Associate Director of Finance

BSD SUR - Finance Operating since 1927 on a strong foundation of multidisciplinary clinical and academic excellence, the University of Chicago Department of Surgery's mission is to meet the most challenging and complex health problems on both a local and global scale.

Many of our faculty members are known for their contributions to the advancement of groundbreaking surgical procedures and techniques, including minimally invasive surgery. In addition to our department's clinical work, our scientists pursue a diverse range of basic, translational, and clinical research projects, including studies on the gut microbiome, tissue bioengineering, stem cell research, cancer, and immunotolerance.

This ongoing work and achievement would not be possible without the cohesive effort and commitment of the faculty and staff. We are looking for high energy, collaborative individuals who share our commitment to improving the health of patients in the community and beyond. Responsible for coordinating and monitoring $130M annual operating budget for 175 surgeons and 140 clinical residents in 12 surgical sections, performing 123,000 outpatient visits and 19,000 operative cases/procedures. Serves as a liaison with operational units on financial, budget, clinical strategy/deployment, physician productivity and Faculty Compensation Plan. Collaborates with Department Chair, Executive Administrator, Sr. Director of Finance and departmental leadership team to develop and implement strategic initiatives for the Department of Surgery. Prepares and advises others on operating and capital budget for department. Provides project management and analytical support for special projects.

Consolidates Section budgets into departmental operating and capital budget submissions and surfaces/addresses issues for Executive Leadership. Assists managers in analyzing proposals and developing proforma business plans. Regularly monitors operating budget reports and accounting records to determine if professional fee revenue and expenses materialize according to plan. Reports on variances between the approved budget and actual performance and recommends remediation measures. Supervises generation of daily clinical dashboard of operating room case volumes. Assesses the efficiency and effectiveness of programs and recommends changes to systems and procedures to ensure conformance with budgetary provisions. Responsible for establishing departmental financial policies and adherence against those policies.

• Is accountable for the performance and results of a team within the Clinical Finance discipline.
• Internal consultant for financial, professional fee billing, physician workforce planning, healthcare operations and project management.
• Has full accountability for managing projects that may span multiple functional areas (operations, clinical, research and education).
• Adapts departmental plans and priorities to address resource and operational challenges.
• Plans projects, including estimating, scheduling, coordinating and assigning resources.
• Develops contingency plans and escalates problems as they arise and recommends solutions/alternatives.
• Directs activities and monitors project results to ensure timely completion of deliverables that meet objectives.
• Manages budget and cost reporting throughout a project.
• Acts as a liaison with clients and leadership providing communication and status regarding progress of projects.

• Manages the development, monitoring, and evaluation of a consolidated annual and intermediate plans and process for a unit, as well as actual performance against budget.
• Provides financial guidance to Section Administrators, Section Chiefs and Executive Leadership.
• Develops long and short-term plans to achieve financial goals, business strategies/plans, physician clinical deployment and financial forecasts/models for all services.
• Integrates long/short-range strategies into daily operational and financial planning/reporting to ensure resources for strategic programs are available and Enterprise growth metrics are achieved.
• Creates cost accounting and decision support systems to ensure access to critical financial and operational data.
• Performs analysis and interpretation of financial data.
• Creates proforma business plans and serves as chief information source for external benchmarking and market assessments to facilitate physician recruitment, works closely with Sr. Director of Finance to ensure business plans are coordinated relative to mission, physician deployment, capital equipment, space, revenue and expense.
• Communicates financial plans/strategies to UCM senior management, staff and physicians; tracks and reports on progress towards Departmental and Enterprise goals.

• Develops systems/procedures to ensure integrity and internal financial controls of $130M annual operating budget ($60M professional fees, $20M clinical purchased service agreements, $30M enterprise support, $11M annual federal/non-federal grant portfolio and$10.5M annual gift/endowment) use for 175 Faculty surgeons and 140 residents and fellows.
• Supervises professional staff responsible for the financial management of operating and capital budgets.
• Manages and audits the preparation of financial statements, activity reports, financial position forecasts, and/or reports required by regulatory agencies.
• Reviews financial and clinical information; prepares daily, monthly, and ad-hoc reports including dashboards; provides analysis of financial statements, identifies variances from previous periods/budget; ensures policies/procedures to govern financial decision making are followed to ensure achievement of objectives.
• Presents quarterly and year-end results, monitors aspects of revenue generation including professional fees, charge capture and billing, clinical productivity, regulatory compliance and offsite practice activities.
• Performs financial and clinical data analysis using internal data (UCPG Professional Fee Revenue, Oracle Enterprise software, and other sources) and published benchmarking (Sullivan Cotter, MGMA, AAMC, CPSC) to develop strategies and reporting to improve staffing and physician/departmental performance vs. benchmarks.

• Designs, manages and communicates physician compensation programs and tracks financial, wRVU, payor mix, case volume, research, academic and teaching metrics for Section Leadership, existing faculty and new physician recruits.
• Reports on productivity measures and monitors progress, identifies opportunities to streamline financial operations through best practices; monitors productivity, charge capture, revenue and expenses vs benchmarks to identify opportunities for expense reduction or productivity improvement.
• Analyzes and interprets financial information and assesses operational plans, forecasts and potential risks; evaluates alternative courses of action.

• Serves as an experienced liaison interacting with financial administrators within operational units on financial, budget or accounting matters to prepare, advise and recommend.
• Conducts quantitative and qualitative analyses to monitor and manage for expense optimization by identifying market drivers, enhance strategies, or improve revenue generation.
• Provides financial input based on the development of data collection, metrics, reports and other analytical applications.
• Analyze, organize and communicate business information to ensure deliverables are meeting or exceeding expectations.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field. Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

• Advanced degree in accounting, finance, business, or healthcare management.

• Extensive knowledge of physician practice operations, financial concepts, spreadsheet programs, presentation and word processing programs.
• Demonstrated ability and skills in effective verbal, written and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills which allow the candidate to collaborate effectively with diverse staff and management groups in a complex organization.
• High level of organization and planning and critical thinking skills.

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

Financial Management Individual Contributor 40 No No No Salary Exempt $110,000.00 - $160,000.00 Yes