Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration

University of Arkansas • Fayetteville, AR

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration for the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, with direct report to the Dean of the School, and with indirect reporting to the University's Vice Provost for Planning, serves as the school's chief financial officer and as a member of the Dean's senior leadership team. This role advises the Dean on financial strategy, resource allocation, organizational effectiveness, risk management, and long-range planning. The Assistant Dean supports the School's strategic efforts through budgeting and finance, data management and benchmarking, interpretation and implementation of University policy, procurement support, human resources, IT infrastructure, capital planning, space utilization, enrollment planning, and other activities as required to achieve the instruction, research, and service mission of the School. This position confers with and supports the Dean in developing FJSAD's annual budget, while maintaining strong, positive working relationships with the department program/program/units and the campus-wide finance team. The Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration analyzes and makes recommendations on budget requests and plans with respect to state and university policy and provides an accurate accounting and reporting of the deployment and maintenance of the School's financial and human resources. They support the data analytics efforts of the School for its accreditation, program and operations, and business optimization measures. The Assistant Dean oversees the management of Human Resources for FJSAD, working with the School's HR Partner (as a dotted line report) with planning and executing a comprehensive human resources strategy. The Assistant Dean supervises one full-time financial employee and has fiscal oversight of the Garvan Woodland Gardens financial affairs staff member, and the School's Director of Information Technology (who also has a dotted line report to University Information Technology Services. Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others. This is an in-person position, not a remote position. Extensive in-person engagement in both supervisory activities and formal and informal interactions with colleagues contributes to successful leadership, coordination, and collaboration and is essential to the expectations for this position.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or related field from an accredited institution of higher education
• Four years financial planning and analysis experience
• Two years of experience in a supervisory role
• Experience with written and verbal presentation of financial activity
• Experience developing, implementing and monitoring budgets
• In depth understanding and knowledge of best practices in the areas of budgeting, multi-year financial planning, scenario modeling, enrollment revenue forecasting, space utilization planning, resource allocation strategy, risk management, human capital, analytics, operations and planning
• Organizational effectiveness and process improvement
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written
• Data-informed decision-making and problem-solving skills
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret financial data
• Ability to translate complex financial information into actionable business insights
• Ability to collaborate and work well with others
• Proficient abilities with Microsoft Office Suite – with expertise in Word and Excel
• Proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in business, accounting or a related field from an accredited institution of higher education
• Four years financial planning and operational planning and analysis experience in post-secondary higher education
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing organizational change
• Successful completion of a CPA or similar professional certificate
• Director level experience
• Experience managing financial operations, accounting, budget, and reporting functions in a post-secondary environment
• Workday or other ERP experience

Responsibilities

• Serves as the school's chief financial officer and as a member of the Dean's senior leadership team.
• Advises the Dean on financial strategy, resource allocation, organizational effectiveness, risk management, and long-range planning.
• Supports the School's strategic efforts through budgeting and finance, data management and benchmarking, interpretation and implementation of the University policy, procurement support, human resources, IT infrastructure, capital planning, space utilization, enrollment planning and other activities as required to achieve the instruction, research and service mission of the School.
• Confers with and supports the Dean in developing FJSAD's annual budget, while maintaining strong, positive working relationships with the department program/program/ units and the campuswide finance team.
• Analyzes and makes recommendations on budget requests and plans with respect to state and university policy.
• Provides an accurate accounting and reporting of the deployment and maintenance of the School's financial and human resources.
• Supports the data analytics efforts of the School for its accreditation, program and operations, and business optimization measures.
• Oversees the management of Human Resources for FJSAD.
• Works with the School's HR Partner (as a dotted line report) with planning and executing a comprehensive human resources strategy.
• Supervises one full-time financial employee.
• Has fiscal oversight of the Garvan Woodland Gardens financial affairs staff member, and the School's Director of Information Technology (who also has a dotted line report to University Information Technology Services.

Benefits

• University contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance
• Tuition waivers for employees and their families
• 12 official holidays
• Immediate leave accrual
• Choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager