Associate Dean & Chief Financial Officer, School of Law

Overview

Reporting to the Dean and serving as a member of the Law School's senior leadership team, the Associate Dean Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is responsible for leading a customer-focused support organization that delivers efficient and effective resource planning, management, and reporting to advance the teaching, research, and service missions of the School and to sustain and enhance the School's eminence in its field.

The CFO directs the planning and management of financial, budgetary, and investment activities for the School, serves as the Treasurer (and an officer) of the School of Law Foundation, and oversees the School's facilities and housing operations as well as financial aid. As the leader of the School's Office of Financial Management, Office of Student Financial Services, and Facilities Management and Hospitality Services, the CFO oversees a staff of 33 and collaborates with colleagues in many of the administrative areas of the Law School as well as with counterparts in the University's central Finance function and its Investments Office.

Using a zero-base budget model, the School establishes an annual operating budget in the context of a multi-year financial framework. The budget takes into account tuition strategies, endowment performance and performance expectations, program income, financial-aid commitments, and borrowing activities; with approval from the Foundation's Budget Committee approval, it goes to the Foundation Board and then to the University for approval. The School addresses its capital needs via letters of credit negotiated with the University.

The School of Law's operating budget is approximately $200M. Its current capital budget is approximately $30M.

The CFO is responsible for the broad array of strategic and operational activities that comprise the work of the Offices of Financial Management, Student Financial Services, Housing, and Facilities Management Hospitality Services.

• Develop and implement short- and long-term budgets for the School and present them for approval to the Foundation's Budget Committee
• Identify opportunities to improve the fiscal and budgetary operations of the School and to help managers across the School fully utilize budgeting and reporting systems and best practices
• Develop analytics to guide decision-making and to provide a strategic view of department, center, and institute budgets and of the School's financial position
• In consultation with the School's academic leadership, develop policy related to faculty salaries, research, housing, and recruitment programs as well as staffing models to ensure that the School is competing effectively against its peer institutions
• Work closely with the Chief Information Officer and the Assistant Dean for Facilities Management and Hospitality Services to strategize, develop policy, and implement changes across areas requiring a synergistic approach to student housing, event planning and catering, capital projects, and other endeavors
• Develop policy decisions for financial-aid offerings, working in partnership with the JD and LLM admissions office

• Staff key committees of the Foundation's Board of Trustees including the Budget Committee and the Investment Committee
• Serve as appointed member to faculty/student groups that focus on areas of particular concern to faculty and students, including the Budget Advisory and Financial Aid committees

• Sustain the development of a multi-year plan for faculty housing with analysis that supports rent levels, renovation expenses and other total-cost-of-ownership dimensions, and a multi-year budget to support optimal levels of investment, acquisition, and disposition
• Oversee financial aspects of student housing including pricing and marketing strategies for both academic year and summer leasing as well as capital projects

• Support the Foundation's Investment Committee in the execution of multi-year investment plans for the School's endowment in collaboration with the University's Investments Office, contributing guidance on short- and longer-term funding needs related to programs, housing, financial aid, and other aspects of the School's operation
• In concert with staff in the University's Finance and Investments offices, oversee operational aspects of the School's investment program

• Develop the planning and analytical framework for, and contribute to the management of, the School's financial-aid budget and its broader set of programs to achieve optimal admission and matriculation levels
• Continue to develop sophisticated tools to enable School admissions staff to fine-tune aid packages relative to the target composition of classes

• Working with academic and administrative leaders, develop both business plans for new centers and institutes as they emerge and continue to refine guidelines and best advance their financial sustainability
• In areas such as events…