Assistant Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis

Wentworth Institute of Higher Education•Boston, MA

6d•$160,000 - $208,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Assistant Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis (AVP) is a proactive, collaborative, data-informed professional with a problem-solving mindset. The AVP will leverage WIT’s recent implementation of Workday Financial to develop and implement annual and multiyear financial planning processes that support strategic decision-making. The AVP will prioritize decision support by building partnerships and building a comprehensive understanding of the financial complexities and competing needs of the organization. The AVP will lead the work to develop useful and robust analyses and long-term financial models to inform discussions of critical issues. This is a pivotal role that provides financial leadership and decision support to the executive level of WIT. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in financial strategy, a collaborative mindset, experience working at the executive/board level and a commitment to using data to support academic innovation and effective resource management. The AVP should have experience with non-profit accounting as they will work closely with the University Controller to ensure budgeting, forecasting and decision support incorporate the primary tenants of non-profit/higher education accounting rules.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or related field.
10 years of progressively responsible experience in financial services, preferably in higher education.
Strong proficiency in financial modeling, forecasting, and variance analysis.
Demonstrated ability to communicate financial information clearly to non-financial stakeholders.
Experience leading teams and managing complex financial systems and processes.
Strong interpersonal skills, collaborative mindset, and ability to build trust across departments and hierarchical levels.
High attention to detail and the ability to synthesize complex financial and operational data for executive use.
Experience managing change related to systems implementation, budget reform, or institutional transformation.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree; MPA, CPA, MBA, or similar financial certification.
Knowledge of fund accounting, GASB standards, and nonprofit financial reporting.
Experience with tuition pricing models, enrollment management, grant funding, and auxiliary operations.
Proficiency in Workday Financial Management modules, including general ledger, budgeting, reporting, and grants management.

Responsibilities

Long range strategic financial planning Work closely with the Senior Vice President (SVP) and CFO on budget development, long-term financial projections, pro forma planning, cost benefit analysis, program/unit performance.
Build/refine dynamic planning tools to enable scenario planning within multi-year operational and capital financial plans.
Provide decision support to academic and administrative leaders to evaluate initiatives, enrollment strategies, tuition models, and capital projects.
Support analysis on projects, programs and initiatives for which there is a financial component. Such projects may include private-partnership projects, and third party vendor partnerships.
Financial Reporting & Analysis Ensure that academic and administrative leaders can access and effectively use key financial reports that can support daily/ongoing decision making.
Develop strong partnerships with academic and administrative leaders to supplement self-service reporting with more detailed trend analysis.
Partner with key stakeholders to develop analysis of trends within key areas, including enrollment, net tuition, auxiliary revenue, capital spending, and provide recommendations for long-range planning.
Partner with Controller to ensure that accounting standard operating procedures and internal controls (SOPIC) are supporting ongoing budgeting reporting & analysis.
Partner with technical experts to enhance and maximize use of executive and department-level reporting.
Budget Development and Ongoing Forecasting Lead the annual budget process, including providing analysis and recommendations throughout the budget cycle to ensure sustainability and strategic alignment.
Lead in-year performance analysis, including quarterly reforecasts; identify variances and partner with academic and administrative leaders to develop tradeoff-based solutions.
Partner with Controller and accounting team to conduct quarterly financial closes, and provide year-over-year flux analysis.
Partner with Controller during annual close; create and analyze a wide range of financial statements in support of WIT’s annual core financial audit.
Community engagement & executive level communication Present complex financial data in clear, actionable formats for a broad audience.
Build cross-functional, trusted partnerships relationships that support financial transparency and data-informed planning across the organization.
Have a collaborative, open, and inquisitive style that encourages innovation and thoughtful experimentation.
Build and nurture strong relationships with internal teams, partners, and stakeholders to facilitate proactive communication and collaboration across all financial functions.
Be an influential leader with the ability to elevate the performance of the team – individually and collectively.
Leadership & Team Development Supervise one Senior Financial Analyst.
Serve as senior member of the WIT finance team leadership team, helping to foster a culture of service, collaboration, and excellence.
Partner with Controller to ensure that the Accounting and Financial Planning teams are aligned throughout all phases of the annual financial cycle.
Partner with other senior members of the WIT finance team to foster a culture of service, promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in resource planning and financial decision-making.