  The CFO is a key partner for helping ensure AMC’s financial health while supporting mission delivery and growth.   Reporting to the President & CEO, the CFO will lead AMC’s financial strategy, planning, accounting, reporting, risk management, business analysis, and enterprise financial decision-making. The CFO will be expected to pair technical financial expertise with strong business judgment, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to translate complex financial information into clear, actionable insights for staff, leadership, and the Board of Directors.

This is an opportunity for a seasoned finance executive to help guide a uniquely complex, mission-centered organization through its next chapter. AMC requires a CFO who can manage near-term financial performance while also building the systems, insights, talent, and long-range financial models needed to support sustainable growth, conservation impact, and operational excellence.

This position is based in Boston, Massachusetts, with a hybrid work arrangement. The CFO will be expected to maintain a meaningful presence with AMC’s Boston-based leadership team and to travel periodically to AMC locations, Board meetings, and organizational events across the region.

What You’ll Be Doing At AMC

Team Leadership and Organizational Partnership

• Lead, develop, and mentor a high-performing Finance and Accounting team, ensuring strong technical capabilities, clear accountability, succession planning, and a culture of service, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Build trusted relationships across AMC’s staff, management team, volunteers, Board members, and external partners.
• Communicate complex financial information with clarity, candor, and confidence to audiences with varying levels of financial expertise.
• Represent Finance as a proactive, solutions-oriented partner that helps advance AMC’s mission while protecting the organization’s long-term financial health.

Strategic Financial Leadership

• Serve as a strategic partner to the President & CEO, executive leadership team, and Board of Directors on all matters related to financial sustainability, resource allocation, business model evolution, and organizational risk.
• Lead multi-year financial planning, scenario modeling, forecasting, and strategic analysis to support AMC’s path to long-term operating sustainability.
• Develop clear financial guardrails that enable AMC to balance mission ambition with fiscal discipline, while supporting bold, data-informed decisions.
• Provide financial leadership for major strategic initiatives, including capital planning, conservation investments, facility decisions, potential partnerships or acquisitions, technology investments, and long-term asset management.

Budgeting, Forecasting, and FP&A

• Lead the annual budgeting process, reforecasting, and management reporting across AMC’s departments and business lines.
• Strengthen AMC’s FP&A function by developing standardized dashboards, leading indicators, departmental contribution margin analysis, and real-time reporting tools that help leaders understand performance and make timely decisions.
• Partner with operating leaders across lodging, trails, membership, marketing, technology, conservation, education, retail, development, and other functions to understand revenue drivers, expense levers, pricing strategies, operating leverage, and areas of subsidy.
• Support department leaders in building realistic budgets, analyzing variances, evaluating ROI, and improving financial literacy across the organization.

Accounting, Controls, Compliance, and Audit

• Oversee all accounting operations, financial reporting, internal controls, audit preparation, tax filings, restricted funds, grant accounting, and compliance with applicable nonprofit accounting standards and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure accurate, timely, and transparent financial statements and management reports for the executive team, Board, funders, donors, auditors, and other key stakeholders.
• Maintain and improve financial policies, procedures, controls, and approval processes that support organizational efficiency, compliance, accountability, and sound risk management.
• Partner effectively with external auditors, investment advisors, banks, insurance providers, legal counsel, and other financial partners.

Enterprise Risk, Grants, Contracts, and Stewardship

• Provide leadership on enterprise risk management, insurance, contract policy, banking, liquidity, reserves, debt, investment oversight, and financial governance.
• Strengthen grant budgeting, tracking, compliance, indirect cost recovery, restricted fund management, and donor stewardship in close partnership with Development and program teams.
• Support AMC’s sustainability and decarbonization goals through financial modeling, capital planning, measurement, and resource allocation.

Technology, Data, and Process Improvement

• Champion the use of modern financial systems, automation, dashboards, and AI-enabled tools to reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and free the finance team to provide higher-value strategic analysis.
• Partner with Technology and other departments to evaluate and deploy major systems investments, improve forecasting and tracking, and strengthen ROI discipline for growth-oriented initiatives.
• Drive continuous improvement in budgeting, reporting, contracting, purchasing, accounting allocations, and cross-functional financial workflows.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced nonprofit or mission-driven financial executive who brings both strategic range and operational depth. AMC’s next CFO must be comfortable working in a complex organization with multiple business models, revenue streams, and funding sources

What AMC Is Looking For

• Progressive senior financial leadership experience in a nonprofit or mission-driven organization.   
• Demonstrated success leading financial strategy, budgeting, forecasting, accounting, audit, compliance, internal controls, cash management, reserves, and board-level financial reporting.
• Experience with nonprofit accounting, restricted funds, grants, donor stewardship, endowments, campaign funding, and multi-source revenue models.
• Strong FP&A capabilities, including financial modeling, scenario planning, business analysis, departmental performance reporting, and decision-support tools.
• Proven ability to lead and develop finance and accounting teams, build systems of accountability, and strengthen organizational financial literacy.
• Experience working closely with a CEO, senior leadership team, Board of Directors, and Finance, Audit, and Investment Committees.
• Bachelor’s degree required; CPA, MBA, or advanced degree in finance, accounting, business, or a related field preferred.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic and analytical, with the ability to move fluidly between big-picture financial strategy and detailed operational analysis.
• Collaborative and approachable, while willing to be bold, direct, and disciplined when difficult financial decisions are required.
• Clear, steady, and confident communicator who can make complex information accessible and actionable to all stakeholders.
• High integrity, sound judgment, and comfort handling sensitive and confidential information.
• Curious, systems-oriented, and committed to using data, technology, and process improvement to strengthen organizational performance.
• Mission-driven and energized by AMC’s work to protect, enjoy, and understand the outdoors.

What AMC Can Offer You  

Salary: $200,000 - $240,000

We are committed to fair compensation practices, and we encourage qualified candidates to apply. The initial salary represents our starting point, and our compensation philosophy is designed to reward and recognize the contributions of our employees as they grow within the organization. External candidates typically begin their journey with us at the starting point of the salary range. The final compensation offer will be based on factors such as experience, education, skills and geographic differential relevant to the position, and will be discussed during the interview process. 

Benefits 

• Health Plan: Generous employer contributions through Cigna with optional vision and dental. 

• Other Insurance: 100% employer paid life insurance, AD&D insurance, long-term disability. 

• Career Progression: The potential to have annual compensation reviews commensurate with performance and effort. 

• Retirement: Mandatory 403(b) with 4% matching employer contributions and a vesting schedule. 

• Paid Time Off: up to 4 weeks of paid earned time and up to 11 paid company holidays. 

• Other Team Member Perks: 

• 30% discount on AMC Merchandise 

• Free Annual AMC Membership 

• 10 Free nights at AMC locations 

• Educational Assistance 

• Prodeals discounts on equipment & gear and more! 

To Apply:  

Please include a resume and letter of interest. No phone calls or agencies please.  

AMC’s commitment to working at the intersection of people and the outdoors extends to our hiring process. Every application is reviewed by real people and our team does not use AI to screen candidates or replace human judgment.

As we review your resume and setup interviews, our goal is to get to know you as an individual. While AI may be a helpful preparation tool, it is important to know that our priority is to understand your unique voice, experience, and perspective. If your application includes a writing prompt, please be prepared to discuss your reasoning and approach.

AMC encourages all interested candidates to apply, even if they do not meet every listed qualification. If you have a passion for the outdoors and believe your skills and experiences align with this role, we welcome your application.  

The Appalachian Mountain Club has zero tolerance for child abuse or placing children in danger. The AMC requires all employees who work in a program or facility that serves children, disabled persons, or the elderly to have a criminal background record check performed on their name annually with employment contingent upon satisfactory results.