Chief Business Officer, University Business Operations

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Description

The Chief Business Officer (CBO) for Business Operations is responsible for driving operational excellence, financial stewardship, organizational effectiveness, and strategic business support across a diverse portfolio of university administrative and support departments. This role serves as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, providing strategic oversight, operational leadership, and university business expertise that enables institutional priorities through a central service center.

 

The CBO oversees a high-performing shared services organization providing visible and effective leadership to department staff that deliver comprehensive budget, finance, procurement, HR, administrative, and operational support to a broad group of departments within the service center. The CBO fosters a culture of service, innovation, accountability, continuous improvement, and data-informed decision making while ensuring exceptional customer experiences and operational efficiency.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Provides leadership for the university's shared services and business operations functions.
• Serves as a key advisor to senior leaders on financial, budgeting, purchasing, workforce, and administrative activities.
• Oversees the implementation of appropriate business processes and internal controls, develops strong and collaborative relationships with service center stakeholders and university leaders, and promotes a positive and trustworthy reputation of the Central Service Center.
• Communicates effectively with stakeholders at all levels, managing expectations and ensuring transparency regarding priorities, performance, and organizational changes.
• Oversees the day-to-day operations of the central service center and associated business functions ensuring the delivery of responsive, customer-focused, high quality services across supported departments.
• Establishes and maintains service standards, manages customer concerns and expectations, and develops and implements strategies and plans for growth, service enhancements, cost reductions, and sustained continuous improvements for the service center.
• Ensures business processes are documented, compliant, efficient, and aligned with institutional objectives.
• Fosters a culture of continuous improvement, professional development, accountability, and service excellence.
• Develops and maintains appropriate department metrics, goals, and overall customer service levels.
• Serves as a senior-level financial management professional with oversight of financial planning, budget development, forecasting, reporting, and resource allocation activities.
• Leads annual budget process for customers in the service center and collaborate with university leadership to align financial resources with strategic priorities.
• Delivers sophisticated financial analysis, business intelligence, and decision-support reporting.
• Monitors financial performance, identifies emerging risks and opportunities, and recommends appropriate actions.
• Ensures strong fiscal controls, stewardship of university resources, and compliance with applicable policies.
• Supports leadership with strategic financial modeling, scenario planning, and long-range financial analysis to support strategic discussions.
• Manages fiscal close for organizations in the service center, collaborating with business officers across the organization as needed to ensure timely and accurate fiscal close activities.
• Serves as a strategic partner to central Human Resources and departmental leadership to support workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, talent development, employee engagement, and change management initiatives.
• Provides oversight of business-related human resources transactions and administrative processes for supported organizations while ensuring alignment with university policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with central HR to address workforce needs, organizational design considerations, employee relations matters, and implementation of university-wide initiatives.
• Promotes an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing culture across the organization.
• Partners closely with the university's Procurement organization to support the purchasing, contracting, sourcing, and business service needs of departments served by the Service Center.
• Serves as a trusted advisor to departmental leaders, helping navigate procurement processes, policy requirements, and supplier