Assistant Director for Accounting Services

Position Title Assistant Director for Accounting Services About the University

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

About the Department The Accounting Department supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity. About the Position Under the supervision of the Controller/Director of Financial Services, the Assistant Director for Accounting Services is a hands-on leader responsible for managing a team of fiscal analysts. This role ensures University financial activities and records adhere to University and State requirements, following the standards set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

This is an advanced Accounting position which involves applying critical thinking and analytical skills to provide thorough stewardship of the University’s financial reporting, auditing, internal control objectives, and accounting system design. This role serves as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) driving complex, strategic initiatives while supporting a diverse and dynamic community of internal and external customers in a diverse team environment.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership

• Plans, organizes, and directs the activities of the Accounting department, overseeing fund accounting, general ledger reconciliations, journal entries, student financial accounting, fixed assets, and tax reporting.
• Supervises daily operations, including leading a team of fiscal analysts.
• Designs, establishes, and maintains an organizational structure and staffing to effectively accomplish organizational goals and objectives.
• Oversees staff recruitment, training, coaching, mentoring, supervision, and evaluation.
• Manages staff involved in general ledger maintenance, fixed assets, student accounting, and financial and various tax reporting.
• Assists the Controller/Director of Finance Services in the departmental strategic planning process.
• Provides leadership in the absence of the Controller/Director of Financial Services and offers backup support for accounting personnel as needed.
• Participates in and manages department-level projects and committees, representing the needs of Accounting Services. Provides consultation on software implementations, new business initiatives, and customer service practices.

Financial Reporting

• Prepares the University’s annual financial statements, including two auxiliary units.
• SME for Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) to ensure financial reporting is accurate, transparent, and compliant with established standards. Responsibilities encompass process design, standards implementation, system design, test, and accuracy verification.