Senior Business Partner, Finance
About The Position
The Finance Business Partner will play a pivotal role in connecting strategy, operations, and finance to ensure that institutional resources are aligned with outcomes and deliver maximum value. Reporting to the Vice President of Finance & Accounting, with a direct link to the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Team, this role is uniquely positioned to influence decision-making across the institution. At the intersection of functional leadership, FP&A, the Controller’s office, and the Transformation Office, the Finance Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor who translates operational priorities into actionable financial models and insights. By combining expertise in accounting, finance, and higher education operations, the Finance Business Partner empowers executives and functional leaders to make data-informed, value-driven decisions. Acting as both translator and connector, this role ensures that financial strategies reflect operational realities and that operational decisions are grounded in sound financial analysis.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field (Master’s or CPA preferred).
- 5+ years of progressive experience in finance, accounting, or business operations, ideally within higher education.
- Strong understanding of budget management, forecasting, and FTE/staffing models.
- Experience working cross-functionally with operations, finance, and transformation/strategy teams.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to influence and build trust with executives and functional leaders.
- Proficiency in financial systems (e.g., Sage Intacct, Anaplan, Banner/Ellucian, Workiva) preferred.
- Advanced Excel and financial modeling skills, with an ability to connect operational activities to financial outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Partner with function leaders to review and analyze budget-to-actuals, monthly spends, FTE allocations, and resource utilization.
- Identify and communicate reforecasts, variances, pulls, pushes, saves, and misses in operating budgets.
- Translate operational strategies and resource needs into inputs for FP&A models, ensuring accuracy and alignment.
- Collaborate with the Controller’s office to ensure accurate reporting and alignment between actuals and forecasts.
- Work with the Transformation Office (Operational Effectiveness team) to ensure financial resources are aligned with institutional outcomes and value creation.
- Provide scenario analysis to evaluate options, prioritizing those that deliver the greatest impact and efficiency.
- Support decision-making for new initiatives, staffing models, and investments by connecting financial implications with expected outcomes.
- Support and facilitate monthly budget review conversations with executives and functional leaders.
- Establish repeatable processes for variance analysis, reforecasting, and FTE modeling.
- Document and communicate agreed-upon financial assumptions to ensure alignment between historical reporting (Controller) and forward-looking projections (FP&A).
- Provide financial literacy coaching to operational leaders on budgets, forecasts, and financial concepts.
- Develop simple tools/templates for functions to manage their operating resources.
- Serve as a trusted partner and “single source of truth” for budget owners and executives.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
