Director, Financial Controls & Operations

Position Summary

The Director of Financial Controls & Operations leads the day-to-day evaluation and ongoing optimization of financial-related internal controls across a complex academic medical center. This position ensures the integrity of financial operations and serves as an expert on internal controls, providing strategic guidance and technical expertise to central units and departments. The role is accountable for designing and maintaining a robust internal control framework, driving continuous process improvement, ensuring audit readiness, and collaborating with key stakeholders to support fiscal integrity and operational excellence across the institution.

Job Responsibilities

• Oversee the company's financial internal control program (under COSO framework), including scoping, risk assessment, control design, testing, and remediation.
• Develop policies, processes, and control documentation across key financial and operational workflows.
• Conduct regular assessments of internal control systems to ensure effectiveness and compliance.
• Monitor and track the implementation of internal control action plans.
• Establish and maintain a training program on internal controls, risks, and other financial compliance topics.
• Support responses to internal and external audit requests.
• Perform complex data analysis using audit software (e.g., ACL, IDEA, Python) to identify trends, outliers, and anomalies in financial and operational data.
• Develop data visualizations and dashboards to present controls effectiveness and analytical results to management.
• Partner cross-functionally to develop and strengthen appropriate entity-level controls, business process controls, incident reporting frameworks, and reporting structures.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to business leaders on internal controls, risk management, and promote a culture of compliance.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Accounting or related field

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in internal controls, compliance, or auditing (external and/or internal).
• Experience in higher education, not-for profit institutions or public sector organizations.
• Big 4 firm experience is a plus.
• Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Workday) and data extraction.
• Proven track record of designing, implementing and monitoring scalable internal controls across financial systems.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong knowledge of financial reporting and internal controls regulations, including GAAP, COSO, and SOX.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools (e.g., Excel, SQL, ACL, Python, Power BI).
• Strong project management skills and the ability to drive accountability in a cross-functional environment.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.

Licenses and Certifications

Certified Public Accountant (CPA), CIA, or other relevant certifications.