Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

About The Position

Reporting to the Dean of the College of Education, the Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration serves as the chief financial officer for the College and provides leadership, oversight and strategic planning for all finance and administration functions in the College including Finance, Human Resources, the Office of Technology, and College facilities. The Assistant Dean will serve on the Dean’s leadership team and provide recommendations, guidance and decision support to ensure the strategic goals of the College are met. The Assistant Dean will exercise a high level of independent and professional judgment to develop, propose, and implement strategies and long-range operational planning that advances the goals of the Dean and contributes to the successful business and financial operations of the College. This position will also develop and implement administrative and budgetary policies that provide excellent and proactive resource management and high-quality customer service to college faculty, staff and students. At the discretion of the Dean, the Assistant Dean will have decision-making authority with respect to allocation and expenditure of funds and will be expected to take initiative and identify solutions to anticipated and emergent issues. The Assistant Dean will be a strategic leader in the College and must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively about complex financial data and think creatively about how to meet financial and budgetary challenges and opportunities. This position will have frequent and substantive interactions with a variety of internal and external constituents, serving as the direct representative of the Dean as directed, and requires an effective leader with individual initiative, excellent communication skills, and the desire to motivate and serve multiple stakeholders and enable them to meet the expectations of the Dean and the College while working within UW regulations and policies and ensuring overall compliance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Administration or related field and a minimum of seven years in a senior-level financial lead or professional position with financial, organizational and operational responsibilities in a complex and dynamic organization. Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Demonstrated experience in business planning, financial analysis, organizational development and strategic planning.
Experience interpreting and communicating financial information to people with varied exposure to and understanding of complex budgets and strategic planning (i.e., from deans to students).
Superior analytical, written, and verbal communication and presentation skills.
Outstanding team development, people management, project management, facilitation, and negotiation skills.
Demonstrated ability to effectively supervise, lead, and delegate to staff.
Proficiency in the computing environment, Microsoft Office Suite applications; a high level of proficiency in applying Microsoft Excel to financial management, forecasting, and accounting tasks is expected.
Must work comfortably within a collaborative team environment.
Must exercise sound judgment and maintain a high degree of integrity with the ability to maintain confidentiality and use discretion.
Ability and willingness to adjust to changing priorities on very short notice as well as the ability to manage multiple projects with varying deadlines.

Nice To Haves

A master’s degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Administration or related field
Knowledge of and experience in working with the University of Washington’s financial systems, including Workday Finance.
Familiarity with Activity Based Budgeting (ABB) model.
Experience with business administration and finance in a research-intensive environment or an institute of higher education is highly desirable.
Familiarity with academic policies and procedures.