Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance and Chief Financial Officer - Office of the Chancellor

Washington University in St Louis•Clayton, MO

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Reporting directly to the Chancellor and serving as an officer of the university, the Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is the senior enterprise financial executive for Washington University in St. Louis, with financial oversight spanning both the Danforth campus and WashU Medicine. Is accountable for the financial strategy, integrity, and long-term sustainability of the university as a unified enterprise — ensuring that financial planning, budgeting, treasury management, capital strategy, and internal controls are sound, coordinated, and aligned with institutional priorities across all mission areas. Serves as the university's principal financial advisor to the Chancellor, the Board of Trustees, and senior leadership, and as the university's senior representative to rating agencies, financial institutions, and the external financial community. Engages with the Board on matters of fiduciary responsibility and serves as the university's credible institutional counterpart on endowment governance and investment strategy. Leads the university's finance organization and is responsible for building financial capability, discipline, and accountability across a complex, multi-mission institution encompassing education, research, and academic medicine. As a member of the university's senior leadership team, the CFO translates financial strategy into institutional decision-making, partners with operational, medical and academic leadership to align resources with strategic priorities, and represents the university's financial interests with the rigor and credibility the role demands — before the Board, in the external financial community, and across the enterprise.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree
Ten years of senior financial leadership and executive management, including meaningful experience in higher education or academic medicine — either as a practitioner within an academic institution or as a trusted advisor to presidents, CFOs, and boards of higher education institutions.
Demonstrated familiarity with academic disciplines, shared governance, and the rhythms of the academic enterprise.
Demonstrated track record of building and elevating a finance organization — developing talent, establishing rigorous operating rhythms, and creating a function that is a genuine strategic asset.
Financial depth: command of balance sheet management, liquidity and debt strategy, capital allocation, and endowment governance in a complex institutional setting.
Experience working at the Board level with accomplished trustees; ability to translate financial complexity without losing rigor.
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills — written, verbal, and presentation — including the ability to communicate complex financial matters credibly across diverse audiences and engage as a collaborative partner with institutional peers.
Demonstrated ability to develop budget policy and align programmatic priorities with current and future financial resources.
Experience in multi-year financial planning, modeling, and forecasting, with the ability to connect long-range financial scenarios to institutional strategy.
Strength of character to take and sustain difficult positions; ability to say no without alienating others.
Commitment to WashU's values and the highest ethical standards.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in business administration, finance, accounting, or related discipline.
Understanding of multiple budget models and experience working across centralized, hybrid, and decentralized environments.
Experience with contract negotiation and municipal finance.
Systems implementation experience, specifically Workday.
Master's degree - Accounting
Master's degree - Business Administration
Master's degree - Finance
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) - Missouri Division of Professional Registration
Central Leadership Role Within Academic Medicine (10 Years)

Responsibilities

Ensures financial viability and sustainability of the university's financial position — as a unified enterprise and of its major components — through timely, accurate financial reporting and analysis.
Serves as the key financial advisor to the Chancellor, senior leadership, and Board of Trustees.
Manages and optimizes the university's treasury function, including liquidity, working capital, and debt strategy.
Represents the university's financial interests externally with credit rating agencies, banking partners, and the broader capital markets community, optimizing credit facilities and banking relationships in support of the university's capital strategy.
Ensures robust internal controls throughout the institution.
Leads the university's direct finance organization across six functions: Treasury & Insurance, Accounting Services, Sponsored Research Accounting, Shared Business Services Hub, Financial Planning & Budget, and Workday Finance Support.
Ensures the financial sustainability and effectiveness of the Shared Business Services Hub — measuring performance and driving accountability for shared services cost and service outcomes.
Partners with WashU Medicine leadership on the selection, development, and integration of finance leadership across the medical enterprise.
Partners with the Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs in the search for the WashU Medicine Vice Chancellor and CFO.
Partners with the Chancellor, COO, and university leadership to develop and implement financial plans and strategies that support university-wide strategic initiatives and institutional sustainability.
Engages with the Board and university leadership on matters of fiduciary responsibility.
Provides strategic financial input on issues affecting the university, including structure, evaluation of potential business relationships, growth opportunities, and new business models.
Evaluates and advises on the financial impact of short- and long-range planning, new programs and strategies, and legislative and regulatory actions.
Builds and sustains a trusted partnership with the COO — engaging as genuine collaborators on financial strategy and institutional priorities.
Serves as an active and credible member of the university cabinet — a full institutional leader who contributes to the broader strategic direction of the university.
Works collaboratively with the full Mission Stewardship Council to ensure resource decisions reflect institutional priorities across all mission areas.
Builds trust with faculty and academic leadership by translating financial realities into terms that resonate with the academic enterprise; develops genuine curiosity about and respect for academic culture, shared governance, and the rhythms of university life.
Serves as the university's credible, well-prepared counterpart to WashU Investment Management Company (WUIMC), which manages the university's endowment under an independent Chief Investment Officer.
Engages substantively at the Board level, negotiating on behalf of the university's liquidity and capital needs and ensuring investment strategy conversations reflect institutional priorities.
Develops and maintains the university's budget model as a strategic tool that links financial resources to institutional priorities and measurable performance.
Ensures budget processes surface explicit trade-off decisions grounded in data, and drive transparency in decision-making, funding usage, and unit-level financial accountability.
Aligns incentives with strategic priorities across research, innovation, and clinical activities, and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration through the university's resource allocation methodology.
Provides input and support to the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees and the Audit, Risk, and Compliance Committee.
Serves as a senior institutional voice at the Board level — credible, proactive, and capable of translating financial complexity for lay trustees without losing rigor — representing the university's financial interests with equal credibility in rating agency meetings and WUIMC governance.