Chief Financial Officer & Senior Associate Athletics Director, Intercollegiate Athletics

Position Overview

The Athletics CFO will be chiefly responsible for providing strategic financial leadership to Intercollegiate Athletics and serving as a C-suite liaison to multiple campus partners (Office of Legal Affairs, Chancellor's Office, Provost's Office, Capital Strategies, Academic Senate and Faculty Subcommittees focused on Athletics), as well as the department lead for various Department and Campus initiatives (outside consultants, peer reviews, etc.). This person will serve on the Intercollegiate Athletics Director's Cabinet and oversee all financial departmental functions.

They will also serve on the VC Finance's leadership team, which drives the connection between campus and divisional priorities.

This position leads the development of a multi-year financial sustainability plan for Intercollegiate Athletics. As the landscape of higher education is evolving, the future of collegiate NCAA Division I Power 4 athletic programs is changing as well. The next Athletics CFO will need to be a dynamic leader who will be flexible and responsive within rapid changes. They will bring an understanding of the current environment and needs, as well as expertly advise on, anticipate, and plan for the road ahead for higher education and collegiate athletics.

The position will be responsible for developing a financial model that will emphasize long term revenue maximization of Football and Basketball, monetize assets, and leverage capital with out of the box thinking, while balancing the need for keen expense control insights. The role will oversee a team in managing the budget, so a priority for the next CFO will be multi-directional leadership: provide vision, long term analysis and thinking, and mentorship to their team;

provide creativity, storytelling, comprehensive solutions, and executive advising to the leadership in Athletics and Finance; and provide clarity, understanding, collaboration, and excellent facilitation to key stakeholders.

This role oversees the divisional financial resources on a multi-disciplinary basis, with insight into all funds, including core funds, endowed gift funds, capital budgets, revenue, awards and grants. This position leads the development, interpretation, and implementation of financial concepts for financial planning, resource planning (dollars), and control of the department's budget. They analyze and prepare recommendations for financial plans, including annual resource allocations, future requirements, and operating forecasts.

They must also maintain strategic relationships with University Donor and Alumni Relations, Capital Strategies, and Student Affairs.

The next Athletics CFO will be a dynamic financial storyteller and skilled communicator, able to distill complicated financial matters into easily digestible communications for a variety of audiences.

The role also involves developing, promoting, and supporting the operational and strategic aspects of intercollegiate student-athlete programs, including financial planning, budget administration, revenue accounting and analytics, and accounting. This role directs business operations, financial forecasting, and other administrative functions. The role participates with other senior managers to establish strategic plans and objectives.

The Intercollegiate Athletics Chief Financial Officer (Athletics CFO) has a dual reporting role, reporting to both the Campus/Central Finance as well as the Athletics executives. This is an opportunity for a strong leader to advise executives in both areas as well as the Chancellor's Office. The Vice Chancellor for Finance & Chief Financial Officer (VC Finance) and the Co-Athletic Directors are committed to partnering with each other to manage the Athletics budget, within the broader lens of the campus budget, and to set Athletics on a path to a sustainable financial future.

The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics consists of more than 300 staff members and coaches; and sponsors 30 varsity sports programs, with a budget of approximately $200 million annually. These 30 programs include more than 850 student-athletes who participate in the sports programs…