What are the responsibilities and job description for the Financial Operations Director position at Meharry Medical College?
Under the direct supervision of the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Finance, the role of the Financial Operations Director is central to operational and strategic planning, working closely with support organizations, department chairs, principal stakeholders, and investors to ensure that the College's priorities are accomplished. The position plays a key role in ensuring an appropriate internal control structure has been established and communicated to department leaders and staff. Further, the Financial Operations Director will disseminate policies, regulations, and reporting requirements. The Financial Operations Director is a reliable professional with broad knowledge to all accounting, financial, and business principles and provides regular financial management updates to the divisional leaders.
Daily Operations
Administration
Participate in meetings with senior managers, provide advice and updates on financial matters, direct and supervise, and recommend access and training for appropriate departmental staff on financial and human resource systems.
Partner with external stakeholders, especially vendors, and supportively come together to receive relevant information and training regarding functions and responsibilities.
Oversee and participate in the development and administration of the department budget; approves the forecast of funds needed for staffing, equipment, and supplies; approves expenditures and implements budgetary adjustments as appropriate and necessary.
Financial Operations
Assist in forecasting trends, environmental analysis, identifying and evaluating issues, exploring new opportunities, and providing the required guidance for fiscal operations to the division.
Monitor and verify all income and expenditures to ensure accuracy and compliance in annual budget calls, accounting, purchasing, payroll, human resources, and grant management.
In conjunction with the Accounting Department, ensure the proper processes are in place to select, classify, register, and pay suppliers.
Assist the Fixed Asset team with college property assessments, and are responsible for retention of important documents.
Budget Cycle Management
Partner with the Budget Office, and together they manage the complete budget cycle including budget monitoring throughout the year.
Propose alternate spending and revenue stream strategies. They collaborate with Budget Office to implement required budget adjustments, coordinate salary and operating budget changes, and finalize forecast reports for the fiscal year.
Review year-end budget reports, validate reports provided by budget office, and implement required adjustments.
Human Resources Management
Manage the compensation process within the division, including merit increases, special compensation requests, and any additional compensation changes.
Confirm all divisional employees are classified properly
Approve personnel actions, job postings, change in employee status, and hiring proposals.
Monitor payroll spending, timekeeping, and labor distributions.
Internal Controls and Oversight
Ensure key department internal controls are formally documented and approved by the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Finance and distributed as needed to all employees within the division who have responsibility for financial functions or processes.
Once internal controls are established, the Financial Operations Director must ensure that activities are monitored in order to guarantee the reliability of accounting and / or operational controls.
Provide oversight of the internal controls by pointing out errors, omissions, and inconsistencies in the application of the procedures in order to ensure compliance.
Works closely with CFO in attending and documenting Board of Trustees Committee Meetings
Manage Finance and Investment Sub-Committee activities which includes completion of agenda, Board Book, presentation, minutes, and provide documents to be updated to Board Portal.
Follow-up on action items to resolution.
Upload documents to the Board of Trustees Microsoft Teams page.
Ensure documents are accurate and easily understandable.
Required Skills
Knowledge of higher education financial systems, administration, procurement processes, regulatory requirements, and policies.
Ability to independently manage complex, large-scale projects from start to finish; results-driven, proactively seeks creative solutions to challenges and gaps in information
Ability to build strong relationships at all levels of the organization, unquestionable integrity, and flexible / adaptive working style
Strong written communication and presentation skills; comfortable and experienced at presenting to senior-level audiences
Required Education and Experience :
Seven to ten years of experience in a Financial Planning & Analysis, Accounting or Finance position
Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting, Finance, or Economics; MBA Preferred
Able to articulate and present leveraging both in visual and written form to senior leadership
Demonstrated ability to lead teams and drive results
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