Finance Director

Chatham University • Pittsburgh, PA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Finance Director provides leadership to the Student Accounts Office, a department critical to financial administration and student services. The primary role involves maintaining accurate student tuition and fee accounts and overseeing the billing process for timely and accurate statements. The Director serves as the institutional expert for student account-related policies, procedures, and compliance with Federal and State guidelines. A key responsibility will be the implementation of Workday Student, ensuring proper classification and recording of student activity in the General Ledger. Reporting directly to the Chief Financial & Administrative Officer, the Director of Student Financial Systems & Operations will also support various special projects, including accounting and reporting of Temporarily Restricted Gifts and Grants, assisting with Budgeting and Forecasting, reviewing special transactions (e.g., sale-leasebacks, debt refinancing), and conducting programmatic profitability reviews.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Business Administration, or Finance.
• Working knowledge of accepted accounting/bookkeeping principles and methods and terms, preferably with an emphasis on higher-education and/or non-profit accounting.
• Strong computer skills, especially Microsoft Excel PowerPoint and Microsoft Word, required.
• High level of knowledge related to Federal and State rules and regulations, as they pertain to higher educational institutions.
• Minimum of seven to ten years of experience in accounting, preferably in a college or university setting.
• Leadership competencies are required
• Excellent quantitative analytic skills, writing and clear communication skills, demonstrated organization skills.
• Ability to perform with a high degree of diplomacy, confidentiality, and professionalism required.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced Degree or CPA certification preferred but not required
• Familiarity with Workday desired but not required.
• Previous system implementation/conversion experience strongly desired.
• Seven+ years supervisory experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Management and overall supervision of Student Accounts staff and their activities, including coordination with Financial Aid and Registrar departments
• Maintains the accuracy of student tuition and fee accounts and oversees the billing and receipt process to ensure timely and accurate billing statements for students.
• Responsible for all students’ accounts (full-time, part-time, non-degree, certificate, VA, and other specialized populations).
• Ensures that all University funds, including student payments, chargebacks, government checks/drafts, receipts from financial institutions and other sources are properly accounted for.
• Maintains policies and procedures related to Student Account Office and receivables.
• Supervise and lead the staff in the office by providing excellent management, training, and support.
• Ensures office coverage and excellent customer service.
• Counsels and advises students regarding the tuition and fee payment process and options available to discharge the financial obligation including but not limited to payment plans, student loans and personal payment arrangements with the University.
• Provides assistance with customer service, parent/student interactions and dispute resolution.
• Keeps informed of updates/patches regarding student information system (Anthology/WorkDay) and payment system (TouchNET) and leads oversight and management of updates in collaboration with Information Technology (IT).
• Troubleshoots and resolves issues related to the student side of the system.
• Builds and tests tuition and fee assessment for each semester.
• Coordinates with IT as it relates to reporting, Compliance, 1098T tax reporting, and third-party vendor integration.
• Partners collaboratively with other University offices and directs resources to student financial policies as appropriate.
• Maintains excellent control of departmental budget, consistently looking for ways to reduce costs without sacrificing service.
• Implementation of Workday Student (conversion from Anthology)
• Temporarily Restricted Gift and Grant Management
• Reporting assistance to Office of Research & Sponsored Programs and University Advancement departments
• Accounting support to Principal Investigators and other relevant parties
• Supervise accounting for grant expenses, revenues, and indirect funds
• Account reconciliations
• Support annual audit
• Budget preparation and analysis

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees