Controller

Controller

 

About Maryland Food Bank

 

For more than 40 years, the Maryland Food Bank (“MFB”) has been at the forefront of the fight against hunger, ensuring that families, children, and seniors across the state have access to nutritious food and opportunities for a better future. MFB’s clear and compelling mission is:

 

Feeding people, strengthening communities, and ending hunger for more Marylanders.

 

As a statewide leader in hunger relief, MFB does far more than distribute food—it works to address the root causes of food insecurity, creating pathways for long-term stability and advocating for a more equitable, resilient, and accessible food system. MFB is a proud partner food bank of .

 

Rising Demand & the Reality of Food Insecurity in Maryland

 

In a country that wastes billions of pounds of food each year, more than 47 million Americans still struggle with food insecurity.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic devastated individuals and families, leading to a sharp rise in food insecurity. Since then, record inflation, soaring food costs, reduced federal assistance, and other factors have continued to drive demand even higher. Today, with 1 in 3 Marylanders facing hunger, demand is at record levels.

 

The need for the work of the Maryland Food Bank has never been clearer and more important.

 

Innovative Programs Driving Change

 

MFB is pioneering new models of food distribution alongside workforce development and advocacy to create lasting change:

 

● Mobile Markets & Pantry on the Go: Bringing fresh produce and healthy food options to under-resourced communities across the state.

 

● FoodWorks Culinary Training: A career-building program that has trained over 550 Marylanders in “life skills and knife skills,” helping them secure well-paying jobs since 2010.

 

● Advocacy & Policy Initiatives: Fighting for systemic solutions to hunger, ensuring that state and federal policies support food security efforts.

 

● Amplifying Neighbor Voice: Focused engagement with neighbors to gain a deeper understanding of how our programs enhance service and partnership with communities.

 

● Operation Innovate: Modernizing financial, programmatic, and operational management through integrated data systems.

 

Impact at Scale

 

MFB operates a robust food distribution network, working in partnership with nearly 800 community organizations to ensure that every Marylander in need has access to healthy, nutritious food. The scale and impact of MFB’s work in FY25 are staggering:

 

● 52 million pounds of food distributed, including 14.3 million pounds of fresh produce

 

● 43.6 million meals provided statewide, or 119,000 meals per day

 

● More than 1 million unique neighbors served

 

● 185 School Pantries, ensuring kids and families have access to food where they learn

 

● 67 FoodWorks graduates in FY25, gaining culinary training for sustainable careers, a 34% increase from FY23

 

These numbers reflect MFB’s commitment to meeting the immediate needs of food-insecure Marylanders while also building long-term solutions to break the cycle of hunger.

 

What’s Next?

 

MFB is in the midst of a strategic planning process that will guide its next chapter. This plan will prioritize the most impactful initiatives, ensure operational and financial sustainability, and strengthen MFB’s role as an innovator. The Controller will play a pivotal role in ensuring that MFB’s financial foundation is strong, disciplined, and audit-ready—enabling the organization to operate with integrity and confidence as it scales its mission.

 

Learn more about the Maryland Food Bank at mdfoodbank.org. Read the 2025 Annual Report .

 

The Opportunity

 

The Controller is a key leadership role at MFB, reporting directly to the Vice President, Finance. The Controller is the operational leader of the accounting function and the guardian of financial integrity—ensuring that all financial activity is accurate, compliant, controlled, and audit-ready, while building the systems, processes, and team necessary to support a growing, mission-driven organization.

 

This is fundamentally a builder role. MFB seeks a Controller who will bring discipline, documentation, and process rigor to the accounting function—strengthening infrastructure, driving process automation, and ensuring that financial data can be fully trusted for decision-making across the organization. Success in this role requires the ability to thoughtfully navigate tradeoffs—applying strong financial controls while remaining flexible and solutions-oriented in support of our mission.

 

Key areas of responsibility include:

 

• Accounting Operations & Financial Reporting: Own all day-to-day accounting operations, including general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, payroll accounting, and month-end close. Ensure timely, accurate financial statements and deliver reliable reporting packages to leadership, leveraging financial data to generate insights, identify trends and proactively inform strategic and operational decision-making.

 

• Financial Governance, Controls & Compliance: Design and maintain a strong internal control environment aligned with GAAP and nonprofit accounting standards, embedding clear ownership of controls across functions – not solely within finance. Partner with teams to operationalize controls within day-to-day workflows, ensuring accountability, consistency, and practical application. Oversee compliance with grant requirements, donor restrictions, and regulatory standards and ensure all documentation, policies, and procedures are in place and consistently followed across the organization.

 

• Audit Readiness & Grants Management: Lead all audit preparation and coordination for internal and external audits, including the annual single audit under Uniform Guidance driving organization-wide readiness rather than point-in-time audit support. Establish clear expectations and processes across teams to ensure documentation, grant compliance, and supporting materials are maintained throughout the year. Oversee accurate tracking and reporting of restricted and unrestricted funds. Support preparation of Form 990 and other regulatory filings.

 

• Systems, Process & Infrastructure Building: Build scalable accounting systems and processes to support organizational growth. Drive process standardization, documentation, and automation across accounting workflows with a focus on successful adoption across teams. Ensure Finance holds ownership and final approval over accounting-related system decisions.

 

• Change Management & Organizational Adoption: Lead accounting and finance transformation efforts with a strong change management lens, ensuring stakeholders across the organization understand the purpose, impact, and value of changes to processes, systems, and controls. Drive clarity around the “why,” build buy-in, and support teams through adoption, embedding new ways of working that are sustainable and consistently applied.

 

• Chart of Accounts & Data Integrity: Ensure a well-structured, consistently applied chart of accounts that supports data-driven decision-making. Drive improvements in data accuracy, accessibility, and usability across all accounting outputs.

 

• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, develop, and mentor the accounting team, including Senior Accountant, Accounts Payable, and accounting support roles. Build technical capability, strong ownership, and a culture of accuracy, discipline, and continuous learning. Foster a thriving team culture grounded in shared ownership, deep collaboration, and a commitment to growing better together.

 

Candidate Profile

 

We recognize that there is a spectrum of lived and professional experience that will set candidates up for success in this role. While no one candidate will have every experience outlined in the position description, ideal candidates will display the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:

 

A Technical Accounting Authority

 

• Deep expertise in nonprofit accounting, including GAAP compliance, restricted fund management, grant accounting, and financial statement preparation.

 

• Proven ability to lead clean, efficient audits—including single audits under Uniform Guidance—with minimal findings. Treats audit readiness as an ongoing discipline, not an annual exercise.

 

• Strong command of internal controls: designs, implements, and monitors control environments that protect the organization and ensure financial integrity, while exercising sound judgment to balance risk, efficiency, and mission impact.

 

• Holds a consistently high bar for accuracy and data integrity; understands that reliable financial data is the foundation for every organizational decision.

 

A Builder of Systems, Processes & Infrastructure

 

• Takes a strategic, systems-level approach to the work—able to assess the full scope of accounting and finance priorities, identify highest-impact opportunities, and sequence efforts to drive meaningful progress while managing competing demands.

 

• Has built or significantly rebuilt accounting infrastructure in a complex organization—documented processes, cleaned up a chart of accounts, standardized close procedures, or implemented internal controls from the ground up. Demonstrates a clear ability to prioritize and thoughtfully phase work to achieve maximum impact while ensuring long-term sustainability.

 

• Approaches process improvement with an automation lens to drive efficiency across accounting functions, while ensuring solutions are practical, scalable, and adopted across teams.

 

• Takes finance ownership of financial systems and platforms, driving cross-functional alignment and accountability for how systems are used.

 

• Maintains strong file storage and organizational discipline.

 

A Clear Communicator and Cross-Functional Partner

 

• Translates accounting outputs into clear, usable financial information for non-finance colleagues and leadership, surfacing trends, risks, and actionable insights.

 

• Supports team in building understanding of accounting processes.

 

• Approaches cross functional work with a problem-solving and partnership mindset.

 

• Partners effectively across departments to ensure accurate financial data capture, proper coding, and consistent compliance with financial policies, embedding shared ownership of financial controls and processes across the organization.

 

• Proactively escalates risks, anomalies, and issues to the VP, Finance with context and a recommended path forward.

 

• Brings a collaborative, service-oriented approach to the accounting function while maintaining appropriate independence and rigor, and effectively communicates the “why” behind changes to drive alignment and adoption.

 

An Empathetic and Mission-Aligned People Leader

 

• Develops and mentors accounting staff; builds clear roles, expectations, and accountability structures within the team.

 

• Fosters a team culture that balances accuracy and accountability with learning and continuous improvement.

 

• Creates space for team members to ask questions, build confidence, and grow in their roles.

 

• Invests in developing both technical expertise and leadership capacity within the team.

 

• Approachable and empathetic, with the emotional intelligence to lead through change while maintaining team stability and morale, and effectively communicates the “why” behind changes to drive alignment and adoption.

 

• Actively invests in team development and well-being, recognizing that sustainable performance requires both support and stretch; ensures team members have the clarity, resources, and coaching needed to succeed.

 

• Genuinely committed to MFB’s mission; understands the importance of financial integrity in sustaining an organization dedicated to ending hunger, and brings an equity mindset in balancing strong stewardship with mission delivery.

 

Education and Experience

 

• 7+ years of progressive accounting experience with demonstrated growth in scope and responsibility.

 

• 3–5 years of people leadership within an accounting function.

 

• Strong experience with month-end close, financial statement preparation, internal controls, balance sheet integrity, and reconciliations.

 

• Proven ability to lead clean audits, maintain compliance, and build scalable accounting processes and infrastructure.

 

• Experience with ERP systems (NetSuite or similar preferred); comfort driving accounting-layer ownership of financial systems.

 

• Nonprofit and grant accounting experience strongly preferred; familiarity with single audit requirements and federal grant compliance.

 

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting required; CPA strongly preferred.

 

In addition, strong candidates will offer:

 

• A track record of building high-performing, detail-oriented accounting teams in complex, mission-driven organizations.

 

• Experience partnering closely with a VP of Finance or CFO to deliver accurate, timely financial data that enables sound decision-making, including proactively identifying trends and advising on implications.

 

• Demonstrated success modernizing accounting operations—including process documentation, automation, and system optimization, with a track record of driving organization-wide adoption of new ways of working.

 

Compensation and Benefits

 

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $120,000 - $130,000 with a generous benefits package.

 

Contact

 

DSG | Koya has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Express interest in this role by or emailing the search team directly at mfb_finance@dsgco.com. All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.

 

DSG | Koya is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

 

Maryland Food Bank is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ applicants.

 

About DSG | Koya

 

DSG | Koya, a DSG Global company, is the nation’s premier search firm dedicated to mission-driven leadership. Since its founding in 2004, DSG | Koya has had an exclusive focus on mission-driven clients and was founded on the belief that the right leader can transform an organization and have a deep and measurable impact on our world. DSG | Koya works with nonprofits & NGOs, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.

 

DSG Global is consistently recognized by Forbes on its top 10 list of “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms” and is an industry leader in recruiting transformational leaders for a changing world. The firm is deliberately different in its approach, with best-in-class teams who have decades of experience in cultivating inclusive leaders, understanding the dimensions of diversity, and building equitable teams.

 

Learn more about DSG | Koya via the firm's .

 

To apply, visit: https://apptrkr.com/7136346