Associate Director, Faculty Financial Operations

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Posting Information:

This posting is for an existing vacancy. 

The internal posting deadline for this position is Thursday, January 29 at 11:59PM.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

Reporting to the Director, Faculty Financial Operations (DFO), the Associate Director proactively contributes and provides close support for the purpose of maintaining financial leadership by way of advice, assess, develop, implement, and oversee processes and controls that are critical to ensure that the Faculty of Science sustains a prudent financial position to support its activities. The Associate Director is responsible for managing and leading the development, implementation and continuous improvement of the Science financial related modelling, databases, analyses, and reporting.

Key Accountabilities

Financial strategy and long-term planning activities including, but are not limited to the following:

·       Preparing multi-year projections of the faculty's financial position, identifying any concerns and consequences of long-term plans and proposals.

·       Providing financial decision support and strategic advice to faculty leadership, unit heads, and unit administrative managers/officers, and unit financial officers.

·       Coordinating and directing the setup of financial structures to ensure activity is properly managed through its duration.

·       Identifying financial consequences in changes to enrolment patterns.

·       Analyzing the impact of government and university funding decisions on the faculty's budget.

·       Preparing financial documentation for unit and program heads to support decision-making (e.g. budget allocations, teaching resource summaries).

Financial planning, management and internal control including, but not limited to the following:

·       Regularly prepares an overall analysis of the financial status of the Faculty of Science's operating, research, trust, and endowment funds; identifying potential problems and proposing solutions. 

·       Planning and coordinating the development of the faculty's annual operating budget.

·       Preparing presentations including content to outline processes and reporting tools to understand financial data to staff and faculty in departments.

·       Accountability as signing authority on assigned financial accounts within the faculty.

·       Planning and administering the allocation of special funds as appropriate, e.g., graduate funding, Indirect Costs.

·       Conducting periodic audit of program budgets and research accounts.

·       Monitoring the operating budget and expenses including monitoring of scholarships awarded by the faculty.

·       Monitoring and forecasting the income of the faculty's endowments to support decision-making; providing counsel on the annual expenditure of investment income, particularly where agreements are complex.

·       Providing guidance to advancement personnel on the creation and status of relevant accounts and stewardship reports (scholarships, Chair agreements etc.).

·       Meeting regularly with the administrative staff in each unit to train and support effective financial planning, management, and internal control and to encourage the sharing of best practices throughout the faculty.

·       Mentoring and leading collaborative and productive working relationships with administrative staff across the faculty.

·       Pursue continuous improvement of financial processes and procedures.

Management and internal control of research funds including, but not limited to, the following:

·       Monitoring and internal control of research grants (in both operating and research funds) throughout the faculty.

·       Ensuring that sufficient financial training and support is provided to researchers and administrative staff to allow them to manage their research accounts.

·       Liaising with the Associate Deans on provision of Faculty-wide research support.

·       Identify internal and external reporting requirements of researchers; develop and deliver reports that meet their needs.

·       Ensuring research expenses comply with university policies and procedures as well as those imposed externally by granting agencies.

·       Liaising with other units where interdisciplinary or institutional activity are being performed.

Management and collaboration at the university level:

·       Providing guidance, training and insight into university financial policies and procedure.

·       Participating in and providing financial expertise to task forces as required.

·       Participating in external university audits that may be required.

·       Developing productive working relationships with staff and faculty across the university and with academic support units.

·       Collaborating with Finance to ensure accounting policies and procedures are adequately documented and communicated within the faculty.

·       Collaborating with IAP to ensure income funding models are clear and fairly administered.

·       Collaborating with the Office of Research to ensure faculty reporting needs are met and processes are clearly communicated and documented.

·       Collaborating with other service departments to ensure procedures are clearly communicated and understood within the faculty and that any issues are addressed satisfactorily.

Staff leadership, training, and development activities

·       Providing leadership to departmental staff to ensure compliance and best practices.

·       Reviewing financial procedures in the faculty to ensure strong internal controls and efficient, effective financial accountability.

·       Responsible for ensuring that accounting methodology and procedures are well understood across the Faculty and that these procedures are followed consistently

·       Training, coaching, and developing faculty administrative staff on financial, reporting, and budgetary matters.

·       Documenting processes within the faculty to ensure compliance and clarity.

Required Qualifications

Education

·       A bachelor's degree is required; a master's degree in business, accounting, finance, statistics, or a related field is a definite asset.

·       Canadian CPA designation is required.

Experience

·       Minimum five years of related experience in data analytics, management reporting, financial planning, and analysis.

·       Experience in enterprise-wide financial systems (ERP solutions), Business Intelligence (BI) systems, and diverse technology environment.

·       Experience in an academic environment strongly preferred.

·       Supervisory/management experience is an asset.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

·       Demonstrated ability to organize, work well under pressure and execute a wide variety of tasks simultaneously and manage conflicting priorities within required timelines.

·       Strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills are essential.

·       Working knowledge of a variety of reporting and data visualization tools, such as Power BI (using M and Dax) is an asset.

·       Advanced Excel skills required; Working knowledge of databases and query languages is an asset.

·       Ability to handle sensitive information with utmost confidentiality.

·       Ability to build excellent working relationships with key individuals both inside and outside of the faculty.

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at  or , ext