Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations

Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations (AVPFO) (university job slotting Asst. VP, Financial Services, 18511)

The Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations (AVPFO) serves as the chief financial and operations officer, and financial advisor for the VCU Division of Student Affairs (DSA), providing overall leadership and oversight for all financial strategic planning and operations including direct oversight and supervision of Human Resources, Marketing and Communication, Development, and Technology Support Services. This position will supervise a team of six full-time staff.

The AVPFO leads, facilitates and coordinates the annual budget development (i.e., funding requests) and budget implementation processes for all DSA funding types including, but not limited to, Education and General (E&G) and Auxiliary Enterprise (AE) programs. The AVPFO will serve and provide fiduciary duty to DSA and all departments within the Division ensuring overall Divisional considerations are prioritized when advising individual departments. This role will work collaboratively with the Vice President of Student Affairs, providing strategic and timely guidance to ensure success in the overall management of DSA.

Duties to Include:

-Analyze departmental budget requests and expenditures as they relate to the overall current and future success of the Division of Student Affairs.
-Updates complex financial model to forecast auxiliary enterprise business unit’s revenue and expenditures out 5 years and beyond when needed.
-Reports financial performance through monthly and quarterly financial reporting in addition to annual forecasting.
-Develops and updates financial models (e.g., room rate and student health fee revenue development), break-even analysis, and revenue and expenditure variance analysis as well as “what if” analysis.

Minimum Hiring Standards: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business or related discipline. 5 or more years of direct higher education professional experience in a senior role including budget and finance management and direct and/or in-direct experience implementing short- and long-range organizational goals, objectives, strategic plans, reporting processes, policies, and operating procedures; conducts needs-assessments; monitors and evaluates programmatic and operational effectiveness as it relates to departmental budgets and overall operations. Considerable knowledge and experience organizing, analyzing and forecasting revenue and expenditures. Experience in developing short and long term business plans. Experience in establishing financial accountability processes and internal controls. Strong analytical and decision-making skills. Established management-level leadership skills. Ability to perform strategically and participate in senior leadership planning activities. Knowledge of information technology trends and opportunities. Experience directing or working directly with IT staff, human resources functions, Development, and Marketing and Communication staff. Attention to detail and accuracy. Demonstrated customer service skills. Strong communication and presentation skills, including listening, speaking and writing. Ability to handle confidential matters. Demonstrated ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks simultaneously. Capacity to work creatively in both collaborative and independent context. Demonstrated ability to successfully work in a diverse, multi-cultural and complex environment, fostering diverse faculty, staff, and students as a staff member at VCU.

Preferred Hiring Standards: Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business or Public Administration related discipline; 10 or more years of direct higher education professional experience in a senior role including budget and finance management. Direct higher education experience providing financial management support and expertise to auxiliary enterprise business units. Experience in a senior accounting management-level position with responsibility for budget preparation, development and implementation.

About VCU: Located in the heart of Richmond, the capital of Virginia since 1779, Virginia Commonwealth University serves an integral role in the economic health of the city and the state, educating the current and future workforce, reaching out to the community, advancing research, and enhancing patient care. Today, VCU offers comprehensive undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and professional programs and encompasses one of the largest academic health centers in the nation.
Its centers and institutes of excellence support the University’s research mission and involve faculty from multiple disciplines in the arts, public policy, biotechnology, and health care discoveries. VCU enrolls more than 29,000 students in more than 200 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Twenty-two of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 11 schools and five colleges. VCU has a full-time instructional faculty of more than 2,500 who are nationally and internationally recognized for excellence in the arts, business, education, engineering, the humanities, the life sciences, social work, and all the health care professions. With more than 23,000 employees and $6 billion in economic impact, VCU and VCU Health also have a significant impact on Central Virginia’s economy.