Who We Are

Dudek is a leading environmental, planning, and engineering firm that helps public and private clients achieve compliance, practicality, and innovation through our project work. Founded in 1980, Dudek has grown steadily to more than 800 professionals across the U.S. and received the Top Workplace Award for 2021.

As a 100% employee-owned company, Dudek’s culture rewards smart, productive team members with ownership, professional development, and financial benefits. Our work communities are designed to encourage collaboration, sustainability, and connectivity with the surrounding communities.

We invest in our Employees and communities through various initiatives that make Dudek a great place to work! Dudek makes it a priority to DuGood by giving back to the communities in which we live and work, and offer Dudekians the opportunity to take a paid volunteer day each year. Our experts are encouraged to eDUcate school groups about planning, engineering, and preserving the natural and built environments. We promote environmental sustainability through our DuGreen initiative by working to improve our environmental footprint. We also DuWell to educate our associates on their health and wellness. And our Du Something Fun team brings everyone at Dudek together to balance our hard work with exciting activities.

At Dudek, we understand the best problem solving happens when diverse viewpoints and experiences are shared. We recognize that different perspectives, inclusivity, and trust build a stronger culture and add value to our firm. We celebrate our differences and strive to make meaningful progress toward becoming a more diverse company.

Learn more about our culture.

Who You Are

To thrive at Dudek, you should be comfortable with freedom and accountability. We value collaborative, resourceful, and independent thinkers. We look for curious, solution-focused people who are able to adapt quickly to an ever-changing industry. There is no single way to solve a problem, so we support your creative approaches to solve problems.

About the Job

The CFO will lead a team of approximately 20 people inclusive of finance, accounting, payroll, treasury, and tax professionals.

The Chief Financial Officer will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and be an interactive and highly engaged executive leadership team member. The successful candidate will possess a highly collaborative, team-oriented approach, with a level of emotional intelligence to motivate people and drive a robust ownership culture. Dudek requires an engaged and humble individual who seeks to enhance stakeholder value and embrace Dudek’s highly collaborative and employee-centric ownership culture.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in motivating and inspiring staff and managing change within teams and organizations as a whole. They also will be adept at working closely with an ESOP-owned company board of directors, stakeholders, analysts/consultants, and the broader investment and banking community.

The CFO will be expected to provide financial leadership of the Company and strategic counsel to the leadership team and other stakeholders. They will play a key role in determining the strategic direction of the company, asset allocation, investment decisions, and in making other critical decisions that will significantly impact the future performance of Dudek. Further, the CFO will operate as a cultural steward and understand and model Dudek's values of Trust, Respect, Teamwork, Well-Being, and Fun.

Demonstrated progressive leadership, supervisory, and team management experience in prior roles. Working knowledge of information technology to facilitate needs for the various offices and systems.

The CFO will set the focus and strategic direction of these group and expand each as Dudek grows. They will reimagine key processes to create intuitive and forward-looking assessments of business performance and will convert data and information into actionable insight for business leaders. The successful candidate will be a sought-out resource for the CEO and business leaders across the company. The CFO will also be an important voice for the criticality of the ESOP structure so that employees understand the personal value of this structure.

The CFO will possess a keen ability to link everyday pursuits and activities to the overarching values of the organization. More than merely communicating and understanding Dudek values, the finance function and the processes and tools that are used to deliver value to stakeholders and clients must be linked to the overall reason why the organization exists – serving our clients and our communities to drive progress and deliver long lasting results. Finance solutions must not lose sight of end-user experience, must fully consider culture implications, and must incorporate understanding of business challenges faced by Dudek’s practitioners. They will inspire others through their personal performance and will be a powerful coach and mentor.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and direct treasury, budgeting, audit, tax, accounting, purchasing, facilities and insurance activities for Dudek, and provide insight and advice on strategic planning, growth, and capital allocation.
• Work directly with the chair of the Audit Committee to ensure appropriate risk management policies and procedures are in place and to ensure that all accounting and financial regulatory requirements are met.
• Provide insightful financial perspective to the evaluation of strategic initiatives.
• Lead the annual third-party financial review and ensure that identified process improvements are implemented in a timely manner.
• Lead and direct all financial business planning, including business analyses, forecasting and reporting, benchmarking, and balance sheet management.
• Work closely with the CEO and the Board to develop and implement strategies relating to ESOP repurchase liability and sustainability.
• Provide oversight and management of the financial operations to include financial statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and the reporting of operational results as required to management and the Board of Directors. Ensure the Company meets all regulatory and external reporting requirements.
• Represent the Company to financial partners, including financial institutions, external auditors, and other external constituents.
• Maintain a close working relationship with General Counsel to ensure that all Company financial activities are properly conducted, documented, and reported.
• Provide processes and analytics that will support Dudek’s ownership culture and will efficiently scale with the Company and provide the financial intelligence for all strategic decisions to help drive the business.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting or Economics.
• Masters in Business Administration degree highly preferred
• Demonstrated progressive leadership, supervisory, and team management experience in prior roles.
• Working knowledge of information technology to facilitate needs for the various offices and systems.

Preferred Requirements

• Certified Public Accountant highly preferred
• Required leadership experience as a sitting CFO of an employee-owned company of relevant scale and complexity. Select deputy CFOs may be considered. Candidates must be located in Southern California and able to travel to Dudek’s headquarters in Encinitas on a flexible but regular schedule.

Learn more about the projects you will have the opportunity to shape.

Perks of Being a Dudekian

Not only will Dudek provide you with a competitive salary, but we also strive to create an environment that promotes growth, career development, and a flexible work–life balance. Dudek offers an array of benefits, from your typical medical, dental, and vision coverage to the opportunity to share in Dudek’s success through discretionary bonuses, based on firmwide, divisional, and individual performance. We also offer a yearly merit review, an employee stock ownership program, and dog friendly offices! Since we encourage our colleagues to take time off when needed, Dudek also provides a generous vacation package. If you’re tired of an overly structured environment and decision-making process to get your job done, Dudek is a place where your ideas are heard and your initiative is rewarded. Speak with your recruiter to learn more about the great perks of being a Dudekian.

Dudek is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by applicable law.

Protecting the health and safety of our communities is our highest priority. Please note that due to the federal government’s recent Executive Order for federal contractors, Dudek has adopted a policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to limited exemptions/accommodations based on medical conditions, sincerely held religious beliefs, or applicable state laws and regulations. In addition, a number of Dudek’s clients have similarly issued requirements that any personnel working on their projects must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.