Manager of Academic Affairs Budget and Operations

About the role

We are seeking a Manager of Academic Budgets and Operations to join our team. This is a new position reporting directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Chief Financial Officer. The role involves managing the budget of the entire Academic Affairs division, performing financial analyses, and supervising administrative staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead the annual budget development process for Academic Affairs, coordinating with deans to compile, analyze, and justify budget requests.
• Develop and maintain multi-year budget projections and financial models to support strategic planning and resource allocation decisions.
• Monitor and analyze budget performance throughout the fiscal year, providing regular variance reports and forecasts to the VPAA and divisional leadership.
• Manage the allocation and reallocation of divisional resources, including personnel lines, operating budgets, and capital equipment funds.
• Prepare budget narratives, justifications, and supporting documentation for presentation to the President, Board of Trustees, and external stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with all institutional, state, and federal budget policies and procedures.
• Coordinate with the Finance & Budget office on budget transfers, journal entries, and year-end closing activities.
• Monitor divisional budget lines funded through external sources, providing expenditure tracking and financial status updates to divisional leadership.
• Conduct financial analyses to inform academic program decisions, including cost-benefit analyses for new programs, course section economics, and resource utilization studies.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and reporting tools to track key financial and operational metrics across the division.
• Analyze enrollment trends, faculty workload data, and instructional costs to support data-informed resource allocation.
• Prepare financial reports and analyses for accreditation and institutional effectiveness initiatives.
• Provide cost projections and budget data to support grant proposals when requested by the Grants Office or program administrators.
• Provide financial projections and scenario modeling for strategic initiatives and program development.
• Analyze cost-per-credit, cost-per-completion, and program-level financial performance to inform decisions about program viability and investment.
• Track and reconcile revenue and expenditure streams associated with clinical partnerships, workforce development contracts, and dual enrollment agreements.
• Develop, document, and improve administrative processes and internal controls within Academic Affairs to enhance efficiency, accountability, and transparency.
• Cook up space, facilities, and technology requests originating from academic schools.
• Cook up equipment inventory and asset management for academic departments.
• Provide guidance, mentorship, training, and professional development for all administrative support staff across the division.
• Serve as a supervisor and mentor to administrative support staff across the division, ensuring efficient, timely, and accurate functioning of the office.
• Serve on institutional committees and task forces as designated by the VPAA.
• Administer faculty overload, adjunct pay, stipend, and supplemental compensation processes in coordination with the offices of Human Resources and Payroll.
• Maintain and analyze faculty workload data, including credit-hour production, release time assignments, overload patterns, and full-time/part-time instructional ratios.
• Support academic deans in schedule optimization, section-fill analysis, and enrollment-driven staffing decisions.
• Produce regular and ad hoc reports on instructional costs, faculty deployment, and workload equity.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, public administration, higher education administration, or a closely related field.
• Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in budgeting, financial analysis, or operations management, preferably in a higher education setting.
• Demonstrated knowledge of fund accounting, budget development, and financial reporting practices.
• Proficiency with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and administrative systems, including spreadsheet applications and data analysis tools.
• The College currently uses Workday as its administrative and HR platform and is transitioning to Ellucian Colleague SaaS for student records.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to translate complex financial information for non-financial audiences.
• Fluency with office technology.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant discipline.
• Five or more years of experience in higher education finance, academic administration, or institutional research.
• Working knowledge of federal financial aid regulations, accreditation standards (including MSCHE and common specialized accreditor frameworks), and grant compliance requirements.
• Experience with collective bargaining agreement administration as it relates to compensation and workload.
• Experience with Workday, Ellucian Colleague SaaS, or comparable higher education ERP and student information systems.
• Demonstrated capacity to work effectively across organizational boundaries and with diverse constituencies.

Skills

• Budget management and financial analysis.
• Experience managing administrative systems and personnel.
• Judgment necessary to handle complex financial and sensitive personnel situations professionally.
• Ability to work with autonomy, exercise judgment, and communicate effectively with senior leadership.
• Capacity to work with autonomy, exercise judgment, and communicate effectively with senior leadership.
• Ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries and with diverse constituencies.

Benefits

Bucks County Community College offers an exceptional benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, prescription plans, 403B pension plan, life insurance, short & long-term disability, generous paid time off, tuition waivers, tuition assistance, wellness center, cafeteria, and free parking on a beautiful Bucks County campus. We are proud to be an organization that embraces the value of bringing diverse, talented, and committed people together. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when diverse ideas come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. Please Note: At this time, the College does not provide work visa sponsorships. To be considered for employment at Bucks County Community College, applicants must be permitted to legally work in the United States without employer sponsorship. Bucks County Community College participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.