Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

Sweet Briar College • Sweet Briar, VA

308d

About The Position

Sweet Briar College challenges and inspires women, forging ethical leaders with the skill, compassion, and vision to create a more just and sustainable world. Sweet Briar College (“Sweet Briar” or “the College”), an exceptional national liberal arts college for women, seeks a tested financial leader with deep and comprehensive expertise in strategic, innovative, and sound management within the higher education context to be its next vice president of finance and chief financial officer (CFO). The CFO will join Sweet Briar as it approaches its 125th anniversary—a historic moment where the institution will celebrate its storied tradition and launch a new capital campaign in the next year for its future. The College is known for forging female leaders and seeks to continue that mission by modernizing and strengthening its business strategies and operations. Sweet Briar will look to the next CFO to be a key and strategic partner with the President as well as a pragmatic and innovative steward of the College's diverse budget portfolio to further stabilize and thoughtfully grow the institution into its next chapter. Sweet Briar has a strong community of faculty, staff, coaches, and students. Its formidable alumna base has contributed $160 million in the past decade and banded together in 2015 to triumphantly see the College through a potential closure. The College is now in a stable financial situation, with an operating budget of approximately $31 million and an endowment valued at roughly $73.9 million. Sweet Briar's leadership team remains focused on preparing for a constantly evolving external environment and changing market conditions and demands. Its S&P long-term bond rating is BB+, the seventh time in nine years that S&P has raised or reaffirmed the College's rating, citing enrollment growth and effective management. Since 2015, in addition to strategic planning, the College has enhanced its curriculum, embraced its agricultural heritage, developed public-private partnerships in higher ed, reset tuition for increased opportunities for students, and invested in the campus and athletic facilities. Opening its doors in 1906, Sweet Briar today serves 437 students, is home to 74 faculty, and sits on a 2,840-acre campus in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains with twenty miles of trails and over twenty-one buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. It is approximately 12 miles north of Lynchburg and 54 miles south of Charlottesville. The College boasts a modern core curriculum focused on women's leadership in the 21st century and undergraduate programs in the arts, sciences, and humanities, as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching. It is one of only two women's colleges in the United States with an ABET-accredited engineering degree. Its average class size is eight to one. Sweet Briar is repeatedly named by US News and World Report as one of the most innovative liberal arts colleges in the nation where students conduct their own research and have experiential learning opportunities. Students are drawn to Sweet Briar for its liberal arts program, coupled with distinctive programs in women's leadership, engineering, sustainability, arts, and its legendary equestrian program.

Requirements

• Deep and comprehensive expertise in strategic, innovative, and sound management within the higher education context.
• Experience in financial leadership roles.
• Ability to manage diverse budget portfolios.
• Strong communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in capital campaign management.
• Familiarity with public-private partnerships in higher education.
• Background in women's leadership programs.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and oversight of all financial matters.
• Oversee finance, budget and planning, treasury services and risk management, accounts payable, business intelligence, HR, payroll, contracting and procurement services.
• Report to the President of Sweet Briar College.
• Be a member of the senior leadership team.
• Work with staff relevant board committees pertaining to business and financial matters.
• Bring creative and strategic direction to how the institution manages its finances.
• Improve and innovate internal finance practices and operations.
• Partner with the President, other college leadership, and the board of directors.
• Effectively manage the finance team.
• Communicate proactively about financial matters with the President and the College community.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Master's degree