What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis position at Lawrence University?
Reports To: Executive Director of Financial Planning and Analysis
Location: Appleton, WI
Position Type: Full-Time (Exempt)
Primary Objective
This position will lead the Office of Financial Planning and Analysis within the Department of Financial Services and reports to the Executive Director of Finance & Planning. This position does not have any supervisory responsibility. The incumbent is responsible for the budgetary, forecasting, and financial reporting functions of the university. Responsibilities include managing the university’s overall budget, regular reporting of budget actuals and re-projections, liaising with budget managers, financial analysis and reporting, forecasting and modeling related to university goals, and support for subcommittees of the Board of Trustees and Vice President for Finance and Administration.
Job Responsibilities
Work collaboratively with all members of the Financial Services team, staff, faculty and other members of the Lawrence community, including vendors, students, and parents.
Required Qualifications
Must have successful completion of criminal and MVR background check, meet University Authorized Driver Policy requirements, and favorable completion of reference checks.
Location: Appleton, WI
Position Type: Full-Time (Exempt)
Primary Objective
This position will lead the Office of Financial Planning and Analysis within the Department of Financial Services and reports to the Executive Director of Finance & Planning. This position does not have any supervisory responsibility. The incumbent is responsible for the budgetary, forecasting, and financial reporting functions of the university. Responsibilities include managing the university’s overall budget, regular reporting of budget actuals and re-projections, liaising with budget managers, financial analysis and reporting, forecasting and modeling related to university goals, and support for subcommittees of the Board of Trustees and Vice President for Finance and Administration.
Job Responsibilities
- Manage the annual operating and capital budgeting processes.
- Communication with department budget managers; presentations and one-on-one department meetings to facilitate the budget process.
- Ability to communicate effectively with audiences including leadership and budget managers to coordinate development and refinement of departmental operating budgets. Identify and implement opportunities to enhance financial reporting and business effectiveness.
- Manage capital project expenditure tracking and coding, facilitate Capital Budget Planning meetings, and complete year-end fixed asset reporting.
- Manage and execute the process for developing faculty and staff labor budgets.
- Collaborate across divisions to develop long-term financial sustainability modeling scenarios.
- Conduct peer and aspirational group financial benchmarking. Evaluate, analyze, and interpret financial data and trends.
- Complete financial benchmarking surveys as required.
- Perform ad-hoc analysis on a regular basis.
- Involvement in rate setting scenarios, pricing, and fees.
- Ability to partner with Information Technology to convey data reporting needs (currently available in Argos) to optimize the output for constituent needs.
- Lead implementation of financial planning software to automate budget reporting and forecasting/modeling efforts.
- Involvement in IT Prioritization process and Capital Spending prioritization process. Process implementation, data tracking, providing insights and recommendations, and overall support for the process in collaboration with others.
- Liaise with Development staff for tracking of endowment funding to support operations, and associated reporting needs.
- Prepare presentations and reports to be shared with members of the Lawrence community.
- Leverage various business intelligence tools, Microsoft suite, and other software applications to develop executive level presentations.
- Work with accounting staff on accounting reconciliation needs.
- Assist with preparation for the University’s annual year-end audit.
- Maintain website and SharePoint site with resources relevant to the Office of Financial Planning and Analysis operations.
- Other duties and projects as assigned.
Work collaboratively with all members of the Financial Services team, staff, faculty and other members of the Lawrence community, including vendors, students, and parents.
Required Qualifications
- Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or related field.
- Previous experience in higher education preferred, but not required.
- 5 years in financial planning, analysis, or budgeting for an organization preferred.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills, with a customer service focus and ability to multi-task.
- Knowledge of best practices in organizational budgeting and financial analysis
- Highly skilled in the use of Microsoft Office products. In particular, power user skills in Excel and PowerPoint are an asset.
- Prefer experience in a financial planning tool such as Workday, Prophix, Syntellis, or similar.
- Demonstrated qualities of leadership, professionalism, initiative, and problem solving.
- Self-motivation, detail-orientation, and an analytical mindset are necessary
- Ability to meet deadlines and address multiple priorities simultaneously
Must have successful completion of criminal and MVR background check, meet University Authorized Driver Policy requirements, and favorable completion of reference checks.