The Phillips Collection is seeking an Assistant Controller to join its Finance team. This newly created role offers an exciting opportunity to shape and strengthen the museum’s financial operations.
An Assistant Controller is a key leader within the Finance team, responsible for ensuring the integrity of the museum’s financial records and supporting strategic financial operations Initially, the role will focus on traditional accounting functions—such as journal entries, reconciliations, and record keeping—while driving improvements in financial systems and reducing manual processes.
Over time, an Assistant Controller will assume broader responsibilities that include, but are not limited to, financial reporting, audits, budgeting, compliance, endowment management, and strategic planning. The role requires independence, strong technical skills, and collaboration across departments to ensure accurate and timely financial information across the organization. The Assistant Controller will also contribute to the preparation of meeting materials for the Finance Committee and Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees.
This is an excellent growth opportunity for a seasoned, detail-oriented accounting professional eager to expand their responsibilities and play a critical role in the museum’s financial future.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
Core Accounting Functions and Operations
Oversee daily accounting operations, including journal entries, reconciliations, and accurate record keeping.
Manage processing and recordation of accounts payable and receivable to ensure accuracy and integrity.
Supervise bi-weekly payroll activities to ensure timely, accurate, and compliant recordation of all transactions.
Compliance and Reporting
Lead and coordinate timely monthly and year-end financial close processes; prepare internal financial reports as needed.
Support annual audit and IRS 990 filings; ensure the organization’s financial practices comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and nonprofit accounting principles (e.g., GAAP).
Develop new, and maintain existing, accounting policies and procedures.
Maintain and enhance financial accounting systems; identify and lead opportunities for automation and process improvement.
Strategic and Collaborative Responsibilities
Spearhead and actively contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning to support organizational goals.
Direct ongoing analysis and evaluation of operational budgets, monitor budget variances, and project variances into a monthly forecast.
Design and deliver custom reports and analyses for leadership as needed.
Collaborate extensively with other departments to ensure effective fiscal procedures and accurate reporting.
Contribute to the team’s preparation of materials for the Finance and Investment Committees of the Board of Trustees.
Contribute to strategic planning by providing financial insights and recommendations.
Serve as a key resource in a collaborative finance team.
Perform other duties as assigned.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or related field; CPA certification preferred
5 -7 years of senior-level accounting experience, preferably in a nonprofit environment.
Strong knowledge of GAAP and nonprofit financial reporting standards.
Advanced proficiency in Excel and experience with financial accounting systems.
Demonstrated ability to design reports and conduct complex financial analyses.
Strategic thinker with planning experience and a proactive, solution-oriented mindset.
Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy across all financial processes.
Adaptable and responsive to changing priorities and workflow demands.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Creative problem-solver with ability to identify and implement process improvements.
The Phillips Collection, America’s first museum of modern art, was opened in 1921 in historic Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, by collector and philanthropist Duncan Phillips.
Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) was the son of Major Duncan Clinch Phillips, a Pittsburgh businessman and Civil War veteran, and Eliza Laughlin Phillips, whose father was a banker and co-founder of Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. The family moved to Washington, DC, in winter 1895-96.
Duncan was close to his older brother, Jim; Jim postponed attending college for two years so that he and Duncan could attend Yale University together. The brothers moved from DC to an apartment in New York in 1914. Duncan wrote extensively on art and published his first book, The Enchantment of Art, in 1914. Duncan’s passion for art was fueled by trips to Europe in 1911 and 1912 and visits to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with friendships in New York with artists Augustus Vincent Tack, who became a lifelong friend, and American impressionist painter Julian Alden Weir. In 1916 the brothers convinced their parents to set aside $10,000 annually to allow them to assemble a col...lection of contemporary American painting for the family.
Soon after, tragedy struck the Phillips family. Major Duncan Phillips died suddenly in 1917 from a heart condition and James died from the flu epidemic in 1918. To cope with these stunning blows, Duncan turned to the restorative quality of art. “Sorrow all but overwhelmed me,” he later wrote. “Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live.” He and his mother founded the museum in late 1918. It was originally called the Phillips Memorial Art Gallery, and opened it to the public in fall of 1921. In a specially designed room added onto the second floor of the family home, they showed selections from their growing 237-work collection that now included examples by European artists, reflecting Duncan Phillips’s pioneering idea of creating a museum in the nation’s capital where one could encounter the art of the past and the present on equal terms. As the collection grew, the family moved out of their Dupont Circle home to a new residence in 1930, allowing the entire house to become a dedicated space for the museum.
