Senior Strategic Business Advisor - Administrative Financial Planning (Remote)
West Virginia University

Job Info

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Description

The department of Administrative Financial Planning is currently accepting applications for a Senior Strategic Business Advisor.

About the Opportunity

The Senior Strategic Business Advisor (SBA) supports unit Executive leadership in strategic financial planning and goal setting to enhance and promote growth within the unit.   The Senior Finance SBA provides a deep functional expertise in the areas of long-term financial planning and budgeting, ensuring unit Executive leadership maintains a knowledge of financial activities and expectations for the unit and can be confident about financial decisions made for the unit.  

The Senior SBA frequently engages with the Division of Finance, Talent and Culture and teams in the Shared Service Center.  This position manages functional projects and other initiatives independently and acts in a backup capacity for AFP unit leadership as needed. Stays informed on financial policy, plans and programs as well as state and other regulatory updates. 

Provides Tier 3 inquiry support (phone, email, and chat) to employee/customers regarding unit specific financial policies, plans and processes. This position is responsible for building relationships within the college/school or unit(s) served and developing a culture centered on delivering excellent customer service.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year
• 18 sick days per year, and the flexibility to use that time to care for immediate family members
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits  
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ’s.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

Strategic and Analytical Financial Responsibilities

• Create annual budget for the unit(s) supported at a divisional level and provides recommendations to align divisional goals with fiscal year budget planning.  Submit it to the Budget Planning office in the Division of Finance.
• Review variance budget reports with unit(s) Executive leadership independently and addresses any potential funding concerns and offers suggested solutions as corrective measures.
• Develop quarterly and multi-year forecasting for unit with a variety of inputs and projections; shares forecasts with Executive leadership and the Division of Finance
• Develop quarterly division-level financial reports and discusses them with unit Executive leadership independently and provides analysis on budget utilization. Work with Shared Services leadership to correct errors or discrepancies found during reconciliation process.  
• Identify appropriate funding for new hires and discusses hires with HR Partners.  Address any potential funding concerns with unit Executive leadership.  
• Review monthly fund and DA reconciliation reports received from the shared services center
• Provide escalation support for transaction approvals
• Approve State, Research and Foundation PCard applications, large purchases and limit changes on PCards.  Disseminate updated PCard policies, procedures, or other general information to all cardholders within the College/Division and reports any instance of misuse, abuse or fraud to PCPS.  
• Approve requests for association membership dues, student awards/scholarships, Foundation backbills and expenses, direct vendor payments using Foundation funding, draws on Foundation-funded capital projects and requests for depository locations as defined by financial process maps
• Determine feasibility and initiates requests for new funds/DAs and changes to existing funds/DAs
• Review the chart of accounts and updates the Service Center on changes to how funds/DAs should be used
• Complete quarterly unrecorded assets and liability reports
• Review and signs quarterly representation letter
• Initiate cash transfers, internal loan requests, budget modifications, and capital project requests
• Review and provides justification for clearing accounts and negative cash balances beyond threshold
• Calculate and distributes returns to departments, staff, and faculty, such as Facilities and Administrative college or school distributions from the college/school to the departments
• Support and contributes to unit’s operational goals.

Service

• Frequently engage with the Division of Finance, Talent and Culture, HR Partners, Shared Service leadership, and others to ensure complex questions are resolved.
• Provide escalated inquiry support (phone, email, and chat/IM) to employees that have contacted the shared services regarding unit specific policies, plans and processes.
• Effectively use case management and knowledgebase tools to resolve, log, track and escalate employee inquiries escalated to the unit
• Support and partner with the Division of Finance and Shared Service Center staff to develop information and training sessions on university financial policies and procedures and budget management techniques. 
• Maintain established service levels for handling calls, emails, and transactions. Strive to exceed service goals as defined by each unit’s service level agreement with the Shared Service Center.
• Understand and promote the service link between central units, the shared service center and the unit to ensure service goals defined as part of the service level agreement are achieved.  

Projects

• Work closely with the Unit Executive and Senior Finance Leadership on complex special projects with an institutional impact.  Serves as a subject matter expert for unit on financial project teams.
• Ensure project activities are planned and prioritized appropriately balancing project and ongoing support needs with project leaders, cross functionally as needed. 
• As a subject matter expert, influence project decision where appropriate, to improve the customer experience and/or improve efficiency. 
• Ensure project deliverables are delivered on time and are documented.

AFP Departmental Leadership

• Provide input and recommended solutions for Administrative Financial Planning (AFP) financial and budgeting process development in consultation with AFP leadership
• Serve in a backup capacity for AFP leadership in meetings and serves as a resource for AFP staff members regarding processes and policy interpretation.  

 

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field. Or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience.
• Master's degree in Business Administration, or related field preferred.
• A minimum of five (5) years of experience involving:
  • Professional-level work experience in finance, accounting, and/or fiscal management.
  • Experience using a financial EFP, e.g. Oracle.
  • Established expertise in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to inspire teamwork and collaboration across functional areas.
• Ability to exercise appropriate judgement to resolve budgeting and other financial issues and determine the appropriate course of action to resolve a customer issue.
• Possesses strong customer service and communication skills typically acquired through prior work in a customer service setting.
• Demonstrated ability to research and apply critical thinking skills to resolve complex issues related to financial projections and budgeting.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective work relationships with other service team members in the unit, central Finance, Talent and Culture and the Shared Services Center other campus.
• Ability to identify and address areas of continuous improvement.
• Effective organizational skills.
• Knowledge and understanding of applicable federal and state laws.
• Demonstrated experience in the use of Microsoft Office Professional software, especially Word, Excel, Access PowerPoint and Visio.

Certifications:

• CPA Preferred

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