Job detail for Managing Finance Director

The Finance Department at The George Washington University (GWU) plays a vital role in upholding the institution’s legacy of academic excellence and innovation. Charged with the responsibility of overseeing and facilitating transparent financial plans and operations, our team aligns its efforts with the University and the School’s overarching goals and priorities. At the heart of our mission is a commitment to integrity, stewardship, and strategic foresight, ensuring that our financial practices not only support but also enhance the educational and research endeavors of GWU.

In this context, we are seeking a Managing Finance Director who embodies these values and is capable of leading our financial management and initiatives in a fast-paced environment. The Managing Finance Director reports to the Associate Vice President for Financial Management – Schools, with dotted line working closely in a collaborative manner with the Dean of the GW School of Public Health. The Managing Finance Director is a member of the Dean’s senior staff and serves as a trusted thought partner to the Dean and senior leadership, providing candid, objective, and timely advice on financial, operational, and strategic matters. They play a key operational and strategic role in accomplishing the priorities of GW and the schools by advising on business and financial matters and serving as a sounding board to school leadership, faculty and staff on financial and administrative matters.

Key of the Managing Finance Director include:

Strategy and Operations:

• Provides proactive and strategic advice to the Deans and Associate Deans on all business and financial matters.
• Identifies and communicates emerging financial risks, unfavorable trends, control issues, and other matters requiring leadership attention.
• Translates complex financial information into clear recommendations for the Dean and leadership team, including options, implications, risks, and tradeoffs.
• Provides modeling and decision support related to enrollment, academic programs, research portfolios, new initiatives, partnerships, and long-term financial sustainability.
• Budgets, monitors, and assesses the effective and efficient use of operating, research, and reserve funds.
• Takes ownership of significant financial and operational issues, develops solutions, and coordinates with the appropriate university partners, following issues through to resolution.
• Directs and supervises the work of staff in the school’s finance office and oversees all financial-related operations across programs and units.
• Monitors and disseminates information regarding policies, regulations, and reporting requirements to appropriate staff.

Financial Operations:

• Directs and manages fiscal operations including budget calls, quarterly updates, forecasts, accounting, asset management, procurement, and payroll, including on-going measurement of each school’s achievement of financial goals and objectives.

Contract Management:

• Reviews, monitors, and provides financial and business terms review for contracts, partnership proposals, and leases for equipment and space.
• Develops financial modeling to demonstrate profitability and business viability of proposed partnerships. Reviews and approves major purchases.

Multi-Year and Strategic Planning:

• Plays a key role in the school’s multi-year planning and in recurrent strategic planning processes, including short- and long-term business and financial modeling for academic programs, research centers, and business units.
• Leads and informs the analysis, and prioritization of new and existing initiatives and resource allocation decisions; engages contingency planning to understand effects on the unit’s budget, resources, structures, and facilities; develops dashboards and reports to support decision-making for the Dean’s leadership team.
• Represents GWSPH in cross-school and collaborative efforts relating to business and financial modeling.

Human Resources, Faculty Affairs, Payroll, and Tax:

• Works closely with the designated Human Resource Business Partner to ensure all oversight and coordination of HR function, compensation planning/review, employee relations are managed in a timely, efficient, and accurate manner.

Grants and Sponsored Research Management:

• Supports and guides pre-award budget proposals (including cost share), reviews cost transfers and departmental correction forms (DCFs), and leads analysis/problem solving for post-award financial management (i.e., allocability, allowability)

Internal Control and Oversight:

• Ensures the establishment of proper internal controls and manages adherence to GW financial policies and procedures.
• As a member of the university’s Managing Finance Director team, the Managing Finance Directors meet frequently to share best practices and to learn from one another.

Performs other related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.