Deputy Budget Director

Universities of Wisconsin • Madison, WI

2d • $165,000 - $195,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Deputy Budget Director will report directly to the Budget Director in the Madison Budget Office (MBO) which reports to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance. This position will supervise two to three MBO Budget Planners. The Deputy Budget Director will play a key role in development of the campus-wide budget and forecasts that are submitted to the Universities of Wisconsin System. This will include monitoring central fund balances and making recommendations to manage balances. Responding to leadership and divisional requests for financial and budget analysis including recommendations are key parts of this role. The role will assist with development of regular financial status reports and dashboards for campus leadership. The Deputy Budget Director will represent the MBO, and occasionally the VCFA, in campus-wide initiatives. This position is flexible with the ability to work remotely regularly but will require occasional on-site presence.

Requirements

• Minimum five years of experience in budget development, financial planning, or fiscal management.
• Progressive leadership experience, including supervising professional staff.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret financial data, develop models, and communicate insights to diverse audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex financial concepts into clear, actionable information.
• Experience developing or implementing financial policies, budget frameworks, or resource allocation models.
• Commitment to equity, inclusion, transparency, and shared governance in financial decision‑making.
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, public administration, business, economics, or a related field.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education finance, particularly at a large public research university or similarly complex institution.
• Knowledge of public sector budgeting.
• Experience with enterprise financial systems
• Experience collaborating with senior leaders, faculty, staff, and stakeholders across decentralized units.
• Ability to navigate and influence decision‑making in a decentralized governance environment.
• Master’s degree in public administration, higher education administration, business, finance, economics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Plans and directs staff implementation of budget initiatives, programs, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable rules and regulations
• Develops and administers unit or organizational budgets and large budget projections including budget planning, policies, controls, procedures, forecasts, and analysis
• Analyzes, identifies, and makes recommendations in budget planning to leadership
• Serves as the subject matter expert to unit leadership and institutional stakeholders regarding budget operations and functions
• Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees

What This Job Offers

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