Associate Director of Budget & Strategic Operations

Job Description

The School of STEM has an outstanding opportunity for Associate Director of Budget & Strategic Operations position to join their team.

About this opportunity:

Reporting to the Dean of STEM, the Associate Director of Budget & Strategic Operations serves as a senior school-facing leader responsible for strategic decision support, resource planning, and operations, working in close partnership with UWB’s shared administrative services and other administrative units. This position leads school-level multiyear financial planning and modeling in support of the Dean’s priorities and provides strategic analysis to develop recommendations for the Dean and the school comprised of 4 departments with approximately $23M budget, 90 full-time faculty and 40 full-time staff, collaborating with UWB’s Financial and Administrative shared services to ensure alignment with institutional policies, processes, procedures, and requirements. This role focuses on planning, coordination, and decision support in partnership with others for shared administrative services.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy, Planning, and Decision Support – 35%

• Lead school-level resource planning in support of the Dean’s priorities, including scenario modeling, tradeoff analysis, and multi-year planning. This includes approximately $23M in annual funding, plus grants, gifts, endowments, and provisos.

• Provide decision support to school leadership by synthesizing financial and operational information into clear recommendations and options.

• Advise the Dean and leadership team on the operational and resource implications of strategic initiatives, emerging issues, and competing priorities.

• Support the Dean in facilitating strategic planning and implementation, ensuring alignment with the university’s strategic plan and initiatives, and lead in the assessment and measurement of school initiatives.

• Monitor key indicators, trends, and planning assumptions to identify risks and opportunities for leadership consideration.

• Support internal allocation planning and monthly reporting, including startup, indirect cost recovery, faculty buyouts, and other school-level resource decisions.

• Prepare analyses, briefings, and planning materials to support leadership discussions and school decision-making.

Operations Coordination and Implementation – 35%

• Serve as the primary point of coordination between the school and UWB’s shared administrative services and other UWB administrative units to support effective and timely delivery of administrative services.

• Coordinate school operational priorities, timelines, and service needs to ensure alignment with university processes, requirements, and implementation schedules.

• Facilitate resolution of complex or escalated issues in partnership with Division of Academic Affairs Director of Finance and Operations, UWB’s shared administrative services, and in coordination with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Shared Administrative Services, as appropriate.

• Coordinate and gather information for state or federal funding reports (e.g., Provisos), serving as the lead writer for the school

• Partner with faculty, program leadership, and administrative teams to ensure accreditation-related requirements are effectively coordinated and supported.

• Support documentation and tracking of internal approvals, resource decisions, and administrative follow-through; ensuring expenses stay within budget allocations.

• Identify opportunities to improve coordination, consistency, and service delivery across school and administrative functions.

• Provide guidance and coordination support to student organizations and school-affiliated groups to help them navigate university processes related to purchasing and travel.

• Support gift stewardship in partnership with the Dean and the Office of Advancement, including coordination of fund use, alignment with donor intent, and communication regarding gift implementation priorities.

• Coordinate with UWB shared administrative services and Advancement on gift-related processes, including fund setup, allocations, and reporting, ensuring alignment with university requirements.

• Partner with faculty, program leadership, Sponsored Research, and UWB shared administrative services to support post-award grant management, including issue resolution, coordination of requirements, and alignment with award terms.

• Support fiscal work related to community and industry projects in partnership with the Dean and other school leadership, including processing industry-sponsored capstone contracts/invoices an