Vice President for Finance and Administration

Vice President for Finance and Administration

Job Details
Job Location : Main Campus – SAN RAFAEL, CA
Position Type : Staff – Full Time
Salary Range : $208,610.00 – $234,650.00 Salary
Job Shift : Day

Position Summary
Building on Dominican’s exceptional success as an engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity will be crucial to our future. I anticipate with joy the ways in which our students will change this educational paradigm, as we continue to move from an exclusionary historical model to a truly expansive, engaged, and responsive one.

Nicola Pitchford, President

Dominican University of California

Institutional background

Founded in 1890, Dominican University of California is an independent, secular institution offering more than 60 majors, minors, and concentrations, as well as master’s degree programs and two newly established doctorates. For over 130 years, Dominican has prepared students for fulfilling professional and personal lives and has earned a reputation for excellence in engaged pedagogies, holistic student support, program innovation, and community engagement. Dominican is a Minority-Serving Institution, encompassing federal designations as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Asian-American Native-American Pacific-Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).

Dominican’s beautiful campus is located 20 minutes north of San Francisco, in Marin County. We strive to see the diversity of our students reflected in our faculty and staff. We seek candidates from all backgrounds who, through their research, teaching, work ethic, and service, will meaningfully contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus and county.

Marin’s affluent and progressive reputation is juxtaposed with a reality of extreme economic and racial disparity. While the campus is situated in a privileged neighborhood, our institution has deep ties in surrounding communities where resources and representation for minoritized people are exceedingly disproportionate. Dominican is committed to improving our internal policies and practices related to equity and inclusion; we are also demonstrably engaged in collaborating with local, long-term community partners to improve equity and inclusion in Marin.

Vice President for Finance and Administration

Reporting to President Nicola Pitchford, the Vice President for Finance and Administration will be a visionary leader, a collaborative partner, and an experienced nonprofit finance professional who will ensure that the University’s stewardship and deployment of its resources – financial, human, digital, and physical – aligns with University mission and values, and advances its strategic and diversity plans. As a member of the president’s collaborative and collegial leadership team, the vice president will work to make such resource planning and decision-making inclusive, transparent, and student-centered. They will also provide a clear vision and direction to professionals in their reporting units, fostering a warm and supportive environment for employees, cross-functional communication, and partnership both within their division and across other vice-presidential areas.

Responsibilities

The essential duties and responsibilities for the Vice President for Finance and Administration are as follows.

Financial management and planning

• Support mission-driven, long-range financial planning
• Present timely, accurate and relevant financial reports, projections, and analysis to the president, the board of trustees, the presidents cabinet, and the campus
• Attend and participate in the board of trustees Finance & Investment, Campus Planning & Development, and Audit Committees
• Serve on the presidents cabinet and all appropriate governance committees
• Oversee external audit of financial statements, Circular A-133, and 403b plan, and related filings in compliance with GAAP, IRS, CEFA, Moodys, or other reporting requirements
• Partner on the development, implementation, and control of the annual budget and reporting
• Oversee development and monitoring of capital budget and cash management analysis
• Evaluate and coordinate all insurance activities required for the university
• Develop active and positive business relationships, both internally and externally

Management of other campus resources (human, physical, digital)

• Oversee the operations of the human resources, information technology, and facilities departments and provide leadership in the areas of communication, projects, decision-making, and policy-making, as necessary
• Actively recommend and implement improvements to current systems and processes for all reporting departments and campuswide
• Oversee all risk management activities and guide Risk Team activities and priorities
• Review and approve all university contracts, including interaction with insurance and legal counsel, as needed

Collaboration, culture, and communication

• Communicate clearly, openly, respectfully, and consistently with campus constituents, including staff and faculty; support and strengthen a positive and enfranchising workplace culture
• Ensure a student-centered service ethos in all reporting units
• Foster a culture of collaboration and transparency/openness within reporting units and across units
• Incorporate communication planning into all initiatives and significant decisions; communicate genuinely and clearly with campus, Board, and appropriate external parties, welcoming input and guidance and working to build financial and resource literacy and enfranchisement

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Possess the motivation to foster personal learning and lead the staff in further developing cultural awareness, competence, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Actively consider equity and accessibility in developing budgets and resource plans, including plans for the physical campus
• Demonstrate a sincere commitment to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community by contributing to the realization of the Universitys Strategic Diversity Plan
• Ensure that reporting units maintain an intentional focus on equity – on supporting and serving all members of a diverse student body – and that they also engage in regular assessment of such measures.

Required Qualifications

The successful candidate should have proven experience in a senior leadership role in non-profit finance, ideally in higher education. A minimum of a bachelors degree is required, and an advanced degree is strongly preferred, with at least 10 years relevant experience in financial management. In addition, candidates for this position should demonstrate the following characteristics, skills, abilities, and understanding.

• Commitment to the Universitys mission and the ability to serve as a good steward of resources to creatively and effectively support it
• Openness and honesty in approach; ability to lead with integrity and emotional intelligence
• Commitment to the highest ethical standards; ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information when appropriate
• Demonstrated supervisory skills and the ability to create a cohesive team and foster a positive work environment through clear communication, respect, kindness, and supporting employee development
• Proficiency in accounting/financial management principles, practices, and procedures as they relate to college and university environments
• Management-level experience in one or more other supervised areas, including human resources, facilities and construction management, contract negotiation, and resource planning
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to present complex financial information clearly to faculty, staff, leadership team, and Board members and to invite feedback and questions
• Ability to bring a creative and thoughtful approach to the systemic financial challenges of higher education
• History of collaborative and open leadership style, and of collegiality and team-building; demonstrated willingness to share authority and to change in response to feedback
• Ability to foster a student-centered and/or employee-centered, service-oriented ethos in all reporting units

More about Dominican University of California

Academics

Named the nation’s most transformative four-year university by the American Council on Education (ACE) in recognition of a deep commitment to student opportunity and success, Dominican University of California enrolls approximately 1,250 undergraduate students and more than 700 graduate students, both onsite and in our online MBA China program. Dominican offers 60+ majors, minors and concentrations, countless real-world learning opportunities, and personalized support.

Bachelors degree programs are available in many disciplines, including in the arts, humanities, social sciences, education, business, and health and natural sciences, and are built on the foundation of a core curriculum. The Core Curriculum is Dominicans general education program. It is Dominicans commitment that all undergraduates will have the opportunity to gain essential skills and acquire a breadth of knowledge that will serve them in any career and toward achieving their life goals. The Core Curriculum is Dominicans rich, multidisciplinary approach to supporting students in achieving Dominicans institutional learning outcomes, which range from academic and personal goals to social and communal goals. Undergraduate students of all majors participate in the Dominican Experience. The programs four components are rooted in proven educational methods: Work with an integrative coach; Complete signature work; Build a digital portfolio; and Engage with the community. The components of the Dominican Experience are embedded throughout the Core to support students in all aspects of their educational experience. Adult students can also complete their bachelors degree through Dominican’s Adult Degree Completion programs, designed for working professionals over the age of 24. Adult students can pursue flexible and affordable degrees in Leadership and Management, Psychology, or Literary and Intercultural Studies.

In addition to its stellar undergraduate programs, Dominican offers graduate programs in business, education, healthcare, and the humanities, offering flexible course schedules, engaged faculty, and a well-connected Bay Area network. Dominican has recently added to its array of Masters degree programs its first doctorate, in Art Therapy; a second, clinical doctoral program in Occupational Therapy is now enrolling its inaugural class.

Strategic Planning and Financial Health

Dominican University of California is financially stable, with enrollments that have more than rebounded from the losses experienced during the peak COVID pandemic period; nevertheless, we remain challenged by the lingering aftereffects of that period and its impact on our limited resources. The University enters fiscal 2024 with a lean but balanced operating budget and without having added to our institutional debt in more than a decade.

The Vice President for Finance and Administration will play a key leadership role in the institutional reinvention that must now take place for Dominicans thriving to continue in a moment when small non-elite colleges across the Bay Area and the country face existential challenges. This moment demands operational transformation, creative refocusing, and doubling down on our strengths. As we embark on renewed strategic planning, our goal is to harness the radical and creative thinking of multiple campus constituencies to reinvent our practices and business model around a simple core commitment to the mission – work that we are proven to do exceptionally well: fostering equitable student success, social justice, and social mobility. The VPFA will be central to shepherding a process that is collaborative, communicative, cross-functional, and radically transparent. For an individual with energy for equitable and inclusive change, there will be joy in this work.

• Our North Stars remain unchanged: Dominicans mission; its founding ideals of study, reflection, community, and service; and the educational model of the Dominican Experience, designed to drive equity of outcomes for all students;
• We will plan for deep sustainability, looking to position both the institution and our students to respond effectively to the complex interwoven challenges of climate crisis, systemic racial injustice, and growing economic inequity;
• Regardless of our commitment to mission, the primary imperative is to sustain balanced annual operating budgets, without which none of our work will be possible; we will also engage in long-term planning for institutional financial health. Both tasks require creative and unflinching thinking about the deployment of all institutional resources;
• Our process will be responsive to Dominicans Strategic Diversity Plan so that we may continue to meet the needs of an inclusive culture and changing student demographics;
• Our process will be honest and inclusive, inviting the wisdom of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community partners.

Declaration on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Dominican University of California declares its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through enjoining the campus community to uphold and further a shared vision of “unity in diversity.”

Our heritage is informed by a commitment to pluralism, defined by our understanding that our community draws strength from our differences. Dominican seeks to nurture attitudes and behaviors that promote global awareness, inclusive sensibilities, and respect for individuals diverse experiences and identities, across such categories as race, ethnicity, language, gender, sex, sexuality, age, socioeconomic status, religion, and/or ability.

Consistent with the above declaration and Dominican values, the University exhorts every member of the community to support and express their active commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion using the guiding principles stated below:

• All members of the University community are collectively responsible for enabling and institutionalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the University.
• All members of the University community should consider diversity, equity, and inclusion constructively in all planning, policy, decision-making, procedural, academic and administrative operations throughout the University.
• All members of the University community should refuse to accept any behavior or action that is diversity-intolerant, exclusionary, insensitive, and/or discriminatory.
• All members of the University community should promote a campus environment that continuously works for greater equity through leveling access to opportunity for all of its participants, irrespective of experience and identity, which includes but is not limited to the categories listed above.

Location

Surrounded by rolling hills and nestled in a residential neighborhood in San Rafael, Dominican University of California is a safe, suburban campus at the base of San Pedro Mountain in Marin County, California.

San Rafael, a small city of 57,700, is filled with parks, shopping, restaurants, museums and historic sites, an amazing farmers market, and a civic center designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. This lively California town offers seasonal concerts, art walks, a film fest, and plenty of other events throughout the year.

Located just 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay area, the campus is close to some of the most exciting, historic, and beautiful places in the Golden State, as well as many attractions and eateries, and neighborhoods and nightlife – from Golden Gate Park, to Haight Street to Chinatown and more.

Less than one hour away, one can walk along historic Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, get lost in nature in Muir Woods, or explore the rocky coast, sandy beaches, and open meadows of Point Reyes National Seashore. And just one hour away are Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley, where all can sample their way around the vineyards, hiking and biking trails, and fun shopping areas in either of these two distinct destinations in the winemaking region.

To Apply

For more information or to nominate someone for this position, contact search committee chair Jessica Jordan, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations (jessica.jordan@dominican.edu).

• Interested candidates should submit a rsum along with a cover letter expressing interest in this position.
• Candidates should provide the names and contact information of at least three professional references; references will not be contacted without permission.
• Priority will be given to applications submitted by August 1; however, additional applications may be considered until the position is filled.
• The University will seek to maintain the confidentiality of applications until the finalist stage.
• The ideal start date is September 2023 but can be negotiable. Candidates must be willing to consent to a background check and credit check.

Dominican University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to excellence through diversity, and takes pride in its multicultural environment. We are committed in thought, word, and deed to recruiting and retaining a workforce that values the diversity of its student body. The University actively promotes an institutional culture that practices equity and inclusion. We strongly encourage applications from members of all under-represented groups in higher education.

Dominican is located in Marin County, whose affluent and progressive reputation is juxtaposed with a reality of economic and racial disparity. While the campus is situated in a privileged neighborhood, our institution has deep ties in surrounding neighborhoods where resources and representation for minoritized people are exceedingly disproportionate. Dominican is committed to improving our internal policies and practices related to equity and inclusion; it is also demonstrably engaged in collaborating with local, long-term community partners to improve equity and inclusion in Marin.

To apply, visit https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=127352&clientkey=379D25BEB04D4E67539308A7BD902D82

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