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Job Description - Director of Financial Planning and Analysis (250005BY)

Job Description

Director of Financial Planning and Analysis - ( 250005BY )

Description

The Education Secretariat is committed to equity and valuing the unique and diverse characteristics and experiences of every member of its workforce. We encourage an authentic workplace where colleagues show up as their full selves, where collaboration, innovation, and connections are key to realizing our mission that all children, youth, and families thrive socially, academically, and economically. We seek teammates who are committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive work environment, where everyone is valued and engaged. We encourage you to apply and identify your strengths in these areas.

The Massachusetts Public Higher Education System

The Massachusetts System of Public Higher Education (“System”) enrolls approximately 260,000 students in credit-bearing programs annually. The System consists of 15 community colleges, 9 state universities, and 5 University of Massachusetts (“UMass”) campuses. The Board of Higher Education (BHE) has coordination and oversight responsibilities for the entire System, and the BHE, together with each respective Board of Trustees, expects all students, faculty, and staff to be held to exacting standards in the performance of their roles and responsibilities.

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (“Board” or “BHE”) is the Commonwealth’s higher education authority with coordinating and regulatory responsibility for all public and private higher education institutions operating in the Commonwealth that are authorized to grant degrees. The BHE is staffed by the Department of Higher Education (DHE), which is run by a Commissioner who serves as the executive and administrative head of the department. Together, the BHE and DHE are the leading voices and advocate for postsecondary education in the Commonwealth.

In addition, the BHE and DHE’s authority includes administering state financial aid and federal grant programs; managing and responding to consumer complaints; conducting financial assessments of institutions; managing employee relations and benefits for public higher education employees; managing collective bargaining contracts with state university and community colleges employees; and approving degree-granting authority for all public and most private higher education institutions operating within the Commonwealth. Currently, there are 80 private institutions of higher education operating in the Commonwealth and authorized to grant degrees.

The BHE is staffed by its executive agency, the Department of Higher Education (DHE), which is run by Commissioner Ortega. The Department of Higher Education is committed to the Values of Equity, Accountability, Community, Empowerment, Intentionality, and Teamwork, and seeks applicants who value the full diversity of Massachusetts students and who share a sensitivity to and understanding of the academic, socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of the populations served. We employ a hybrid hoteling work model with a fixed weekly team day schedule.

Position Overview

The role of Director of Financial Planning & Analysis is a dynamic position within DHE that involves extensive collaboration. Reporting to the Assistant Commissioner of Finance, this individual will engage confidently and effectively with various stakeholders, including the fiscal department, DHE units, DHE partners, and senior management on a regular basis.

In this role, the Director will collaborate across DHE units and programs to oversee fiscal health, generate insightful information for leadership decision-making, and facilitate the development process. Key responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of budget preparation, development, reporting, and management, while also supporting the Director of Accounting and Procurement in maintaining internal control standards. Additionally, the chosen candidate will monitor expenditure, coordinate responses, and ensure timely submission of necessary documents to key offices such as the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (“A&F”), the Executive Office of Education, Ways and Means Committees, and the Comptroller's Office.

Responsibilities/Essential Job Functions

• Support and collaborate with DHE leadership in the process to establish programmatic and administrative priorities for Department resources from the perspective of controlling spending to ensure that funding is used cost-effectively to further identified goals.
• Perform variance analysis on budgets/forecasts with actuals, routinely monitoring and evaluating the financial positions of the DHE and partners.
• Use the Department’s identified goals and objectives as the basis to create a persuasive, comprehensive, and accurate forecast for the next year and long-term funding request per guidance from A&F and in collaboration with the Secretariat, with accompanying annotation or narrative or presentation as needed. (Maintenance Request, H.1/H.2 Exercise, Joint Ways & Means Request, Amendments to House and Senate Ways and Means recommendations, Conference Priorities and Veto Exercise).
• Oversee the drafting and submission of the Department’s Spending and Revenue Plan, per guidance from A&F and in collaboration with the Executive Office of Education, monitor variances from the submitted and the approved plan, and identify and help manage deficiencies or surpluses. Responds to mid-year spending and revenue update information request.
• Advocate for the Department’s policy objectives and corresponding program and administrative funding with the Secretariat, A&F, the House and Senate Ways and Means committees to obtain necessary programmatic and administrative funding, educate stakeholders on issues in public higher education, secure approvals for transactions necessary for Department operations and the achievement of the Department’s goals and objectives.
• Responsible for monitoring the overall operating budget throughout the fiscal year and providing expenditure details as needed to the Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and Senior Staff. Meet regularly with DHE staff to stay apprised of changes to programmatic and administrative spending and keep already approved spending on target throughout the fiscal year.
• Using historical trend analysis and a working knowledge of fiscal activities helps to streamline the budget process for unit leads so that individual budgets are more accurate and useful as tools to improve business performance.
• Oversee the review, approval and tracking of requisitions or other types of expenditure requests on account tracking sheets and regularly update account tracking sheets for all DHE’s budgetary, trust and federal grant accounts using information from Luminist (DocDirect), querying MMARS and HRCMS data in the Commonwealth Information Warehouse, and federal grant payment systems.
• Develop financial models with varying scenarios to analyze policy, procedures, and proposed changes from a fiscal perspective and make recommendations to ensure resource allocation aligns with Departmental priorities. Analyze the fiscal impact of pending legislation. Responding to requests regarding Executive Order 562, Regulation Review Checklist.
• Build a collaborative relationship with the Comptroller, EOE, A&F, and the Legislature to secure approvals for grant account set-ups, new chart of account codes, expenditure and encumbrance coding corrections, ad hoc allotments, inter-subsidiary transfers, personnel, contract employees, deficiencies, summer months carry forwards, and prior appropriation continuances.
• In collaboration with the Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, make recommendations to leadership and other staff on solutions to fiscal problems in Department-run programs.
• Conduct fiscal analysis of resource allocations related to staffing targets and make recommendations regarding priorities in filling vacancies. Enter transactions as needed to distribute payroll costs according to available resources (Rules, LARQs, EPPAs).
• Assists in the development of specific initiatives designed to yield savings or increased revenues and has primary responsibility for monitoring progress toward these goals.
• Collaborate with the Assistant Commissioner to develop a robust financial reporting business process that meets the needs of the Department. To the extent possible, the approach will integrate with other Departmental reporting tools and initiatives and incorporate non-financial data as required for supporting programmatic and operational decision making.
• Ensure policies, procedures, and document retention for the Budget unit are transparent, user-friendly, and sustainable.
• Review the annual agreement to allow claiming for state financial aid spending for the TANF block grant maintenance of effort requirement.
• Participate in professional development opportunities to remain current with the latest best practices in budgeting and financial management in higher education.
• Performs related duties and assists with special projects as needed.

Competencies/Skills and Abilities

• Proficiency in MMARS, including the ability to manage encumbrances, pay invoices, transfer revenue, and reconcile accounts.
• Experience with processing contracts, SOWs, ISAs, and other obligation documents.
• Highly competent in using and manipulating spreadsheets for financial tracking, analysis, and reporting.
• Demonstrated supervisory experience and ability to coordinate the efforts of others in accomplishing assigned]]>

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