Mellon Foundation 

Staff Accountant

The Mellon Foundation (“Foundation”) believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas – Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place – and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Staff Account for our Finance team. 

Team/ Program Overview: 

Mellon Finance provides central financial stewardship and services in support of the notable work undertaken by the Foundation. We strive to build operational excellence and compliance capabilities that enable the Foundation to fulfill its mission and goals.​

Position Summary: 

The Staff Accountant role will be responsible for performing a variety of accounting, cash management, compliance, and disbursement activities associated with the Foundation’s administrative expenses. The candidate will be an integral member of the Finance Department and will work closely with other Foundation staff.  The successful candidate will be thoughtful, highly motivated, solutions-oriented, and collaborative, with well-developed, communication, and organizational skills. The work is highly detail-oriented and requires consistent accuracy, the ability to anticipate outcomes, multi-tasking, flexibility, cool-headedness, precision, patience, efficiency, and discretion. The position reports directly to the Accounting Manager.

Position Description: 

Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:  

Vendor Management and Compliance

• Reviews and processes new vendor requests in an accurate and timely manner including ensures compliance and policy requirements are met, creating vendor records in Concur and Great Plains (GP), collecting W-9 forms, and issuing NYS tax-exempt certificates.
• Performs semi-annual monitoring and maintenance of GP and Concur vendor records.
• Calculates and issues 1099’s to over 100 vendors including preparing detailed year-to-year analysis.

Accounts Payable, Disbursements and Deposits

• Investigates all outstanding invoice balances and communicating with staff and vendors until resolved.
• Reviews and assigns invoices in Concur and manually entering invoices in GP including determining proper general ledger and functional/departmental classifications for each invoice and ensuring accuracy of all data entered.
• Generates payment processing documents, recording payments in GP, and posting payment confirmations in Concur.
• Ensures all check payments are uploaded to Foundation’s banking portal.

• Analyzes and reconciles general ledger account balances related to vendor disbursements.
• Monitors online banking portal for returned payments, positive pay exceptions, and other communications and follows up promptly with staff, vendors, and/or bankers, as needed, until resolved.
• Receives, deposits, analyzes, and records cash receipts.

Travel and Expense

• Oversees travel and expense card activities, including preparation of monthly statements.
• Collaborates with travel agents to address and resolve related inquiries.
• Reviews and processes travel reimbursements for non-staff.
• Facilitates the onboarding process for new hires and existing staff, ensuring proper travel arrangements and setup.

Other Duties

• Reads and categorizes all e-mails in the Finance team’s group inbox and proactively following up until resolved.
• Maintains Foundation’s matching gifts program including tracking gifts made per employee and confirms eligibility of matching gift recipients.
• Performs special projects as needed by the Accounting Manager, Controller, and CFO.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or related field of study and minimum 2 years of experience in accounting preferred.
• CPA certification or progress towards certification is a plus.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent attention to details and accuracy.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel.
• Experience with accounting systems and financial reporting tools, working knowledge of modern financial systems preferred.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple projects.
• High level of integrity required.
• Knowledge of, passion for, and commitment to the Foundation’s mission

Mellon Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Mellon offers a generous total reward package that includes base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, as well as an excellent working environment. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated annual salary range for this role is $90K – $105K. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate’s contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation’s internal pay equity framework.

Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days per week in person at the Foundation’s Manhattan offices.

Candidates should apply by submitting a cover letter describing fit for the position and a resume by August 19, 2024.   

The Foundation will consider each response carefully, but only contact those individuals it believes are most qualified for the position.