Columbus State Community College has a unique opportunity to plan for the smooth transition of a key executive position as we prepare for the retirement of our long-term CFO. We seek to hire a Deputy Chief Financial Officer (Deputy CFO) who will initially serve under the leadership of our current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with the expectation that a complete and orderly transition of CFO duties will be accomplished. This will allow the new Deputy CFO to gain valuable insight and experience, ensuring continuity and stability in the financial leadership of the College. A successful candidate would be expected to develop a new strategic plan for the Business Services Division including organizational changes, stabilization of new systems, and hiring backfills of additional anticipated key retirements.
The Deputy CFO will have the opportunity to build and develop a team and associated systems and processes. There will be substantial professional growth opportunities for the successful candidate.
Position Summary
As a member of the President’s Cabinet, the Deputy CFO strategically advances Columbus State’s mission through financial strategies that support student success, workforce development and community impact. Working with the CFO, the Deputy CFO helps lead the college’s Business Services Division. The Deputy CFO will initially have primary responsibility for the budget of Columbus State, the largest community college in Ohio, including planning, preparation, analysis and reporting functions. In this work, the Deputy CFO works directly with the President, the Cabinet, other senior leaders, and the Board of Trustees. The College anticipates that the Deputy CFO will assume additional leadership of the Business Services Division as part of the CFO’s retirement process, with a focus on maintaining and enhancing financial oversight of the College.
The College has been on a transformative path for more than a decade and, in recent years, the pace of change has accelerated as Columbus State has been called on to lead critical initiatives locally, statewide, and nationally. While many of these initiatives have come with some level of funding, these resources are outside the operating budget process. The Workday system implementation the College has underway is an important opportunity to establish new business practices to meet the College’s expanding mission. The Deputy CFO will work directly with the President and key stakeholders to leverage these opportunities into long-term strategic growth and financial strength.
The Deputy CFO is responsible for a wide range of activities, including but not limited to:
- Providing strategic financial leadership to the College through proactive financial planning and analysis and as a thought partner in strategic planning.
- Developing the College’s annual budget, including working with leadership on projected enrollment, state funding, expenses, and other factors.
- Providing long-range revenue estimates, financial forecasting and scenario planning for academic units to prepare for major strategic priorities, such as student success initiatives, new programs, private partnerships and emerging technologies.
- Managing reporting requirements, including the Ohio Department of Higher Education and/or other State of Ohio entities.
- Tracking and researching funding sources, including as part of the State of Ohio’s biennial state budget process, for general operations and specific initiatives.
- Collaborating with the President, Cabinet and other senior leaders throughout the College.
- Participating in Board of Trustees meetings and Cabinet retreats.
Essential Job Functions
Strategic and Organizational Leadership
- Provide leadership and vision to ensure the college’s financial operations support and advance the College’s strategic goals. Work closely with the CFO and other college leadership to inform decision- making with financial data and modeling. Be a thought partner and participate in strategic planning and prioritization.
Financial Stewardship
- Maintain the College’s culture of financial stewardship as a leader of the Business Services Division. Lead the College’s resource planning and analysis functions, as well as the financial aspects of partnerships across the College. Collaborate with senior leaders to ensure proper stewardship of funding and resources. Establish and maintain a standard of excellent service to students, internal stakeholders, and external partners.
Communication and Strategic Partnerships
- Share financial information, including forecasts, modeling, and budget scenarios, to reflect and inform decision-making for the President, Cabinet leaders, other college stakeholders and the Board of Trustees. Create and share financial information through written, verbal and hybrid formats to clearly explain details and scenarios, whether the intended audience is technically adept or not.
- Maintain and develop strategic external partnerships and represent the College with outside agencies including Ohio Department of Higher Education, state and city government entities, and regulatory agencies.
Core Competencies and Abilities Required
- Ethical: Maintains the highest ethical standards, including honesty and integrity.
- Financial Acumen: Maintains and applies a broad understanding of financial management principles to ensure decisions are fiscally sound and responsible; identifies cost effective approaches; demonstrates broad understanding of financial management principles to direct organizational actions.
- Strategic Thinker and Change Agent: Ability to see the big picture, plan ahead, and put thought into action; effectively manage change and transition.
- Attention to Detail: Ability to focus on tasks, information, and processes with care and thoroughness, while noticing the smallest details.
- Team Player: Successfully collaborate with fellow team members while holding self accountable for actions and decisions that affect the team.
- Executive Leadership: Encourage diversity of thought; create a culture of trust; foster leadership and a team mindset in others; employ a service approach to and with others; and demonstrate empathy, integrity, resilience, and transparency in the work.
- An Organizational and Systems Mindset
- Sound, anticipatory judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making.
- Ability to nurture strong partnerships internally and externally to achieve win-win outcomes.
- Comfortably manage multiple competing priorities and constituencies simultaneously.
- Project management skills informed by data, priorities, and time.
- Strong and effective communication skills, including verbal, written, and active listening.
- Knowledge of accounting systems and financial reporting.
- Ability to align budgets to meet required financial reporting standards and to analyze and develop internal control concepts.
- Ability to perform cost/benefit analysis; analyze and evaluate accounting systems; review, analyze, and evaluate financial/operational data.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
Minimum Education and Experience Required
- Bachelor’s degree in business, fiscal management, or accounting and at least ten years of progressively responsible budget/fiscal management experience are required.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree and experience with higher education
- Public sector experience in Ohio
- Workday experience
- A strong financial systems background with proven experience with financial reporting systems; and a general understanding of the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) accounting standards, and regulations and cost accounting standards related to higher education.
- A strong work ethic, a great sense of humor, an appreciation for working with a team of committed professionals, and a commitment to Columbus State’s mission will help the selected candidate excel.
Compensation: Commensurate with experience.
The Process
Please include a resume and cover letter with your application. For first consideration, please submit your application by 5:00 pm on Friday, October 11. Please direct all questions to [email protected].
To view the complete position profile, please click here.
Full time
40
Additional Information
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