Vice President, Finance

About the job

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.

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.

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

• 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 audiences including boards and executive leadership.
• Preferred Qualifications:
• Education: Advanced degree (MBA) or equivalent business management credentials.
• Audit Background: Foundational tenure within public accounting (e.g., Big 4) or extensive background managing audits under rigorous regulatory standards (e.g., PCAOB, SOX, or government oversight frameworks).
• Sector Versatility: Executive finance experience within sophisticated capital environments, such as corporate asset management, private foundations, higher education, or entities managing high-volume, restricted portfolios.
• Investment Accounting: Demonstrated expertise in investment accounting to include managing the financial mechanics of an institutional endowment, valuation tracking, and the integration of investment performance into institutional financial reporting.

About The Department

The University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) is a nonprofit organization responsible for raising and managing gifts to the University of Minnesota. UMF connects passion with possibility, inspires generosity, and supports greatness at the University of Minnesota by placing donors at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make.

Pay and Benefits

Pay Range: $220,000-305,000; depending on education/qualifications/experience
Time Appointment: 100% Appointment
Position Type: Faculty and P&A Staff

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How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online. To be considered for this position, please click the Apply button and follow the instructions. You will be given the opportunity to complete an online application for the position and attach a cover letter and resume. Additional documents may be attached after application by accessing your "My Job Applications" page and uploading documents in the "My Cover Letters and Attachments" section.

To request an accommodation during the application process, please e-mail employ@umn.edu or call (612) 624-8647.