Director of Academic Finance & Strategic Planning

Cornell University • Ithaca, NY

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Academic Finance & Strategic Planning is the primary financial lead for Cornell University's decentralized Colleges and Enterprise units. Reporting to the Associate Vice President of the University Budget Office, the Director strengthens the analytical depth and consistency of unit-level budgeting practices and defines and implements the methodologies and internal controls that govern budgeting across decentralized units.

The role assesses current unit-level practices and establishes consistent methodologies across the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses, including for fund balance reporting and future-year hiring plans. It owns Sources & Uses reporting across Operating and Capital portfolios and serves as the final reviewer and approver of unit submissions, ensuring financial narratives are accurate, operationally sound, and thoroughly vetted. The Director challenges unit-level assumptions and promotes analytical rigor for complex institutional decisions.

The Director leads and develops a small team of analysts and advances process standardization and data integrity to support University leadership and the University's Workday Adaptive Planning implementation. As a people manager and university leader, the Director is expected to foster inclusion, belonging, wellbeing, and a healthy work environment.

The position is based on Cornell's Ithaca campus. The employee is expected to work in Ithaca, with the possibility of performing a portion of the work remotely. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree.
• A minimum of 7–10 years of progressive experience in financial management, budgeting, and resource planning.
• Experience assessing and standardizing financial processes across decentralized units, including implementing consistent methodologies and internal controls at scale.
• Experience preparing and presenting complex financial information, including Sources & Uses reporting, to senior leaders such as VPs, Deans, and Provosts.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to scrutinize financial assumptions and trace how figures are derived.
• Experience working directly with academic units, College Business Officers, or comparable decentralized stakeholders, and translating central financial mandates into operational practice.
• Ability to navigate organizational complexity, resolve data discrepancies across stakeholder groups, build shared understanding, and preserve working relationships.
• Experience leading and managing staff, setting priorities, overseeing analytical work, supporting professional development, and fostering collaboration.
• Skill in understanding cultural differences.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in higher education or a similarly complex, decentralized organization.
• Experience identifying and resolving cross-subsidization and aligning revenue and expenses to reflect the true cost of operations.
• Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field, or CPA licensure.
• Familiarity with Workday Adaptive Planning or a comparable ERP budgeting and forecasting platform.
• Experience in a shared services or matrixed organizational environment, with responsibility for central standards and unit-level service delivery.
• Working knowledge of capital budget planning and management in addition to operating fund oversight.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary financial lead for the University's decentralized Colleges and Enterprise units.
• Define and implement consistent budgeting methodologies and internal controls across decentralized units.
• Assess unit-level financial practices and standardize approaches across the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses, including fund balance reporting and future-year hiring plans.
• Own Sources & Uses reporting across Operating and Capital portfolios.
• Review and approve unit financial submissions, validating their accuracy, operational soundness, and analytical rigor.
• Challenge unit-level assumptions and ensure financial narratives are thoroughly vetted.
• Lead and develop a small team of analysts, including setting priorities, overseeing analytical work, supporting professional development, and fostering collaboration.
• Drive process standardization and data integrity in support of leadership reporting and Workday Adaptive Planning implementation.
• Foster a culture of inclusion, belonging, wellbeing, and work/life integration.

Benefits

• Educational benefits
• Access to wellness programs
• Employee discounts with local and national retail brands
• Health care
• Generous paid leave provisions
• Three weeks of vacation
• 14 university-paid holidays, including the end-of-year winter break through New Year's Day
• Superior employer retirement contributions

What This Job Offers

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