Finance Partner (Senior Financial Analyst), Finance Services

Position Overview

The Finance Services Team in Finance is currently seeking a Full-time Temporary Relief Finance Partner (Senior Financial Analyst) for approximately 24 months.

Reporting to the Associate Director, Finance Services, the Finance Partner leads the delivery of specialized financial services for members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and assigned Faculty / Units. The Finance Partner is assigned a portfolio of Faculty and/or Business Units with combined operating and internally restricted funds ranging between $50M and $100M.

This position is part of the Finance Services team and provides expert knowledge in the areas of strategic planning, sustainable budgeting, specialized management reporting, impactful variance reporting and forecasting, internal control assessment and implementation, process improvement, and the development of recommendations for corrective action or innovative opportunities to ensure portfolios remain on budget. The position requires an in-depth understanding of a varied, complex and quickly changing business, academic and research environment.

The position has comprehensive financial and budgetary responsibilities that require independent and sound judgement and decision-making abilities in a complex environment. The incumbent will continuously assess and determine the optimum means which to add value at a strategic level in an environment where there is ambiguity, continuous change, and shifting / competing priorities. There is a high volume of work requiring strong communication, leadership, facilitation, and client services skills. The incumbent must work well under pressure and be able to communicate effectively with all levels of institutional and external stakeholders. The position will provide direction and mentorship to other staff.

The Finance Partner has a key leadership role in the delivery of expert financial advice and guidance to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and to varied stakeholders within assigned Faculty / Units. The primary focus of this position is to provide strategic decision support to leadership to enable the achievement of critical university goals and objectives, while ensuring the short and long-term financial stability of the institution, its faculties, business units, departments, clinics and programs.

The Finance Partner leads the assessment, review, interpretation, and reporting of data collected through a variety of sources and systems. The incumbent will interpret internal / external challenges and make recommendations developed through the lens of sound strategic thinking, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The Finance Partner leads others to solve complex problems and difficult resource allocation decisions, and identification of innovative ways to achieve success.

The Finance Partner is responsible for ensuring that all planning, budgeting, forecasting, monitoring and ad-hoc reporting responsibilities are delivered in compliance with policies, rules and regulations of the University, as well as other legal and accounting requirements.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

• Gain an understanding of multiple complex areas in a relatively short period to collect, analyze and organize information, establish facts and make pragmatic, value-added recommendations.
• Provide strategic decision support for Senior Leadership teams, ensuring leadership is apprised of all critical budgetary and financial issues, treating all matters with professionalism, sensitivity and confidentiality.
• Lead the comprehensive annual planning and budget preparation process for assigned portfolios and review to ensure alignment and integration with the university's overall strategy and plans (e.g. Business Plan, Research Plan, Academic Plan, Enrollment Plan, etc.).
• Lead the forecasting and planning process, including monthly budget-to-actual variance analysis and forecast.
• Lead all monthly / quarterly / year-end financial activities within the Faculty / Unit in accordance with the institutions policies and procedures.
• Work in partnership with stakeholders to continuously seek to improve financial processes and procedures within the Faculty / Unit by working with the financial process stream owners.
• Develop proposals and business cases as required for new initiatives, and continuously review existing activities for process improvement and sustainability.
• Provide a wide variety of ad hoc reporting and financial analysis to enable timely and effective decision making.
• Serve as a conduit to share Faculty / Unit perspectives and ideas to integrate into institutional level planning, policy and procedure development.
• Successful and timely completion of special assignments and projects that have institutional-wide impacts, including assessing, testing, key performance indicators, reporting, recommending, evaluation and feedback assessment (i.e. tuition allocation methodologies).
• Stay current on trends and approaches to financial management and processes through continued professional development.
• Understands and complies with the requirements of the University's Occupational Health and Safety Policy.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A professional accounting designation (CPA, CA, CMA or CGA) with a related University degree, or an MBA. Other relevant graduate levels of education and experience may be considered.
• Experience providing strategic decision support at the senior leadership level (2+ years).
• Extensive work experience in various accounting functions including budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis (7+ years).
• Experience leading the budgeting and forecasting processes for operations in excess of $10M.
• Proven ability to provide direction and leadership to staff.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated skills in building and maintaining productive and supportive working relationships with all levels of senior leadership, management and staff.
• Proficient user of computer software applications, including large integrated enterprise resource planning systems, data warehousing, business intelligence tools and spreadsheets.
• Good knowledge of not for profit accounting and university structures and operations.

Application Deadline: This position will remain open until filled; however, applicants will be reviewed as they are received.

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

Additional Information

This position is classified in the Professonal Career Band, Level 3 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework. 

To find out more about management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary and all we have to offer, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

The University strongly recommends all faculty and staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada’s entrepreneurial university, located in Canada’s most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada’s leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources ([email protected]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities , and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role. 

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.