Senior Finance Manager

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Job Profile

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Department

Compensation Range

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Posting End Date

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

This position is expected to be filled by promotion/reassignment and is included here to inform you of its vacancy at the University.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

The role of the Sr. Finance Manager is to provide high level financial and budgetary analysis and management reporting to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G&PS), the University's central planning and coordinating unit with governance oversight for over 11,000 graduate students and 1,000 post-doctoral students and the unit supports the accurate distribution of over $40m of student financial aid awards to graduate students across campus. In addition, this role also supports a number of central academic support units (CTLT, PAIR, AWS-CIC, Vantage College) within the Provost and VP Academic portfolio (VPA Portfolio) with budgets totaling over $22 million.

The Senior Financial Manager is primarily responsible for planning, budgets, financial management reporting and strategic decision support to the Dean, Principals and directors within G&PS and units within the Provost and VP Academic portfolio. The role involves development of unit level individual budgets; crafting detailed financial statements to respond to the VPA Portfolio/G&PS of planning initiatives and providing timely reports on budget versus actual expenditure, financial revenue modeling for colleges; sensitivity analysis for five year financial planning including capital planning were applicable, conducting financial analyses of residential room revenues to advise on rate increases; assessing existing financial systems and recommending and implementing changes to manage all types of revenue; and developing/ supporting financial processes. This position works with a combined GPO and revenue budget of close to $70 million. This role divides their time between G&PS and VPA Portfolio on a basis of 60/40.

A significant portion of each day will be spent dealing with complex and strategic financial and data issues. Must be able to deal with changing priorities and multiple deadlines. Must be able to build relationships and work collaboratively to provide support for academic and departmental priorities.

Organizational Status
The Sr. Finance Manager reports to the Portfolio Finance Director and is part of a finance shared services unit in support of the VP Academic Portfolio, Faculty of G&PS, Student Financial Aid and VP Health. This position mainly works independently or in collaboration with the Dean, principals, portfolio directors, managers and staffs and interacts with members of the UBC Financial Operations, UBC Financial, Planning and Analysis, other UBC Finance Managers.

Work Performed

• Develops and implements processes to create, gather and compile complex financial data, statistics and estimates into meaningful financial formats to support creating ad hoc or one-time financial reports or analyses for specific projects as well as annual reports requiring a high level of financial expertise; works collaboratively with units within the Portfolio, Faculty and University to develop internal and external financial reports for the unit heads/administrators, various funders, government agencies, and donors.

• As an expert in the University information systems and tools, guides, trains and supports others in techniques and best practices for complex analysis and reporting.

• Effectively manages and coordinates a variety of financial processes across the Faculty and portfolio, in particular in relation to year-end reviews, adjustments, and compilation of data from all units.

• Works with senior members of the Central Finance and Budget office to resolve sensitive or complex budget and financial issues within the portfolio of units it manages.

• Develops recommendations for overall budgeting and financial planning for the units in conjunction with the Senior Administrator and Unit Head/Director.

• Fills senior gaps in financial management due to short or long-term vacancies in the portfolio, using expert knowledge of Portfolio finances and processes to be able to be flexibly and immediately take responsibility in a wide variety of complex situations.

• Oversees existing & revised processes, policies, procedures, and internal controls, ensuring all documentation and governance is met.

• Provides budget projections, monitoring and assessing performance and assessing impact of surpluses/deficits.

• In consultation with department and division or unit heads within the portfolio, evaluates, manages and reports on all variances to budget, providing business reasons and where applicable recovery plans for unfavorable variances. Oversees the tracking and reconciliation of GPO and endowment accounts, makes recommendations on budget initiatives, assesses alternatives and consequences, and provides leadership in the implementation of budget policy and priorities.

• Manages the monthly or quarterly projections for the units. Identifies risks and resolves issues.

• As a member of the finance team, composed of other Finance Managers, is accountable for the development and the delivery of the tools, models and guidelines for each year's annual budget process, including costing, position budgeting, and other templates.

• Develops the standard reporting to be used for comparison across departments.

• Develops and leads the preparation of the annual budget, forecast and 5 year plans by ensuring consistent assumptions, guidelines and practices within the portfolio and the Faculty as a whole;

• Manages accounts, oversees the reconciliation of ledgers, provides cash flow projections, and ensures timely and accurate financial reporting.

• Conducts the preparation of interim financial statements and financial feasibility studies; provides detailed analyses of financial statements and reports; and ensures that appropriate financial allocations are provided to meet any funding shortfalls.

• Implements new financial processes and internal controls to improve the efficiencies of the financial information workflow within the portfolio and integration with the University's financial system.

• Develops and oversees systems and processes to identify and resolve problems with the view of improving management of the units' financial resources.

• Ensures that all current and new University financial policies and procedures are implemented fully comprehended and communicated effectively and in a timely manner.

• Ensures that all expenditures under the units are in accordance with the policies and guidelines of the University and are in financial order at all times and that any discrepancies are addressed and immediately corrected.

• Stays up to date with industry best practices on financial related policies/procedures and advises on any change management to implement these policies.

• Provides financial guidance and advisement to management/senior staff to ensure effective financial management.

• Develops and prepares a variety of financial and analytical reports (e.g. comparative budget analysis of multiple year expenditure/revenue patterns, etc.).

• Advises senior management on any financial matters that affect the unit's financial position, including the causes of large variances between budget and actual expenditures.

• Works closely with the Development Office and the Senior Administrator on the Wall Legacy fund and prepares reports and participates in fundraising planning.

• Completes all other projects as requested by Portfolio Finance Director, VP Academic

Consequence of Error/Judgement
The Sr. Finance Manager must have a thorough understanding of the principles of accounting and sound financial management skills. He/she is required to apply this knowledge to research the information needs of faculty management, develop structures to collect the data required, and create processes to compile the data into meaningful reporting formats which enable financial results and risks to be readily determined. The position is required to use judgment to interpret financial information received from a variety of sources, assess financial risks and problems, and make recommendations to manage the risks and resolve financial issues affecting the faculty and/or Portfolio.

Reports reviewed and shared by this position must be correct, contain the appropriate, complete information, and present the information in a manner that enables them to be easily understood by Unit leaders. Errors in the information/reports prepared by this position could result in poor financial decisions by Senior Management. If reports to funders (such as the Tri-Council, Peter Wall) are incorrect, this could damage the relationship with the funder, cause significant reputation losses to the University. In addition, if the information presented does not support appropriate financial monitoring, then problems could be overlooked and continue to worsen over time and thus jeopardize the financial health of the Faculty and the University.

Supervision Received
Reports directly to the Portfolio Finance Director and to units heads they support within the VP academic portfolio of units. Is expected to work independently in a collaborative and professional environment. Is a trusted expert and works with wide latitude to find solutions and deliver results. Work is reviewed in terms of achievement of broad goals.

Supervision Given
The Senior Finance Manager will manage indirectly and assign work to various finance staff (M&P and CUPE 2950) located within G&PS and the individual units in the Provost and VP Academic portfolio.

Minimum Qualifications
Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Completion of the CPA accounting program (CA, CGA or CMA). Minimum of seven years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

Demonstrated experience of managing budgets and revenues within a large, complex, multi-funded environment is required.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience of managing budgets and revenues within a large, complex, multi-funded environment is required.

• Accounting experience in both profit and non-profit settings in large complex organizations is an asset.

• Direct management of operating revenue budgets in excess of $30M is strongly preferred.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, conflict resolution, problem-solving and organizational skills.

• Extensive experience in producing financial and budgetary reports and narratives.

• Advanced computer skills, especially in spreadsheet Excel and financial applications and systems analysis. Computer experience in the following would be an asset e.g., Workday HR/Finance, Office Connect, Power BI, Adaptive, Calumo

• Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimum supervision and in a team environment.

• Ability to manage and prioritize one's work to meet the long-term strategic goals of the organization.

• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative and productive working relationships.

• Ability to interact professionally, effectively and tactfully with both internal and external clients.

• Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail.

• Ability to adapt to changing priorities, work under pressure and meet deadlines.

• Ability to exercise tact and discretion when handling sensitive and/or confidential matters.

• Ability to provide training and mentoring to others as required.