Lead Capital Budgeting Officer

University of Rochester•Rochester, NY

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Capital Budgeting Officer leads the University’s capital budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and financial governance processes. The role partners with Finance, Operations, Facilities, Procurement, IT, and business leaders to ensure capital investments are strategically aligned, financially sound, and effectively managed. It oversees annual capital planning, develops and maintains capital budgets and forecasts, evaluates investment proposals, monitors spending and commitments, and provides senior leadership with visibility into capital allocation, utilization, risks, and returns. The position also identifies University-wide budget issues, contributes to task forces and committees, performs special studies, assembles final budget documents and schedules for presentation to the Board of Trustees, and implements the budget after Board approval. It supports sound financial controls and accounting practices, serves as a strategic Finance partner, and continuously improves capital planning processes, systems, data quality, and reporting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, business administration, or a related field, and six years of progressive experience in financial planning and analysis, capital budgeting, corporate finance, accounting, or a related discipline; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated experience managing capital budgets and forecasts in a large or complex organization.
Strong financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis skills.
Advanced Excel and financial reporting capabilities.
Strong understanding of financial statements, capital expenditures, and accounting principles.
Excellent communication and presentation skills.
Proven ability to work effectively with senior business and Finance leaders.
Strong project management and organizational skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a multibillion-dollar organization with decentralized business units or a similarly complex enterprise environment.
Experience managing large-scale capital programs or portfolios.
Experience with ERP and financial planning systems such as Workday, Anaplan, or similar platforms.
Experience developing executive-level financial presentations and recommendations.
CMA, CPA, CFA, or other relevant advanced certification.

Responsibilities

Lead the annual University-wide capital budgeting and planning process.
Develop capital expenditure budgets, forecasts, and long-range plans across business units and functions.
Partner with business leaders to develop and evaluate capital investment proposals, including financial assumptions, business cases, ROI analyses, and payback expectations.
Ensure capital requests align with strategic priorities, financial targets, and approved investment criteria.
Provide monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting on capital spending, commitments, forecasts, and variances.
Analyze actual results against budgets and forecasts, identifying significant trends, risks, and opportunities.
Develop executive-level reporting and presentations for senior and Finance leadership.
Track project-level financial performance, including budget-to-actual spending, remaining commitments, and projected completion costs.
Develop financial models and scenario analyses to support major capital investment decisions and identify opportunities to improve capital allocation and investment returns.
Assemble final budget documents and schedules for presentation to the Board of Trustees and implement the budget after Board approval.
Manage capital budget submissions, reviews, approvals, and reallocations throughout the fiscal year.
Maintain accurate and comprehensive capital expenditure forecasts.
Establish and maintain capital budgeting policies, procedures, approval thresholds, and governance processes.
Ensure capital expenditures comply with University policies, internal controls, and accounting requirements.
Partner with Accounting and Finance on capitalization, project closeout, and financial reporting.
Monitor capital commitments and identify potential budget overruns or underutilization.
Support internal and external audits related to capital expenditures.
Improve controls, processes, and reporting systems related to capital management.
Serve as a strategic Finance partner to senior leaders and capital-intensive business functions; provide objective financial guidance and challenge assumptions.
Facilitate cross-functional capital planning meetings and investment reviews.
Translate complex financial information into clear recommendations for non-financial stakeholders and build relationships with operational leaders while maintaining financial discipline.
Identify opportunities to automate reporting, improve data quality, and increase forecast accuracy.
Partner with stakeholders to enhance financial systems and reporting capabilities.
Develop standardized tools, templates, dashboards, and processes for capital management.
Support implementation or optimization of ERP, planning, and business intelligence systems.
Identify University-wide budgetary issues, lead or contribute to task forces, committees, and working groups, and perform special studies.
Perform other duties as assigned.