Associate Vice President Finance and Operations

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Lead the financial future of a rapidly growing research powerhouse. The Associate Vice President for Finance & Operations (AVP-FO) is a rare executive opportunity to shape and scale a nearly $600M research enterprise on its path to $1B. As the Chief Business Officer for the Office of the Vice President for Research & Innovation, you will drive enterprise-wide financial strategy, oversee complex operations, and partner with top university leadership to fuel innovation, discovery, and impact.

This high-visibility role blends strategic vision with operational excellence—guiding multi-year financial planning, optimizing research funding models, and strengthening the infrastructure that supports world-class faculty and groundbreaking research. You’ll lead diverse teams, influence institutional investment decisions, and ensure financial integrity in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Unit: VP Research MBU

Department: Office of Research

Department Summary: At the VCU Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, our mission is to foster transformative research, discovery and innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University through excellence in service. The VCU Strategic Research Priorities Plan (SRPP) strengthens our transdisciplinary culture across our multifaceted campuses and disciplines, empowering us to generate transformative innovation with meaningful public impact. We work collaboratively to bring creative solutions to challenges where others may see boundaries, drawing on the full breadth of our scholarship to address local needs in partnership with our communities while shaping bold, practical solutions with global reach.

Our work is guided by four strategic priorities that reflect our commitment to creating a better future: enriching the human experience, advancing societal wellbeing, optimizing health, and supporting sustainable energy and environments. Together, these priorities anchor our efforts and inspire the research that drives VCU forward. Our commitment to supporting and elevating the research community at VCU has resulted in record levels of sponsored research and has placed VCU among the nation’s premier public research universities.

Through our passion for discovery and willingness to take on challenges, we continue to advance the work that matters most and position the university as a national leader in research, innovation, creativity, and scholarship.

Reporting directly to the Vice President for Research & Innovation (VPRI) with a dotted line to the Office of the Deputy CFO, the Associate Vice President for Finance and Operations (AVP-FO) serves as the Chief Business Officer for the Office of Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) and the research enterprise, providing comprehensive financial, operational and administrative leadership to ensure the long‑term fiscal sustainability, and strategic growth of a nearly $600M+ research portfolio.

This includes collaboration with Central Finance and the Controller’s Office that has oversight of Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) strategy, enterprise‑level financial planning, resource allocation, and the strategic deployment of institutional funds to support progress toward the university’s $1B research goal. The AVP‑FO brings deep financial expertise, advances data‑driven decision‑making, and fosters a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Working closely with the leadership of the OVPRI, the role will have financial oversight of key institutional functions such as research support services, internally funded research programs, research space and core facilities, research computing and data infrastructure, the policies that govern research administration and operations, and the human resources functions and daily business operations that support research activities.

Reporting directly to the Vice President for Research and Innovation, and working closely with other campus leaders including the Provost, deans, and central administrative units, the AVP-FO provides financial and operational strategy for all facets of budget planning and…