Associate for Finance Policy & Innovation

Virginia AG; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is seeking an Associate for Finance Policy & Innovation to support finance policy, budgeting, and data-driven policy recommendations. The role collaborates with FP&A staff to enhance the finance function and uses higher-education data to inform policy.

The position involves producing policy analyses, budget summaries, and data reports for stakeholders, with occasional intraday and overnight travel as required.

Qualifications

• Experience analyzing public budgets and producing clear summaries.
• Advanced spreadsheet skills and handling large datasets.
• Strong analytical skills to identify correlations and compare across time and peers.
• Experience drafting quantitative and qualitative summaries to support policy decisions.
• Ability to present financial data clearly to diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Maintain finance policy records and datasets for policy assessments.
• Assist with review of agency Fact Packs and equipment program guidelines.
• Verify data for SHEF and SREB; report expenditures for institutions.
• Prepare research and policy analyses for ad hoc reports and presentations.
• Support budget summaries and six-year and biennial planning processes.

Skills

Budget analysis

Advanced spreadsheet

Data interpretation

Quantitative summaries

Presentation to stakeholders

Tools

SPSS

Stata

Tableau

Power BI

Job description

Title: Associate for Finance Policy & Innovation

State Role Title: Policy Planning Spec II

Hiring Range: $75,000.00 - $80,000.00

Pay Band: 5

Agency: State Council of Higher Educ

Location: JAMES MONROE BUILDING

Agency Website: https://www.schev.edu

Recruitment Type: General Public - G

Job Duties

About SCHEV
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is the coordinating body for the nation’s preeminent system of postsecondary education. Among its primary responsibilities are: the development of a statewide strategic plan for higher education; the facilitation of collaboration among postsecondary institutions that enhances academic quality and operational efficiency; and the development of system-level recommendations on budgetary and policy matters.

The Council and its staff play multiple, statutory roles in financial, budgetary and policy matters related to Virginia higher education, including: (i) developing policies, formulae and guidelines for the fair and equitable distribution and use of public funds among the public institutions of higher education; (ii) providing periodic updates of base-adequacy funding guidelines; and (iii) calculating each public institution's basic operations and instruction funding need for each year of each biennium and making that calculation available to the Governor, the General Assembly and the public colleges and universities. To fulfill these duties and expectations, SCHEV requires expertise in not only finance, accounting, budgeting and policymaking, but also in the management of higher-education-related financial information and data.

SCHEV aspires to be a great place to work. It is an environment of public servants committed to developing an educationally and economically sound, vigorous, progressive and coordinated system of higher education in Virginia. We value honesty, quality, diversity, inclusion, growth-orientation, personal well-being, equity, transparency and accountability. And we seek team players that will advance these values through their work and engagement.

About the Position
This position is an ongoing role in SCHEV’s Finance Policy and Innovation (FP&A) section, reporting to the Director of Finance Policy and Innovation, or designee. The position presents an opportunity to work alongside FP&A’s professional staff in a collegial atmosphere, while adding unique skills and abilities to the section’s capabilities and expanding its capacity to work with higher education data and policy. SCHEV’s offices are located in downtown Richmond, VA; limited teleworking is possible but not guaranteed.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Maintain finance policy records, datasets and other resources used in making policy assessments and recommendations and then shared with external stakeholders.
• Assist with the review and revision of the agency Fact Packs.
• Review guidelines and process institutional equipment program requisitions.
• Report and verify data to SHEF and SREB.
• Prepare research and policy analyses to be included in ad hoc reports and presentations to stakeholders.
• Assist in the production of budget summaries.
• Report yearly expenditures for institutions.
• Support fiscal and operational planning and performance at the state and campus/institutional levels, including six-year plans, a biennial planning process for institutions and state government, and the institutional performance standards.

Special Requirements

• Occasional intraday travel will be required. Overnight travel, while infrequent, is likely.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience analyzing public budgets and producing clear, actionable summary documents.
• Advanced spreadsheet expertise, including managing and analyzing large data sets.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify correlations, perform temporal and peer comparisons, and develop hypotheses based on data patterns.
• Experience conducting research and drafting quantitative and qualitative summaries, along with recommendations to support policy decisions.
• Skilled at presenting financial data clearly and effectively to diverse stakeholders.
• Proven ability to work independently on deadline driven projects within politically sensitive environments.
• Knowledge of higher education issues including enrollment, finance, affordability, academic programs, workforce alignment, and emerging sector challenges.
• Experienced in interpreting and evaluating statistical information.

Additional Considerations

• Experience demonstrating knowledge of public budget management or administration.
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite required, as well as experience desired in cloud services (SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams) and AI machine learning tools.
• Experience in using Statistics Software such as SPSS, Stata and data visualization tools like Tableau or Power B1.
• Knowledge of institutional reporting requirements is strongly desired.
• Possession of a valid driver’s license and/or of access to reliable transportation for travel to job-related activities.

Contact Information

Name: Taris Harmon

Phone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Note: Applicants who received a Certificate of Disability from DARS or DBVI dated between April 1, 2022- February 29, 2024, can still use that COD as applicable documentation for the Alternative Hiring Process.