Director of Finance

Overview

MIT Lincoln Laboratory seeks an experienced, innovative, and strategic finance executive to serve as Director of Finance. Lincoln Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) operated by MIT and is MIT's largest laboratory, with approximately 4,000 employees and 360 contingent workers and $1.5B annual revenue, primarily located in Lexington, MA.

The Director of Finance serves as the Laboratory's senior finance leader, responsible for enterprise-wide financial strategy, stewardship, modernization, and compliance. Reporting to the Assistant Director for Operations, with additional accountability to the MIT Vice President of Finance, the Director acts as a strategic advisor to Laboratory leadership and is accountable for the integrity, agility, and modernization of the Laboratory's financial operations.

This role is both architect and operator – leading a complex finance organization through continued transformation to align enterprise-wide finances with the Research and Development mission in an efficient and effective manner, while ensuring operational excellence and full compliance with DoD and federal regulations.

• Establish and execute the vision and long-term strategy for financial management across the Laboratory, aligned with its research mission and operational objectives.
• Lead the continued modernization of the Laboratory's financial ecosystem, including the Accounting for Research Transformation:
  Chart of Accounts redesign, Accrual and cost accounting enhancements, labor distribution optimization, integration with digital enterprise systems.
• Advance modern, dynamic budgeting, forecasting, and planning capabilities to improve financial agility and decision support.
• Drive enterprise-wide financial transparency through meaningful metrics, dashboards, and predictive analytics.
• Anticipate and respond to evolving federal funding environments, regulatory changes, and DoD policy developments.

• Serve as steward of the Laboratory's financial resources, overseeing budgeting and multi-year financial planning, forecasting and analysis, accounting operations, financial reporting (internal and external), property management, and travel and financial operations functions.
• Lead the development of the annual operating budget and long‑range financial plans.
• Ensure accurate, transparent reporting to Laboratory leadership, MIT, government sponsors, and oversight entities.
• Maintain and strengthen internal controls, audit readiness, and compliance processes.

• Provide expert guidance on DoD Financial Management Regulations, FAR/DFARS, DCAA/DMAC, OMB Uniform Guidance Cost Principles, PPBE, government budgeting and funding processes, and DoD ceiling management (preferred).
• Ensure full compliance with federal acquisition regulations, audit requirements, and FFRDC governance frameworks.
• Represent the Laboratory in financial matters with government agencies, MIT leadership, consortiums, and professional organizations.

• Lead and develop the central finance organization while serving as career manager and Center of Excellence leader for finance professionals laboratory-wide.
• Exercise oversight of senior finance managers in Technical Divisions and Administrative Departments through a matrix reporting structure.
• Build, mentor, and retain a high‑performing and diverse finance team.
• Foster a collaborative, consultative leadership culture emphasizing partnership rather than command‑and‑control management.
• Provide training and best‑practice guidance in financial modeling, reporting, and compliance.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Laboratory leadership on strategic initiatives, capital investments, resource allocation, and operational priorities.
• Collaborate closely with Technical Divisions, Administrative Offices, the Contracts and Compliance Offices, and the Program Management Office.
• Interface regularly with MIT Finance and senior external stakeholders.

• Demonstrated experience leading large, complex…