Senior Finance Manager - Academic Administration & Planning

Urban Ridge Supplies

Under the direction of the Head of Academic Resource Management and Fiscal Affairs, provides professional financial guidance for all funds within the Provost s jurisdiction. As a senior member of the Academic Resource Management and Fiscal Affairs team, the Senior Finance Manager will support the Head of Academic Resource Management and Fiscal Affairs in providing key financial analysis and recommendations aligned to support the strategic focus and mission of the units and divisions under the Provost s Office.

The Senior Finance Manager will facilitate all financial activities, not limited to, but including budget planning and associated administrative tasks, to ensure best practices and processes are in place to maximize compliance with all internal and external policies and regulations. The Senior Finance Manager will ensure financial support is available to meet the needs of all stakeholders. The Senior Finance Manager will liaise with all members of the Provost s teams as well as the Vice Provosts, Divisional Deans, Faculty members, Divisional administrative staff as well as the Financial Affairs Team. The Senior Finance Manager may have some supervisory responsibility within the Fiscal Affairs team.

Key Responsibilites:

Financial Management

• Responsible for sound financial operations and coordination of activities in academic fiscal affairs, ensuring these functions are aligned to support the strategic focus & mission of the departments across all funds
• Is a key resource person offering professional financial guidance to the administrative heads and fosters an excellent working relationship with leadership, faculty, researchers, and the Provost s units at large
• Provides direction and oversight to the divisions, faculty, and staff for the application of all internal and external financial policies & procedures, ensuring consistency and compliance across all departments
• Prepares and reviews financial statements with the budget holders to ensure the strategic direction of the units is on track and, when necessary, addresses potential over-expenditure situations
• Conduct regular analysis of financial metrics, delivering insights and recommendations for improvement
• Assisting the Head of Academic Resource Management and Fiscal Affairs and working closely with the Financial Services Office on ad hoc requests and future financial planning with the Budget & Financial Planning Office
• Assists with financial data for ad hoc requests and reports from stakeholders within the Provost s office, Division, and Finance & Budget Office
• Provide timely management reports/slide decks on budgets, actuals, and available balances
• Monitors Endowments and gifts regularly to ensure appropriate spending practices
• Assess procedures and processes to continuously implement best practices to streamline and standardize all aspects of financial management
• Learns local departmental processes and assesses procedures to continuously implement best practices to streamline and standardize all aspects of financial management
• Collaborate regularly with the Finance & Budget offices to identify and implement best practices and to provide a standardization of services across all units and divisions under the Provost that ensures compliance and efficiency
• Act as Approver/Reviewer for various financial transactions, including purchases, Advances & Expense Reimbursements, Accounts Receivable/Recoveries /Deposits, PCard approvals, Budget Modifications and Journal Entries
• Facilitate the opening and sign off on new chartfields and maintenance. Working with the Head, liaise with the Controller to establish special purpose funds as needed
• Act as a resource to employees within the Provost s units. Conduct walk-throughs regularly to have a pulse on Provost s units and Divisions' activities & issues
• Analyzes current and potential problems and recommends solutions for vetting and approval
• Initiate regular meetings with budget holders in the provost s office and managers to review financial status and priorities of activities and projects within each unit
• Engage in regular meetings with other functional areas within the Provost s jurisdiction with regard to funding sources, processes, and issues
• Responsible for ensuring a Documentation Retention system is established according to best practices and maintained using solid controls, processes, and systems to build reliability and efficiencies within its activities
• May be required to supervises members of the Finance Team within the office as needed

Budget Management (all operating and non-operating funds)

• Supporting the Head of Academic Resource Management and Fiscal Affairs and working with the Assistant Director in the budget management process
• Assist in the development of the annual budget for the Provost office and its respective units in coordination with the academic department heads, following the University budget planning timelines and processes across all funds
• Support consolidating and submitting the provost divisional budget to the central budget office
• Assist with the preparation, allocation, and monitoring of academic budgets, including Budget load, analysis of expenditure trends, and projection of income and expenses; reviewing salary and non-salary budgets and expenses, initiating budget adjustments, assessing departmental budget requests, and making appropriate recommendations
• Facilitate the budget owners' responsibility to respect the fiscal year s budget constraints by implementing processes and providing strong financial variance analysis reports, as needed