Finance Manager

Department: Col of Humanities and Soc Science

Classification: Financial Svcs Specialist 2

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Pay Band: 05

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) is Mason's largest college, offering 27 undergraduate majors, 56 minors, 9 doctoral degrees, 26 master's, and 16 graduate certificates. The CHSS Finance & HR team manages the budget of approximately $95 million in state funding, $18 million in research expenditure, and $8 million in donor restricted funds, and administers the faculty and staff hiring processes. It serves as liaison between the Central Offices (Budget, Accounting, Financial Aid, HR, and Provost) and college departments and programs. CHSS has about 450 full-time faculty, 100 staff, 400 graduate assistants, and 200 part-time faculty.

About the Position:

The Finance Manager plays a critical role in managing the day-to-day financial administration of the college’s operations, controls, and compliance. This position works collaboratively with the CHSS Finance & HR team, across 14 academic and 8 administrative departments within the college, and partners with central units to ensure compliance with university policies and procedures. Reporting directly to the Director of Finance, this position works collaboratively on budget development, forecasting, strategic financial planning, data analysis, and reporting to support with decision making on resource allocation, process improvement, and overall compliance. The Finance Manager is also responsible for approving labor hiring and labor reallocation actions, and oversight of Graduate Assistant funding.

Responsibilities:

Financial Planning, Reporting and Analysis:

• Supports with development of annual budget, leveraging all funds and improving alignment of resource allocation with strategic goals;
• Conducts regular budget reviews and prepares adjustments in line with the college's financial targets;
• Develops quarterly and multi-year forecasts of revenue, expenses, and fund balances across all funds;
• Analyzes enrollment trends to understand the impact on revenue generation and resource allocation;
• Develops financial models, reports and dashboards to support with analysis, data trends and decision making;
• Works with Finance team to develop and maintain performance metrics and KPIs;
• Assists Director of Finance in modeling and reporting for use of carryforward/foundation/indirect funds in leveraging college resources;
• Supports all units with budget to actual analysis and fund balance reviews;
• Supports with financial performance review and ROI analysis of research centers;
• Manages the faculty startup funding process to reconcile contract commitments and fund balances;
• Develops and streamlines the process for updating permanent position rosters to update position budgets, labor effort changes, and labor projections based on current and future labor changes;
• Reviews faculty and Graduate Assistant teaching load and administrative stipends in line with contracts, approved releases, and metrics;
• Supports with part-time budget development in correlation with enrollment and teaching load;
• Reviews and approves reconciliation of assigned funds and orgs in compliance with university policy; and
• Develops training materials and provides guidance to units on finance related systems and processes.

Finance Administration:

• Leads the day-to-day financial administration of the college's operations in compliance with university policies and procedures;
• Reviews and approves new hiring actions (ePAF submissions) and labor effort changes in Banner/Self-Service for non-research positions;
• Provides college-wide oversight and approval of expense reports in Mason Finance Gateway;
• Reviews and approves budget transfers, journals, and GMU Foundation vouchers;
• Reviews and approves the Chart of Account changes to include new fund/org creation/closure and other maintenance requests;
• Serves as Banner Liaison and provides system access administration across the college;
• Provides financial oversight of the Marketplace Touchnet stores across the college; and
• Provides support and guidance to departments on resolving finance related transactions.

Control and Compliance:

• Works with college leadership to develop and maintain CHSS financial policies and guidelines;
• Ensures effective internal controls in compliance with university and audit requirements;
• Serves as a point of contact for the college on procurement and purchasing guidelines to ensure compliance with Commonwealth and Mason policies;
• Maintains financial records that comply with audit standards; and
• Partners with Fiscal Services, Controller's Office, Purchasing, and Travel Office to provide timely updates on policy changes across the college.

Graduate Assistant Finance Administration:

• Oversight of Graduate Assistant funding administration to ensure GA budget allocation for stipends, tuition waivers, and tuition discounts in line with GA memos;
• Collaborates with the Graduate Office, HR, college, and central units to streamline reporting and analysis of GA budget to actual variances at the unit level; and
• Supports with development of GA teaching load metrics and ROI analysis of college resources.

Other Duties:

• Supports with operational and administrative duties, special projects and initiatives, as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field, and typically 5+ years of relevant professional experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience in budget management, reporting, and analysis;
• Experience in finance administration, internal controls, and compliance;
• Knowledge of fiscal and budgetary processes and general accounting principles;
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills with ability to manipulate data for comprehensive reporting;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite; advanced Excel skills (complex formulas, pivot tables);
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills;
• Effective written and oral communication skills with ability to communicate financial information to various stakeholders;
• Ability to work collaboratively, meet deadlines, and manage multiple priorities;
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision; and
• Ability to collaborate effectively with a diverse population.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field;
• Experience with financial management and analysis in higher education;
• Experience managing financial operations for a complex organization;
• Prior experience working with databases;
• Knowledge of university financial systems, such as Banner, MicroStrategy, etc.;
• Knowledge of procurement policies and audit standards;
• Familiarity with ERP and business intelligence tools for financial reporting;
• Strong customer service skills; and
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Finance Manager at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume.

Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Posting Open Date:  March 12, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  March 26, 2025

Open Until Filled:  Yes