Scheduled Hours

37.5

Position Summary

The Executive Director of Finance and Budgeting is a senior management position in the McKelvey School of Engineering and provides leadership in financial planning, reporting and analysis, and administration of the school’s financial operations. The Executive Director leads fiscal strategy in accordance with the school’s vision and mission and supervises the school’s finance and accounting team. The Executive Director works closely with other leaders in McKelvey and with appropriate WashU offices and departments.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Financial Planning, Analysis and Oversight                             

• Implement a school-wide budget planning and management system that reflects the school’s strategic priorities; supports the dean’s, faculty and unit managers’ decision making; and provides ongoing accountability for resource use at the school.

• Collaborating closely with the dean, produce the school’s annual budget and participate in the University budget planning and review process. Prepare senior leadership level analysis and presentations. Prepare multi-year projections.

• Manage preparation of reporting packages that include financial statements, comprehensive performance indicators, analysis of key trends, actual vs. budget variances and complete executive level explanations of differences.

• Generate proposals and analyses for the school’s graduate tuition and financial aid policies.

• Prepare comprehensive business cases to support financial decision-making, including detailed financial analysis, cost-benefit evaluations, risk assessment, and recommendations for strategic initiatives.

• Represent the School in financial reviews with the central administration. Interact with WashU leaders, providing insight and information to meet the reporting requirements and deadlines of the Central Finance areas.

• Collaborate with the dean, department chairs, program directors, and associate deans to produce annual and long-term operating and capital budget proposals.

• Actively participate in the school’s long-term strategic planning effort, producing analyses and proposals for changes in long-term resource use and development.

• Produce short run data on the school’s financial performance for the dean and key members of the senior management team. Produce long-run trend data on financial indicators for the school’s long-range plan. Produce public reports regarding the school’s performance for the U.S. News and World Reports, ASEE, ABET, and other external bodies.

Financial Management and Business Operations

• Recruit, manage, develop, and evaluate a high performing financial analysis and management team.

• Assure the quality and timeliness of accounting, payroll, reimbursements, use of university vendors, insurance, transfers, other financial transactions, and business office functions.

• Oversee development of the Renovation and Repair budget, ensuring that facilities expenditures are consistent with RR and operational budgets.

• Maintain an adequate system of internal controls throughout the school.

• Collaborate closely with departmental administrators to assure financial compliance for grants and contracts, information and reports for faculty and centers, and timely resolution of financial problems as they arise.

• Manage all tax reporting requirements and audits of the school. Ensure corrective action is taken on noted deficiencies, if any.

• Assure a professional, responsive, and customer-focused atmosphere in the business office.

Central Fiscal Unit Collaborations                                          

• Collaborate with members of the Central Fiscal Unit: Financial Services, University Advancement, Office of Sponsored Research Services, Sponsored Projects Accounting, and other offices as it relates to McKelvey’s budget.

• Participate as a member of university committees as assigned.

• Participate in various other subgroups involving university-wide budgeting, analysis, planning, reporting processes and tools

Other Functions

• Demonstrate strong strategic thinking skills by analyzing market trends, identifying growth opportunities, and developing long-term plans to achieve organizational goals.

• Participate actively in the dean’s senior management team, proactively identify issues for attention, and make recommendations for improved fiscal management.

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