Director, Finance & Administration

Description

SUMMARY

Reports directly to the Associate Vice President of Finance and Administration (AVPFA). Supports the development, implementation, monitoring, interpretation, and analysis of CalArts’ annual and multi-year operating budgets, forecasting, long range planning and the making of recommendations on resource allocations. Supports the AVPFA in the compilation, analysis, and dissemination of information that provides decision support for the CFO and President’s leadership team, deans, department heads and others to contribute to sound decision making and effectiveness in managing the Institute’s financial resources.

Qualifications

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS (including but not limited to):

Institute Board

• Support the CFO in the preparation of committee meeting materials that are reviewed by the respective members (audit, risk, investment, buildings and grounds, and technology)
• Prepares promptly after each meeting well-written drafts of minutes for designated committee meetings; promptly reviews and provides useful feedback on minutes drafted by others.

Institutional Budget

• Support the AVPFA in developing, maintaining, and updating strategic long-range financial models, operating plans, tuition models, salary and staffing models, and benefits projections.
• Support the annual operating budget process in distributing budget templates, collecting and aggregating data, coordinating meetings, and synthesizing information.
• Evaluate departmental financial stewardship by analyzing department and/or school spending against approved budgets.
• Software (Anaplan/Tableau) implementation, training, and maintenance across Institute.
• Evaluate and monitor validity of data in collection systems and make recommendations for updates/modifications to maximize efficiencies, capabilities, and processes.
• Assist in the development of materials for use with campus committees and Board of Trustees and its subcommittees.
• Evaluate and monitor validity of data in collection systems and make recommendations for updates/modifications to maximize efficiencies, capabilities, and processes, and proactively resolve discrepancies by analyzing and reporting data from source systems and collaborating with Institutional Research and Information Technology to develop more effective reporting.
• Gather information in coordination with HR, departments, and schools to update and monitor position data under the direction of the AVP. Analyze for cost savings due to position vacancies and for budget allocations.

Finance

Treasury Operations

• Supports AVPFA with the Institute's banking relationships including the review of products for banking.
• Partners with the AVPFA and the Controller to manage cash flow projections and operating cash needs of the Institute for the purpose of the liquidation of endowment investments to achieve desired endowment spending for the budget.

Debt Management

• Provides support to the AVPFA in overseeing existing bond issues—i.e., manages construction fund expenditures and fulfillment of legal requirements, annual arbitrage calculations, obtain annual insurance certifications.
• Supports the AVPFA in coordinating new issues or refinancing of existing issues.

Other

• Other special projects as needed

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Strong attention to detail, quality, accuracy, financial acumen, and data integrity and ability to develop complex and accurate models.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Intermediate-to-advanced technology skills to use various technology solutions or a strong ability to identify new ones.
• Ability to manage multiple projects/analyses at a given time.
• Ability to work cooperatively with diverse audiences.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or business-related field preferred.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in financial modeling and analysis.
• 2+ years of experience of preparing and reviewing Board and committee presented materials and minutes.
• Ability to use reporting and analysis to identify opportunities for efficiency and/or improvements.
• Needs to be able to work independently and with a team.
• Excellent Excel and working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google Suite required. Ability to extract data from ERP systems through sequel or other tools.
• Experience in higher education preferred.