Vice President, Finance

About the Job

Position Summary

The Vice President of Finance provides executive leadership, strategic oversight, and policy formulation for the Foundation's central fiscal operations, including corporate accounting, fund management, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), and estate administration. As a financially independent 501(c)(3) serving as the strategic fundraising and fund-management arm of a major public university, the Foundation's financial landscape is uniquely complex.

The ideal candidate is an intellectually versatile, forward-looking leader who will drive continuous process modernization and elevate financial systems while ensuring absolute fiscal precision and regulatory compliance. Operating at a scale that blends private sector agility with a noble mission and purpose, the VP of Finance oversees an annual operating budget of approximately $80M and leads a centralized finance and accounting team of 20 professionals through 4 direct reports.

The VP will thrive at the intersection of scale and mentorship leaning into a leader-coach methodology that supports the growth, promotion, and retention of the team.

This role requires the translation of complex financial realities into actionable insights for non-financial stakeholders, optimizing expenses to maximize organizational impact, and partnership with peers and colleagues across both the Foundation and University. The VP will also foster a highly collaborative partnership with University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors, acting as the financial anchor between fundraising operations, university distributions, and the subsidiary investment organization.

The VP will oversee the deployment of hundreds of millions of dollars annually from over 12,000 individual restricted funds, ensuring these funds are actively, efficiently, and legally distributed to the university. The ideal candidate will champion a culture that balances rigorous compliance (safeguarding donor intent) with proactive partnership-helping university deans and department heads unlock and utilize all available funds to award student scholarships, faculty chairs, and research.

As a strong partner with the University, a successful VP will understand that fund utilization is a relationship management function as much as it is an accounting control.

Reporting Relationship

Reports to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). During an intentional, multi-stage executive leadership transition, this role will initially report into the current financial leadership team while serving as a foundational strategic partner to the incoming executive structure.

Core Responsibilities

* Strategic Fiscal Leadership & Governance:
Provide executive direction for day-to-day corporate finance, accounting, tax compliance (IRS Form 990), and institutional

reporting. Act as the final institutional authority on U.S. GAAP compliance, technical accounting treatments, and complex alternative asset valuations.

* Fiduciary Asset Stewardship:
Direct a sophisticated fund administration and gift-processing operation. Oversee policies governing 12,000 restricted funds, ensuring uncompromised alignment with donor intent and compliance with state charitable laws under the regulatory oversight of the Attorney General of Minnesota.

* Process Modernization & System Optimization:
Foster a culture of continuous improvement across all accounting functions. Evaluate and elevate current state enterprise architectures to implement automated workflows, enhance data integration, and scale financial systems to support long-term organizational evolution.

* Talent Management & Team Leadership:
Direct, mentor, and scale a 20-person professional finance function. Establish departmental benchmarks, define key performance indicators, and champion a high-performance culture rooted in accountability, professional development, and operational excellence.

* Subsidiary Partnership:
Serve as the primary operational and financial partner to the Foundation's subsidiary investment company. Orchestrate critical workflows between entities-collaborating on liquidity forecasting and ensuring seamless valuation and audit reporting.

Qualifications

Role Qualifications

* Required

Minimum Qualifications:

* Education:

Bachelor's degree required with a business management, accounting or finance emphasis.

* Certification:
Active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation.

* Experience:

A minimum of 15 years of progressive financial, budgetary, and corporate accounting experience, with at least 10 years directly managing professional, credentialed accounting staff.

* Audit Leadership:
Proven experience managing audit readiness and directing complex organizational audits in strictly regulated control environments. Demonstrated success achieving clean, unmodified audit opinions.

* Executive

Core Competencies:

Demonstrated ability to independently form fiscal strategy, evaluate alternative risk-mitigated solutions, and communicate financial complexities seamlessly to diverse…