Finance Manager, L2M National

Dalhousie University; Halifax; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player in education seeks a Finance Manager to oversee financial management for a national innovation network. This role involves managing budgets, preparing reports, and developing financial models to support programming. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in financial management, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with various stakeholders. Join a vibrant academic community that values diversity and innovation, and contribute to impactful projects that transform research into market opportunities. If you're ready to make a difference in the educational landscape, this is the opportunity for you.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension plan

Health and dental plans

Health spending account

Employee and family assistance program

Tuition assistance program

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant experience in financial management.
• Proven ability to manage sensitive and confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Oversee financial management for L2M National and Atlantic Region Hub.
• Manage complex funding relationships with multiple agencies.

Skills

Financial Management

Accounting Principles

Communication Skills

Leadership Skills

Problem-Solving Skills

Collaboration Skills

Education

Undergraduate degree in Accounting, Business, or Management

Tools

MS Office

G-Suite

Adobe Acrobat

Slack

Airtable

Salesforce

Job description

This is a provisional classification. Formal regular review classification procedures may be initiated at any time by the incumbent or supervisor after the incumbent has worked a minimum of six months in the role.

Dalhousie University is Atlantic Canada’s leading research-intensive university and a driver of the region’s intellectual, social and economic development. Located in the heart of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with an Agricultural Campus in Truro/Bible Hill, Dalhousie is a truly national and international university, with more than half of our almost 21,000 students coming from outside of the province. Our 6,000 faculty and staff foster a vibrant, purpose-driven community, that celebrated 200 years of academic excellence in 2018.

Job Summary

Dalhousie is the national headquarters of Lab2Market (L2M), a national network for innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship skills training of students, researchers, and highly qualified personnel (HQP). With more than 50 partner universities across Canada, the network equips trainees with the essential tools, resources, and knowledge to transform academic research or innovative ideas into market opportunities and impact. Reporting directly to the Executive Director, L2M and indirectly to the Managing Director Research and Innovation, the Finance Manager is responsible for financial management of the L2M Network budget, including significant Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) funding as well as various partner funding.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee financial management activities for L2M National and the L2M Atlantic Region Hub. This includes business planning, budget preparation, spending projections, forecasts, reporting, and financial controls and documentation for all programming budgets under L2M across Canada.
• Manage complex funding relationships with multiple funding agencies and donors, including L2M member institutions, federal government, private donors, corporate partners and not for profits. Prepare and present reports to senior audiences including donors, university administration, and government officials.
• Develop and manage financial models for L2M programming to support program planning and budget forecasting. Develop and implement financial reporting and controls for hubs and delivery sites. Manage financial reporting to multiple stakeholders, including donors, Dalhousie, NSERC, and Mitacs.
• Review L2M hubs and delivery sites financial plans and financial requests. Advise and support L2M regional hubs to achieve the goals and requirements of entrepreneurial programming nationally, and for Dalhousie.
• Continually explore and develop new and innovative initiatives for cost savings, shared resources, greater administrative efficiency, and generation of new financial resources. Prepare detailed financial analyses and reports, identifies variances, and develops recommendations to address any shortfalls.
• Oversee all financial reporting activities for L2M. Prepare and submit financial reporting in accordance with funder and partner agreements. Coordinate delivery partner reporting for consolidated reporting of spending and claims.

Required Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Accounting, Business, or Management or a related technical field plus at least five years relevant experience in financial management (or equivalent combination of training and experience).
• Proven financial management with demonstrated knowledge of accounting principles, regulation, and logic of financial systems, and the ability to effectively manage sensitive/ confidential information.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing financial modeling to support non-financial operational leaders; and in financial reporting and forecasting.
• Strong collaboration, interpersonal, and communication (presentation, verbal and written) skills.
• Demonstrated leadership skills as well as excellent organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency with a variety of software applications including MS Office, G-Suite, Adobe Acrobat, and the proven ability to learn new software quickly.

Assets

• Experience in an academic or research environment.
• An in-depth knowledge of both university operations and industry trends.
• Proficiency with Slack, Airtable and Salesforce.

Additional Information

The successful candidate is expected to demonstrate proficiency in Dalhousie’s core and leadership competencies (https://www.dal.ca/dept/leaders.html), in particular:

• Thinking and Acting Strategically
• Relationship Building
• Resource & Process Management
• Accountability for Performance & Results
• Change & Innovation

Dalhousie University supports a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Our total compensation package includes a defined benefit pension plan, health and dental plans, a health spending account, an employee and family assistance program and a tuition assistance program.

Application Consideration

Applications from current university employees and external candidates are assessed concurrently. Current university employees will be given special consideration.

We sincerely appreciate all applications and note that only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted directly by the hiring department or People and Culture.

Diversity Statement

Dalhousie University commits to achieving inclusive excellence through continually championing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. The university encourages applications from Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (especially Mi’kmaq), persons of Black/African descent (especially African Nova Scotians), and members of other racialized groups, persons with disabilities, women, persons identifying as members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. In accordance with our Employment Equity Policy, preference will be given in hiring processes to candidates who self-identify as members of one or more of the equity-deserving groups listed above. For more information, including details related to our Employment Equity Policy and Plan and definitions of equity-deserving groups please visit www.dal.ca/hiringfordiversity

Documents Needed to Apply

Required Documents

• Résumé / Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Optional Documents

• Cover Letter