Finance Partner, Finance Services

University of Calgary; Calgary; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Calgary is seeking a Finance Partner in Finance Services, AVP Planning & Performance. This Full-time Regular role reports to the Associate Director and leads specialized financial services for the Senior Leadership Team and assigned Faculty/Units, managing portfolios between $50M and $100M.

You will guide strategic planning, budgeting and forecasting, offer decision support, oversee internal controls, and develop actionable recommendations to keep portfolios on budget and on

Qualifications

• Accounting designation or MBA with related degree and experience.
• 7+ years of budgeting, forecasting and financial analysis.
• 2+ years providing strategic decision support at senior leadership level.
• Experience leading budgeting/forecasting for operations over $10M.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Knowledge of not-for-profit accounting and university structures.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic decision support to Senior Leadership teams.
• Lead annual planning and budget preparation for portfolios.
• Oversee forecasting, variance analysis and forecast processes.
• Manage month/quarter/year-end financial activities per policies.
• Improve financial processes with stakeholders and process owners.
• Develop proposals and business cases for new initiatives.
• Provide ad hoc reporting and financial analysis for timely decisions.
• Mentor staff and share perspectives for institutional planning.

Skills

Strategic decision support

Leadership

Communication

Relationship building

Budgeting & forecasting

Education

Professional accounting designation (CA, CMA or CGA) or MBA

Tools

ERP systems

Data warehousing

Business Intelligence tools

Spreadsheets

Job description

Description

Finance Services within the AVP Planning & Performance is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Finance Partner.

Reporting to the Associate Director, Finance Services, the Finance Partner leads the delivery of specialized financial services for members of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and assigned Faculty / Units. The Finance Partner is assigned a portfolio of Faculty and/or Business Units with combined operating and internally restricted funds ranging between $50M and $100M.

This position is part of the Finance Services team and provides expert knowledge in the areas of strategic planning, sustainable budgeting, specialized management reporting, impactful variance reporting and forecasting, internal control assessment and implementation, process improvement, and the development of recommendations for corrective action or innovative opportunities to ensure portfolios remain on budget and on task. The position requires an in-depth understanding of a varied, complex and quickly changing business, academic and research environment.

The Finance Partner leads the assessment, review, interpretation, and reporting of data collected through a variety of sources, systems and mediums. The incumbent will interpret internal / external challenges and make recommendations developed through the lens of sound strategic thinking, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The Finance Partner leads others to solve complex problems and difficult resource allocation decisions, and identification of innovative ways to achieve success.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

• Gain an understanding of multiple complex areas in a relatively short period to collect, analyze and organize information, establish facts and make pragmatic, value-added recommendations.
• Provide strategic decision support for Senior Leadership teams, ensuring leadership is apprised of all critical budgetary and financial issues, treating all matters with professionalism, sensitivity and confidentiality.
• Lead the comprehensive annual planning and budget preparation process for assigned portfolios and review to ensure alignment and integration with the university's overall strategy and plans (e.g. Business Plan, Research Plan, Academic Plan, Enrollment Plan, etc.).
• Lead the forecasting and planning process, including monthly budget-to-actual variance analysis and forecast.
• Lead all month / quarter / year-end financial activities within the Faculty / Unit in accordance with the institutions policies and procedures.
• Work in partnership with stakeholders to continuously seek to improve financial processes and procedures within the Faculty / Unit by working with the financial process stream owners.
• Develop proposals and business cases as required for new initiatives, and continuously review existing activities for process improvement and sustainability.
• Provide a wide variety of ad hoc reporting and financial analysis to enable timely and effective decision making.
• Serve as a conduit to share Faculty / Unit perspectives and ideas to integrate into institutional level planning, policy and procedure development.
• Successful and timely completion of special assignments and projects that have institutional-wide impacts, including assessing, testing, key performance indicators, reporting, recommending, evaluation and feedback assessment (i.e. tuition allocation methodologies).
• Stay current on trends and approaches to financial management and processes through continued professional development.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A professional accounting designation (CA, CMA or CGA) with a related University degree, or an MBA. Other relevant graduate levels of education and experience may be considered.
• Extensive work experience in various accounting functions including budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis (7+ years).
• Experience providing strategic decision support at the senior leadership level (2+ years).
• Experience leading the budgeting and forecasting processes for operations in excess of $10M.
• Proven ability to provide direction and leadership to staff.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Proven skills in building and maintaining productive and supportive working relationships with all levels of senior leadership, management and staff.
• Proficient user of computer software applications, including large integrated enterprise resource planning systems, data warehousing, business intelligence tools and spreadsheets.
• Good knowledge of not for profit accounting and university structures and operations.

Application Deadline: August 31, 2026

This position is classified in the Professional Career Band, Level 3 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments ([e-mail]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture ([e-mail]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.