Director of Finance

Job Description

On July 1, 2025, Brown University launched The Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs, further building on its commitment to expand and strengthen research and teaching on the world's most pressing economic, political, social and policy challenges. The launch comes at a pivotal moment for the University, the nation, and the world. The School builds on more than a decade of growth within Brown's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, which will serve as the foundation of the school, and offers significant opportunities for expansion in faculty, research, and educational programming.

About the role:

The new Watson School of International and Public Affairs is undergoing a period of rapid, strategic expansion, significantly growing its community of distinguished faculty and staff. We are seeking a visionary and experienced financial professional to serve as a key member of Watson's leadership team.

Reporting to the Associate Dean of Finance and Administration, the Director of Finance is a strategic leader responsible for overseeing the entire scope of financial information, reporting, and planning for the School. This role provides pivotal financial leadership, driving operational decisions and informing the School's strategic direction. The Director manages internal financial processes in tandem with the University's budgeting, forecasting, and year-end close cycles. Furthermore, the Director serves as an advisor to the central and the distributed community ensuring the School optimally utilizes financial systems to maximize transparency for analysis and planning.

Major responsibilities:

Financial Reporting, Analysis, Budget Oversight, and Strategic Planning: The Director is responsible for financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and year-end processes. The role manages all internal financial operations in coordination with University financial processes and consolidates the School's budgets, forecasts, and multi-year planning. The Director provides the Watson Associate Dean of Finance and Administration and the Dean of the Watson School with financial and policy guidance, setting the strategic financial direction for the School. This includes guidance on budget proposals as they relate to staff growth, faculty administration and hiring as it relates to endowed chairs and gift compliance issues, and proposed spending on new initiatives. The Director manages the deployment of Schools funds and is responsible for operating decisions.

The Director oversees a complex $23 million annual budget comprised of endowments, spendable gifts, university-based funds, master's-program revenue, and grants. The position manages the School's internal financial processes in tandem with the University's budgeting, forecasting, and year-end-close processes, ensuring that the School utilizes the University's financial systems optimally to maximize transparency for analysis, planning, and financial reporting.

The Director commands an understanding of all income and expenses of the School in order to project and create multi-year budgets, including graduate program budgets and scholarships, funding for complicated jointly appointed faculty, and an undergraduate concentration of nearly 350 students. The role develops and manages sophisticated financial dashboards and institutional reports specifically tailored for the Board of Governors' advisory needs. In close collaboration with the Associate Dean of Finance and Administration, builds and maintains complex multi-year financial plans and ad-hoc models to stress-test institutional goals.

The Director partners with the Watson leadership to develop and report on key staffing statistics for budgeting and, for forecasts and planning, to create a long-range plan for staffing needs. The Director also partners with the Watson Dean, Associate Dean of Finance and Administration, Chief of Staff, and other key staff on advancement and Board of Governors growth opportunities. The Director plays a critical role in identifying fundraising needs, tracking and preparing information for nearly 40 annual stewardship reports, providing financial briefings for the Watson Board of Governors.

Financial Leadership for Centers, Initiatives, Projects, Programs, and Grants Management: The Director provides financial leadership to the 15 + centers, initiatives, projects, and programs in the Watson School, and is responsible for the development of internal school-wide financial policies. The position leads training and information sessions within the School to ensure that individuals responsible for managing budgets have the necessary information, resources, and training to understand their budgets and facilitate their decision making. The Director holds ultimate accountability for the budget planning and forecasting for these centers, initiatives, and programs, with a combined $6 million annual budget. The Director ensures that all stakeholders of the school have a baseline understanding of the broader University financials.

The Director is responsible for hiring, training, and supervising a growing financial support team, currently including two Financial Coordinators and one Financial Specialist. The Director oversees approximately $23 million in annual expenditures spent on endowments, gifts, grants and unrestricted funding. The Director establishes and audits standards in financial support for Watson and its embedded centers, initiatives, and programs.

Education and experience:

• Bachelor's degree required; Advanced degree in a related field preferred
• Minimum of 6 years' experience in financial management including budgeting, analysis, planning, and reporting
• Prior experience in financial modeling required, preferably multi-year financial planning and management reporting
• Higher-education, nonprofit or government experience strongly preferred
• Supervisory experience, or demonstrated aptitude for supervision is required. Team-building experience strongly preferred
• Experience working with Workday and Adaptive Insights strongly desired
• Experience with graduate program financial models a plus

Job competencies:

• Strong commitment to supporting the University's goal of cultivating a diverse and inclusive community
• Demonstrated strong analytical skills and sound judgment
• Strong written and oral communication skills; ability to present and communicate data to a variety of audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work with a diverse constituency, including senior-level University administrators and faculty
• Flexible and adaptable to changing administrative structures; creative problem solver
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage competing priorities; strong time-management skills
• Extensive experience with Microsoft Office, databases, and accounting/budget systems
• Knowledge of grant accounting and administration