SUMMARY The role of Vice President (VP), Finance and Administration is a critical member of the Chief Administrative Officer’s (CAO) leadership team. The VP, Finance and Administration is a participative and innovative leader who owns all operations of accounting, cash management, procurement, treasury, purchasing, business operations, audit management, and related fiscal responsibilities of the law school. In addition to strategic planning, the VP, Finance and Administration will be charged with developing and implementing more refined, innovative policies and procedures. This position requires a detail-oriented, strong, analytical mind that can exercise good judgment and independent discretion in all matters, but especially handling sensitive and confidential materials. The position works extensively with the Banner system. This position also works closely with the CAO, Office of Advancement, Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Human Resources, Student Services and Support, other law school leaders, and external providers of financial services to coordinate these activities. This is an outstanding opportunity for a finance executive with operational experience and a proven track record of creative problem-solving and change management.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Leadership and Supervision:
• Leads the Finance and Administration Department in all aspects, which includes prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff are trained and appropriately coached; ensuring that employees follow policies and procedures; maintaining a professional and safe working environment; and making hiring, termination, and disciplinary decisions.
• Establishes goals and performance expectations, monitors the attainment of those goals and expectations, and provides mentoring and training to support the success of Treasury and Procurement Services.
• Leads, directs and manages the planning, oversight, compliance, internal control, and analysis functions central to STCL Houston’s policies and procedures, for Treasury and Procurement Services.
• Provides an enhanced level of expertise and creative thinking regarding the development, automation, documentation, enforcement, and evaluation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in compliance with Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, codes, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and/or grant regulations, ensuring and coordinating activities between multiple departments or functions for the effective administration of treasury, and procurement operations.
• Directs the development, implementation, and evaluation of priorities around debt, working capital investment management, and procurement.
• Leads or participates in special projects, ad hoc committees and other groups to meet identified needs of the Board of Directors, law school leadership, and grants administrators around endowment, investment, debt, capital investment, grants, funding/financing, and reserve management.
• Budget Planning and Financial Stewardship:
• Works in collaboration with law school leadership to lead the annual budget planning and management process, including appropriate analysis of issues affecting revenue/expenditures; preparation of long-range budget forecasts; proactive recommendation of budget shifts through the course of each fiscal year; and meaningful education of non-accounting law school budget managers on best practices in a way that they can easily apply the knowledge to their departments and activities.
• Prepares, analyzes, and monitors the law school’s cash flow projections. Responsible for collecting and analyzing information about the law school’s cash flows and needs, including obtaining information from all areas of the law school which have a significant impact on the cash flow projections.
• Treasury:
• Treasury includes the management of debt, working capital, and capital funding programs and reserves.
• Oversight of accounting, reconciliation, and endowment administration functions that are critical to ensure the completeness and accuracy of financial information associated with treasury and capital management activities.
• Coordinates year-end audits with the outside audit firm and prepares audit schedules.
• Leads the preparation of documents, agreements, Federal, state, local filings associated with debt.
• Identifies and collaborates with the OGC on legal issues relating to the law school’s endowment and debt portfolio.
• Leads the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of related information technology systems, financial operations, and internal controls associated with treasury and cash management operations.
• Creates, recommends, benchmarks, and reports on the law school’s endowment distribution forecasts, including variance and scenario analysis.
• Purchasing/Procurement:
• Provides leadership and direction for Procurement Services, which is responsible for the performance of the central procurement function, including procurement operations, inventory operations, contracts and strategic sourcing, fixed assets, and the disposal or reuse of surplus property.
• Plans, organizes, directs, and administers purchasing functions which include directing, delegating, and controlling purchasing workflows to ensure timely handling; establishing practices and procedures to be followed by buyers; recommending major purchases of materials based on anticipated changes in prices or on unusual availability situations; preparing summaries and supporting documentation for purchases requiring board approval.
• Oversees the facilitation and management of law school contracts with external service providers and vendors in response to the institution’s needs as identified through regularly scheduled planning and review meetings with law school leadership, appropriate stakeholder groups, and end users; evaluate vendor performance, and negotiate price and delivery terms.
• Financial Reporting:
• Responsible for the financial aspects of the administration, analysis, forecasting, and reporting for the Law school’s working capital assets, future cash needs, and long-term capital planning.
• Supports the CAO in the preparation and presentation of materials for relevant Board meetings.
• Ensures the timely delivery of reliable and accurate data: annual, semesterly, and monthly departmental financial statements and reports; multi-year financial plans; weekly/monthly/yearly ledger reports; operating expense budget analysis; trend analysis; historical data compilation; ratio comparisons; and cash and investment reports.

REQUIRED EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Master of Business Administration, Certified Public Accountant, or Certified Treasury Professional required. 10 years of progressively successful experience in finance and administration is required, with at least 7 years in a management role. An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.

PREFERRED EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Banner experience.
• Experience in higher education or not-for-profit endowment management, including an understanding the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) standards.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

N/A

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The list below is representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Demonstrated knowledge of and skills in fund accounting, cash flow management, budget preparation and management, both long-and short-term institutional financial planning, budget projections, debt, treasury, strategic financial analysis, and regulatory compliance on an institutional level.
• Knowledge of internal controls and ability to develop and maintain policies and procedures.
• Advance knowledge of modeling and forecasting methodologies.
• Technology-savvy with proficiency in applications such as the Microsoft 365 suite (Word, Excel, OneDrive, PowerPoint), Google Suite, and other sharing/efficiency tools, with ability to learn new programs as necessary.
• Knowledge of navigation for the procurement and accounting process in Banner or similar ERP systems.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment while still meeting deadlines.
• Professional and confidential with all department data and correspondence.
• Detail-oriented and strong ability to multi-task and prioritize.
• Appreciation and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Ability to set standards and expectations for direct reports, as well as coach and mentor as needed.

LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION SKILLS

• Proficient in both spoken and written English.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills, both verbal and written; ability to communicate effectively with other departments to resolve issues as well as with students, alumni, and clients.
• Ability to interpret and explain complex data.
• Ability to maintain positive relationships in a collaborative and diverse team atmosphere.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
• Ability to foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and open communication.
• Service-oriented with the ability to make all visitors feel welcome.
• Compliance with all aspects of the law school’s Customer Service Standards.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

• Ability to perform complex accounting is essential. Must possess the ability to analyze numerical data and detect patterns, errors, and trends.

REASONING ABILITY

• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills, including the ability to propose and operationalize strategic financial initiatives, creatively and with finite resources.
• Ability to independently apply principles of logical thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions or make sound decisions to solve complex problems or deal with a variety of variables in situations, especially when CAO may be out of office or unavailable.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is regularly required to stand and walk. Ability to lift up to 20lbs. is required. Lifting from floor level, at waist, and above shoulders required. Infrequent bending and stooping necessary. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision in order to accurately input data and proofread; distance vision in order to recognize and assist visitors to the department.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Extremely fast-paced, multi-tasking, non-smoking work environment. Must be able to work the general business schedule of the law school (9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) plus occasional evenings and weekends as necessary.

Competitive Benefits Package for full-time staff

• All Health/Dental/Vision Insurance Coverage Effective on your date of hire
• CIGNA Plus Medical & Prescription Coverage (Employee Only Semi-Monthly $61)
• CIGNA Dental & Vision (Employee Only Semi-Monthly $3.50)
• HSA/FSA Medical Savings Accounts
• Pet Insurance.
• Life Insurance covered by the law school at two times your basic annual salary, but not to exceed $500,000.
• Optional Life Insurance for employee and spouse
• Short & Long Term Disability coverage no cost to employee
• 403(b) employee only contribution; auto-enrolled at 2%
• 401(a) Employer contributes 8% of your salary after 1 year and worked 1,000 hours.
• Paid Leave Time, New Employees earn 1 day (7.5 hours) per month
• Sick Leave Time, New Employees Sick leave will be prorated based on the hire date at 9.375 hours per month for the first partial year of employment. On January 1st, staff employees are eligible for 15 days sick leave at full pay.
• 17 Paid Holidays 2023
• Employee and Dependent Tuition Remission options
• FREE Downtown Employee Parking
• Discount Tickets to STCLH Sporting Events for Employee and Family
• On Campus Cafe
• Casual Dress on Fridays