Associate Director, Financial Operations and Institutional Research Analyst

Department

Booth Marketing and Communications: Institutional Research and Strategic Insights

About the Department

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is the second-oldest business school in the U.S. and second to none when it comes to influencing business education and business practices. Since 1898, the school has produced ideas and leaders that shape the world of business. Their rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education transforms students into confident, effective, respected business leaders prepared to face the toughest challenges.

Chicago Booth has the finest set of facilities of any business school in the world. Each of the four campuses (two in Chicago, one in London, and one in Hong Kong) reflects the architectural traditions of its environs while offering a state-of-the-art learning environment.

Chicago Booth is proud to claim:
-an unmatched faculty.
-degree and open enrollment programs offered on three continents.
-a global body of nearly 56,000 accomplished alumni.
-strong and growing corporate relationships that provide a wealth of lifelong career opportunities.

As part of the world-renowned University of Chicago, Chicago Booth shares the University's core values that shape the distinctive intellectual culture. At Booth, they constantly question and test ideas, and seek proof. This extraordinarily effective approach to business leads to new ideas and innovative solutions. Seven of the Booth faculty members have won Nobel Prizes for these ideas - the first business school to achieve this accomplishment.

For more information about the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, please visit: http://www.chicagobooth.edu/.

Job Summary

The primary responsibilities of the Associate Director, Financial Operations and Institutional Research Analyst is to support financial strategic analytical projects at Booth. The portfolio of the role combines strategic management, analytical evaluation of marketing campaigns, management of marketing budgets, invoicing, vendor management, contract review, RFP preparation, evaluation of the ROI of marketing initiatives, conversion cost optimization, budget impact assessment, contract evaluation, among others.

This role entails an ability to perform data collection, strategic research design setting, analysis, and evaluation. This also includes closely tracking and communicating project timelines with the team and its internal and external partners. The role will work with the Institutional Research and Strategic Insights team withing Marketing and Communications, senior leadership, centers, and internal and external departments, including the Deans.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains marketing budgets, including campaign-specific and overall departmental budgets. Prepares regular budget reports and forecasts for marketing leadership and makes recommendations to the CMO. 
• Manages the invoicing process, manages the relationships with the university and the marketing vendors. Collaborate with marketing managers to develop budget proposals for new initiatives. Oversees budget management for all the functions within Marketing, including budget preparation, purchasing, and contracts. 
• Monitors marketing expenditure and identifies areas for potential savings and budget reallocation. Provides financial analysis to support marketing strategy and decision-making. 
• Analyzes departmental expenses, forecasts trends, and recommends cost saving strategies to optimize financial performance. Analyzes market trends and competitor spending on advertising to inform budgeting decisions.
• Analyzes vendor contracts and provides recommendations for internal reporting, contract evaluation, alongside developing financial models for forecasting and long-term planning for vendor engagement, among other tasks as identified by CMCO. 
• Leads institutional research for Booth’s priority projects aligned with the school’s internal and external priorities. Understands Booth’s goals and translates those to research strategy. Develops strategic recommendations to inform faculty hiring, promotion and tenure projects.
• Manages ongoing strategy and oversight of Chicago Booth’s participations in rankings, including understanding multiple publications’ ranking methodology, ensuring the school’s compliance through data validation, analyzing ranking results and maintaining reporting dashboards. Works with the operations team for the execution of these projects.
• Manages and leads internal and external institutional reporting needs and audit requirements.    
• Translates research results to digestible dashboards, outputs and tracking studies, as relevant. Translates data to storytelling and meaningful output that allow dec