Budget Director or Senior Budget Director

UMass Lowell•Lowell, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Budget Director (or Senior Budget Director) reports to the Assistant Vice Chancellor Financial Services (AVC) with a dotted-line relationship to the Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance and leads the Department of Budget and Financial Planning. The Department of Budget & Financial Planning is responsible for the analysis, maintenance, monitoring, reporting, and posting of all university budgets. The department supports university leadership and departmental administrators in the development and implementation of both short- and long-range financial plans, while providing expertise in multi-year forecasting, performance management, and institutional effectiveness for the campus. In addition, the department serves as a resource to the campus community by providing support for PeopleSoft budget and financial processing and reporting, as well as guidance on budget administration, financial operations, and finance related questions. The position serves as the principal budget and financial planning advisor to the AVC and VC for Administration & Finance and works closely with executive leadership and the UMass President’s Office to develop and implement the University’s annual operating budget, multi-year financial plan and capital planning initiatives. In addition, the position will provide consultation and appropriate financial information and analysis to key university administrators as well as provide input to the university's operating budget model, the long-range financial plan and periodic budget versus actual analysis. The Budget Director provides leadership and guidance across a broad range of financial functions and collaborates with vice chancellors, deans, college finance officers, and business managers on financial management matters. The incumbent conducts financial research and analysis, identifies and implements best practices in higher education financial management and reporting, and supports continuous improvement initiatives. The position also oversees the preparation of reports, presentations, and financial studies related to key components of the university’s financial model. Provides leadership in the development and enhancement of budget and position management reporting systems. This position will be Hybrid.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or related field is required
minimum of seven years experience in budgeting, accounting and financial management.
Demonstrates aptitude in accountancy and budgeting.
Experience in financial operations within higher education, preferably research universities, public and/or other complex not-for-profit entities.
Thorough knowledge of financial reporting and analysis software and familiarity with complex integrated systems with the skills to run queries and conduct analysis.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the ability to analyze, manipulate, and model complex financial data.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including experience with interpreting and articulating a variety of regulations, policies, and procedures.
Proficiency with MS Office.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or CPA preferred
For Senior Budget Director: Bachelor's degree with a Masters and/or CPA required and with 10+ years of public higher education experience in budgeting, accounting and financial management.
Excellent financial analysis skills, with the ability to connect detailed data to broader strategic goals.
Strong strategic planning ability and creative problem-solving skills for long-range solutions.
Highly organized and detail oriented.
Ability to analyze systems and processes to improve operating efficiency, customer service, and policy compliance.
Understand the academic enterprise and possess confidence necessary to navigate a complex, and sometimes political landscape of a research institution.
Supervisory experience or demonstrated ability to supervise staff.
Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships throughout the university community among administration, faculty, and staff.
Experience working collaboratively and promoting customer service in a decentralized environment.
Ability to bring issues to the attention of senior management.
Familiarity with PeopleSoft, Concur, Buyways is desirable.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement the annual operating budget; design and maintain the university's comprehensive long-range financial plan; develop and present periodic financial analysis to senior management, campus executive leadership, and the UMass President’s Office; consult with department heads to define financial targets, budget guidelines and goals; assist in the development and maintenance of the long-range capital expenditure and financing plan for the university.
Provide executive-level financial and administrative support focusing on developing and monitoring university budgets and multi-year financial plans. Assist senior managers in strategic budget development and planning, development of the campus multi-year financial plan including forecasting revenues, expenses and strategic initiatives and monitoring budget to actual performance. Prepare the university’s annual operating budget, fee and revenue budgets and financial indicator reports. Prepare quarterly budget and financial planning reports for review with the executive leadership team. Review and analyze personnel and payroll data for budget preparation and planning. Develop budget reports and training programs to provide academic and administrative managers with expenditure data, trends, analysis and recommendations. Analyze expenditure patterns and make recommendations on the use of funds, including budget changes. Inform management of budget deviations, problems, and events likely to affect operations; explain causes and measure impact. Review budgets and other financial matters/issues with business and financial managers. Provide financial analysis on various projects for the Assistant Vice Chancellor Financial Services and the Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance. Analyze financial information through the use of queries, spreadsheets, databases, and other reporting tools for trend analyses, forecasts and financial ratios in conjunction with the system budget office and other university entities.
Responsible for establishing and evaluating all budgeting policies and procedures for the campus, includes editing and refining online policy guidelines to improve accessibility and efficiency. Ensure budget policies and procedures are in accordance with state and university policies and procedures. Coordinate the integration of budget policies, procedures and reporting requirements with the university finance system (Peoplesoft/Oracle).
Manage the Budget and Financial Planning Department operations. Directly supervise professional staff. Manage talent development, including recruitment, training and succession planning of the budget team. Promote a culture of excellence, inclusion, customer service, and continuous improvement.
Work collaboratively with the UMASS system budget office, controller, treasurer, University of Massachusetts Building Authority and other campus budget directors to develop and implement policies and procedures. Serve on the Senior Financial Leadership Team.