Financial Systems Application Manager

Job Summary

The Campus Controller's Office at CU Boulder welcomes applications for the Financial Systems Application Manager! The University of Colorado Boulder is a Tier One, nationally competitive research university with a $2.00B annual operating budget. The University is focused on cultivating its instruction and research, increasing its innovative impact at the national and international level through collaboration, transformation, and leadership. The office of Budget & Fiscal Planning (BFP) resides within the department of Business, Finance, and Infrastructure. The office serves as the steward of university resources and as a trusted advisor for Senior Vice Chancellor (SVC) for Finance and Business, Associate Vice Chancellor for Budget & Finance, and colleges, schools and units across the university to support decision-making and promoting financial stewardship. The office plays a key part in the university's strategic and financial planning processes, and works with all academic and administrative units of the university to provide budget analyses, produce internal campus projections on revenue and expense, manage critical initiatives, allocate and manage annual operating budgets and other operational elements of the budget.

The Financial Systems Applications Manager provides managerial leadership and hands on technical expertise for the development, maintenance, and support of campus financial and administrative system applications. This position works in close partnership with the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems to set application strategies, establish priorities, manage technical risk, and ensure solutions align with institutional finance, reporting, and compliance objectives. This role supervises staff while remaining technically proficient and capable of directly performing, reviewing, and troubleshooting application work as needed. The position ensures systems are secure, production-ready, compliant with institutional and audit requirements, and aligned with enterprise IT standards, while serving as a key liaison between technical staff, functional collaborators, and central IT partners.

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Who We Are

The Campus Controller's Office maintains and supports the university's fiscal responsibility through accurate financial accounting and reporting and in compliance with laws, regulations, policies/procedures and contract requirements for sponsored projects. We provide oversight, assistance and training in financial stewardship for the campus.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Application Development and Technical Execution

• Lead and contribute to the development and support of enterprise financial tools, integrating PHP-based web applications, enterprise platforms via APIs and connectors, and Microsoft Power BI reporting into a single, cohesive solution.
• Maintain sufficient hands-on expertise to develop, troubleshoot, and remediate application issues, particularly for complex, high risk, or time sensitive needs.
• Ensure applications are ready, including environment configuration, error handling, logging, monitoring, backup and restore procedures, and operational documentation.
• Apply and enforce secure development practices, including role-based access control, audit logging, and protections against common web vulnerabilities (e.g., XSS, CSRF, SQL injection).
• Design, review, and optimize SQL queries, indexes, and batch processes supporting reporting, integrations, and data pipelines.
• Support enterprise integrations and APIs, including implementation and maintenance of Single Sign-On solutions (e.g., SAML, OAuth2).

Decision Authority and Scope of Responsibility

The Financial Systems Application Manager operates under the direction and delegated authority of the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems and is responsible for day-to-day managerial and technical decision making for supported applications. Within this delegated authority, the Financial Systems Application Manager is empowered to: Set application-level priorities and sequencing of work, consistent with approved strategies, audit timelines, and resource constraints. Make technical and operational decisions related to application design, security controls, deployment readiness, and supportability. Approve routine enhancements, remediation work, and technical approaches, including decisions related to refactoring, stabilization, or temporary risk mitigation. Direct and hold staff accountable for deliverables, timelines, documentation, and adherence to enterprise standards. The Financial Systems Application Manager partners closely with the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems on: Application strategy and long-term roadmaps, Acceptance or resolution of material technical, security, or compliance risk due to a critical issue, Resource allocation decisions with cross functional or budgetary impact, Audit responses, security findings, and remediation prioritization. Decisions with significant institutional, financial, security, or compliance impact are escalated to the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems for final approval, while the Financial Systems Application Manager remains accountable for analysis, recommendations, and execution.

Staff Management and Technical Oversight

• Supervise staff responsible for application development, maintenance, and support, while maintaining the technical depth vital to guide and review their work.
• Assign, prioritize, and review staff deliverables to ensure accuracy, security, performance, and compliance with enterprise standards.
• Conduct or approve code reviews, technical designs, and deployment plans; step in directly when higher level technical intervention is required.
• Establish clear expectations for documentation, testing, change management, and operational readiness.
• Mentor staff in secure coding practices, SQL performance optimization, enterprise integrations, accessibility considerations, and long-term application sustainability.
• Support performance management through measurable expectations, feedback, and technical coaching.

Application Strategy and Roadmap Ownership

In partnership with and under the direction of the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems, contribute to the definition of application strategy, technical roadmaps, and sequencing of work across fiscal years, audit cycles, and enterprise initiatives. Support the development and maintenance of long-term application strategy and technical roadmaps, balancing modernization, stability, security, and resource constraints in alignment with director guidance. Assist in establishing priorities and sequencing of work, including enhancements, refactoring, stabilization, and decommissioning of systems. Evaluate and provide recommendations on technical tradeoffs among technical debt, security risk, performance, and delivery timelines, documenting rationale and proposed mitigation strategies. Ensure application direction aligns with institutional finance priorities, enterprise IT standards, and compliance requirements, adapting recommendations based on evolving organizational needs. Provide technical analysis and input to leadership regarding resourcing needs, technical risk exposure, and sustainability of application solutions.

Enterprise Coordination, Compliance and Audit Support

• Coordinate with the Director of Financial Reporting and Systems on risk decisions, audit responses, prioritization of remediation work, and communication with enterprise IT, security, and leadership team members.
• Serve as the primary technical and managerial contact with enterprise IT, security, and infrastructure partners.
• Lead and participate in security and code reviews, track findings, and ensure timely remediation—personally addressing complex or sensitive issues when appropriate.
• Ensure application design and workflows support financial, reporting, and audit requirements, including data imports/exports, PDF generation, and historical record retention.
• Communicate effectively with non-technical partners, translating technical constraints and risks into clear business impacts and decisions.

What You Should Know

Hybrid work schedule offered.

What We Can Offer

The salary range for this position is $120,000 - $130,000 annually. Relocation stipend may be offered based on departmental guidelines.

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder, we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County's largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be balanced. Be positive. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field with three years of experience.
• 3+ years of progressive experience designing, developing, and maintaining financial and web-based systems and applications in academic and enterprise environments, with a focus on backend and full-stack development, database integration, and deployment across mixed operating system environments, including Linux-based infrastructure and Windows/macOS user systems.
• Experience supervising staff.
• Equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute.

What You Will Need

• Proven ability to develop solutions to a variety of problems of moderate scope and complexity using existing policies and practices as a guide
• Attention to detail and the ability to recognize unusual situations, question them and provide alternative solutions
• The ability to prioritize and use sound judgement to meet deadlines and work independently.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to collaborate with varying levels of authority and cross-functional teams
• Knowledge of, or ability to learn, GASB, GAAP, NACUBO accounting principles and guidelines.

What We Would Like You to Have

• 3 to 5 years of progressive experience including:
  • Demonstrated experience bringing existing applications to production readiness, including environment setup, configuration, logging, monitoring, and operational support.
  • Strong working knowledge of secure application development, including secure session management, parameterized SQL, input/output encoding, XSS and CSRF protections, role-based access control, and audit logging.
  • Advanced SQL skills, including query design, indexing, tuning, and support of batch jobs or data pipelines.
  • Experience integrating applications with enterprise systems and APIs, including Single Sign-On solutions (e.g., SAML, OAuth2).
• Demonstrated ability to both perform and oversee technical work, including reviewing the work of others and stepping in directly as needed.
• Strong written communication and documentation skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with enterprise or cloud hosting environments, including containerization (e.g., Docker), CI/CD pipelines, deployment validation, and rollback planning.
• Experience developing financial or reporting workflows, including data imports/exports and PDF generation with audit-ready history.
• Experience designing and implementing integrations using APIs and data connectors to enable data exchange between enterprise platforms such as Microsoft Power BI, Anaplan, and custom PHP-based applications, including data modeling, authentication, and automation of data flows.

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. A current resume.
2. A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.

We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by May 18, 2026 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Requisition Number: 71959

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Employment Type: University Staff

Schedule: Full-Time

Posting Close Date: 18-May-2026