Lead Officer, Financial Planning and Reporting

University of Ottawa; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 76,104 - 96,135; Full time

Job summary

University of Ottawa seeks a senior financial leader to oversee daily financial operations within Student Affairs and related sectors. You will provide senior level advice to support long‑term planning and supervise a team handling budgets, payroll, procurement and reporting.

Required are accounting expertise, 5+ years in a similar role, bilingual French/English, and strong analytical and communication skills. This role contributes to university‑wide financial strategy and compliance.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of accounting principles normally acquired through postsecondary studies.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar role.
• Bilingualism: French and English (spoken and written) with proficiency level LAL or higher.
• Knowledge of financial systems, spreadsheets, databases, Internet and e‑mail.
• Professional accounting designation is an asset.
• Experience in supervision.
• Experience in strategic planning.
• Experience in budget planning, control and analysis.
• Experience in analyzing reports and presenting insights.
• Experience interpreting and applying policies and regulations.
• Ability to produce high quality work under pressure with strict deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and high discretion.

Responsibilities

• Budget: oversee budgets and analyze variances; define sector priorities and KPIs.
• Financial: manage ongoing transaction processes and ensure policy compliance.
• Purchasing: approve procurement for the sector ensuring contract compliance.
• Payroll: verify payroll for all employee groups and reconcile with budgets.
• Processes: design and improve work methods and monitor compliance.
• Records management: maintain confidential, auditable filing systems.
• Reporting: prepare complex cost/benefit and financial performance reports.
• Supervision: supervise administrative staff and guide priorities.

Skills

Accounting principles

5+ years of experience

Bilingual: French & English

Financial systems knowledge

Spreadsheets

Databases

Professional accounting designation (D

Education

Postsecondary studies in accounting

Professional accounting designation (asset)

Tools

Financial software

Spreadsheets

Databases

Internet & Email

Job description

Job Type: Employee; Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments): N/A; Job Family: Financial Planning and Reporting; # of Open Positions: 1; Faculty/Service - Department: Student Affairs, Finance, RVS, Client Relations, CDEL; Campus: Main Campus; Union Affiliation: SSUO; Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/07/30; Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/08/09; Hours per week: 35; Salary Grade: SSUO Grade 09; Salary Range: $76,104.00 - $96,135.00

About Student Affairs: Student Affairs is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. We recruit the very best future students, support them throughout their university years and leave them well-prepared for fulfilling careers and future studies. Our team of more than 600 dedicated staff provides the services that keep students happy, well and thriving as they pursue their ambitions. We help them apply and enrol for courses, we oversee 11 residences and an award-winning Dining Hall, we organize fun events, we provide extensive recreation program opportunities and varsity sports activities, we run an innovative career development and experiential learning program and much more! There’s nothing more rewarding than helping future generations reach their full potential at a world-class university. With our wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the experience as much as our students do.

Position Purpose

Oversee the day-to-day financial operations of the sector with the objective of ensuring sound financial management and providing advice to upper management to support long-term strategic planning. Supervise and lead a team of employees whose role is to perform a variety of functions related to the financial and administration operations of the sector in order to ensure a productive and positive environment and to provide senior level advice and support for more complex issues. May represent upper management on central committees whose mandates are related to the incumbent’s area of responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Budget: Oversee the administration of internally and/or externally‑funded budgets to ensure compliance with established policies. Analyze financial statements against budgets for various types of funds to identify and address any inconsistencies. Define budget priorities for the sector and provide expert advice to managers on the effective preparation of budgets, budget projections and shortfalls. Develop key financial performance indicators and monitor performance.
• Financial: Oversee the ongoing financial transaction processes for the sector, to ensure best practices and compliance with established policies. Develop and evaluate business practices and management tools for effective financial control. Act as approval agent for major purchases, travel advances, requests for reimbursement and credit card statements to ensure proper application of policies and to reconcile inconsistencies with budget forecast and actual expenditures.
• Purchasing: Act as approval agent for procurement of goods and services for the sector to ensure compliance with supplier contracts.
• Payroll: Oversee the verification of payroll reports for all employee groups, including part‑time support and faculty salaries, within the sector, to ensure salary accuracy and to reconcile inconsistencies with budget forecast and actual expenditures.
• Processes and procedures: Design and implement new or modify existing work methods, procedures and processes and monitor compliance by his/her team for the purpose of continuously improving operations to maximize productivity and effectiveness.
• Records management: Implement and manage an effective filing and records management system to preserve confidentiality of the records and ensure that complete and accurate documentation is available for future reference or audit purposes.
• Reporting: Prepare and analyze various moderately‑ to highly‑complex reports on cost/benefit analyses and financial performance of the sector to provide advice and recommendations to managers and to support long term strategic planning.
• Supervision of others: Supervise work performed by administrative support roles to organize priorities and provide guidance in the attainment of individual objectives.

What You Will Bring

• Advanced knowledge of accounting principles normally acquired through postsecondary studies. in a related discipline or an equivalent combination
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a similar role.
• Bilingualism: French and English (spoken and written), to be considered for this position, candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.
• Knowledge of computer systems and software including financial systems, spreadsheets, databases, Internet and e‑mail
• Professional accounting designation is an asset
• Experience in supervision
• Experience participating in strategic planning
• Experience in budget planning, control and analysis
• Experience in analyzing reports
• Experience in interpreting, explaining and applying policies and regulations
• Ability to produce high quality work under pressure while meeting strict deadlines
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong organizational skills
• High level of discretion

Key Competencies at uOttawa

• Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
• Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self‑starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
• Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
• Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier‑free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [e-mail] to communicate the accommodation need. Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above;

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid‑19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid‑19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.

The University of Ottawa offers a generous pay and benefits package that includes a competitive salary, a defined benefit pension plan, group insurance coverage and an employee and family assistance program.