Chief Financial and Operations Officer (CFOO), College of Agriculture and Bioresources

Chief Financial and Operations Officer (CFOO), College of Agriculture and Bioresources

Primary Purpose: As a member of the college senior executive, the CFOO provides direction and expertise to promote and enhance fiscal and administrative leadership through long-term strategy and planning, monitoring, management, and reporting, including management and development of policies, systems, and processes.
The position has major responsibilities for budgeting, monitoring, financial reporting, and overseeing management for the College’s teaching and student experiences and its multi-million dollar research enterprise.

Nature of the Work: Reporting to the Dean, the CFOO provides advice and guidance to the dean, is a leader and facilitator for the college executive management team. The CFOO will direct and monitor the flow of work between college work teams, and will develop, interpret, and distribute policy-related information to the college community. The position will facilitate implementation of initiatives, including development and monitoring of timelines and responsibility assignments.
The CFOO is a resource to department heads and unit staff, ensuring that stewardship of college resources improves the quality of university financial information and sustains accountability. The work is unstructured and may be stressful given the high volume of work, unique challenges and opportunities, tight deadlines, and need for accuracy. This position requires discretion, a high level of integrity, and independent judgement. The position must deal with emerging and unpredictable events in a sensitive and timely manner. The CFOO is committed to accountability, transparency, governance, and continuous improvement, and holds others to the same standards. The work requires the ability to assess and address the needs of multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, in order to achieve positive outcomes. The impact of error is high.
The CFOO leads a finance team of three ASPA staff and three CUPE staff, along with indirect reporting of other financial staff in departments.

Accountabilities

Planning and Leadership — The CFOO provides leadership and vision in support of the overall success of the college with particular emphasis on integrating and adopting best practices in financial management and resource allocation:

• Provide senior-level college-wide leadership, development, and advice on administrative and financial strategic plans, policies, and procedures.
• Act as a key resource to the Dean during contract negotiations to ensure risk is addressed prior to execution of agreements.
• Maintain external relationships with key stakeholders by providing financial information, forecasts, and statistics as required.
• Develop and implement process change and provide input for policy developments that encourage efficient utilization of resources, improve readability of financial reports, and promote accountability and responsibility.
• Work with departments and research groups to ensure correct and efficient transmission and interpretation of financial data by developing communication strategies and training materials.
• Interpret and communicate relevant policies, procedures, and regulations (university, provincial, and federal) to encourage effective implementation throughout the college.
• Identify, assess, and manage risks while ensuring accountability and transparency of college activities.
• Work with departments to address and/or rectify identified internal control deficiencies and weaknesses.
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with a variety of constituents across campus, including college and support centre staff, central office colleagues, and service centre partners to ensure success in meeting the college’s, unit’s, and university’s strategic and operational goals.
• Participate in university capital planning governance processes (steering committees and working groups).
• Provide mentorship and support to finance staff, ensuring employees are motivated and engaged, and held accountable for high standards of performance and outcomes.

Financial and Budget Management — The CFOO oversees the development and management of budgets and financial reports to inform and communicate college strategic decisions and to enable effective operations of the college:

• Develop and implement comprehensive, sustainable annual and long-term multi-year resource plans for the college that are aligned with strategic plans and initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with the College Executive to allocate funds appropriately to ensure that the college’s strategic priorities are maintained.
• Work collaboratively with the Facilities SBA to assess departmental and individual requests for renovation or development projects, making decisions on minor capital improvements and providing reports and guidance to the Dean on larger capital projects.
• Understand and effectively explain the university resource allocation mechanisms, create methods to project impact of changes in parameters on revenue and expense allocation, and identify strategies to affect outcomes.
• Recommend and implement policy and procedural improvements with regard to budget development for all funds including operating, research, and trust funds.
• Provide timely, open, and accurate financial reporting and analysis that supports informed strategic and operational decisions and manages risk within acceptable levels.
• Maintain the integrity of financial information by ensuring that financial data is complete and accurate and complies with legislation, general accounting principles, agreements with external parties, and USask policies and procedures.
• Lead special financial projects that are complex and that may require a high degree of analysis and recommendation of proactive management solutions.

People Resources — The CFOO provides strategic and tactical guidance for the development and execution of the college people plan:

• Fosters compliance, mentoring, and training of regulatory and legislative requirements to ensure the health and safety of faculty, staff, and students.
• Models a high standard of performance and outcomes, ensures positive, diverse, and inclusive work environments.
• Supports and contributes positively to change initiatives in support of college and institutional goals and fostering optimism in others.

Education: An undergraduate degree in Commerce, Business, or Accounting along with a professional accounting designation are required.

Experience: Minimum 10 years of experience including recent experience in a senior financial leadership role in a university or other complex, multi-dimensional organization is required. Significant experience managing multiple initiatives with changing and often conflicting priorities is essential. An understanding and knowledge of strategic planning, business planning, financial analysis, and organizational development is also required.

Demonstrated Skills: Demonstrated leadership, problem-solving, and inter-personal skills; able to manage multiple demands to meet deadlines; the ability to collaborate with a wide range of people; the ability to interpret and communicate financial information and systems to a non-financial audience; effective research, analysis, and writing skills, attention to detail and high level of accuracy; very effective organizational, time, and stress management skills. The incumbent must also demonstrate the following personal attributes: be honest and trustworthy, be flexible and respectful; demonstrate sound work ethics. Possess strong computer skills with expert-level proficiency in Microsoft Excel. Experience supervising staff would be an asset.

Department: College of Agriculture & Bioresources
Status: Permanent
Employment Group: Exempt
Shift: Mon-Fri 8:30-4:30
Full Time Equivalent (FTE): 1.0
Salary: The salary range, based on 1.0 FTE, is $118,954.00 - 199,130.00 per annum. The starting salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
Salary Family (if applicable):
Salary Phase/Band: Salary Band 5
Posted Date: 4/7/2025
Closing Date: 4/17/2025 at 6:00 pm CST
Number of Openings: 1
Work Location: On Campus

The University is committed to employment equity, diversity, and inclusion, and are proud to support career opportunities for Indigenous peoples to reflect the community we serve. We are dedicated to recruiting individuals who will enrich our work and learning environments. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. We are committed to providing accommodations to those with a disability or medical necessity. If you require an accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please notify us and we will work together on the accommodation request. We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally, and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous employees provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous Membership/Citizenship at the University of Saskatchewan is led and determined by the deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin: Indigenous Truth policy and Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy. Successful candidates that assert Indigenous membership/citizenship will be asked to complete the verification process of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation. The University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respects to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another. Together, we are uplifting Indigenization to a place of prominence at the University of Saskatchewan.