Director of Financial Planning and Analysis

Fresno Pacific University; Fresno (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive benefits package

On-site role in Fresno

Job summary

Fresno Pacific University seeks a Director of Financial Planning & Analysis to lead the university's budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning. You will work with CFO and leaders to translate complex numbers into actionable guidance and strengthen planning processes using Ellucian Colleague and PFM tools.

You will supervise FP&A staff, partner across divisions, and drive rigorous financial analysis to support strategic decisions and stewardship of resources.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or related field.
• Minimum five years of budgeting, financial planning and analysis experience.
• Experience developing budgets, forecasts, financial models, and scenario analyses.
• Experience supervising professional staff.
• Advanced Excel and financial reporting tool proficiency.
• Strong analytical and communication skills.
• Ability to translate financial information for nonfinancial audiences.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and maintain confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and improvement of operating and capital budgets.
• Maximize Ellucian Colleague budgeting capabilities for a university-wide process.
• Develop and maintain institution-wide forecasts, with quarterly updates.
• Prepare rolling revenue and expense projections and analyze key drivers.
• Develop what-if scenarios and multi-year financial models.
• Provide budget-to-actual analyses and dashboards for leadership.
• Supervise Budget Analyst and staff; establish responsibilities and standards.
• Collaborate with student services, research, admissions, HR, and others to validate assumptions.

Skills

Financial analysis

Budgeting & forecasting

Excel proficiency

Staff leadership

Communication

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance/Accounting/Business

Master's degree or CPA/CMA preferred

Tools

Ellucian Colleague

Synario

PFM software

ERP systems

Job description

The Director of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) plays a key role in the university's financial planning and resource management. Reporting to the CFO and Vice President of Business Affairs, the Director leads budgeting, forecasting, financial modeling, and long-range financial planning, providing leadership with clear financial analysis to support institutional priorities and responsible resource allocation.

The Director works closely with university leadership and departments across the institution to develop reliable projections, evaluate financial implications of strategic initiatives, identify trends and opportunities, and translate complex financial information into practical recommendations.

This role also provides an opportunity to enhance the university's financial planning capabilities by strengthening processes, developing effective financial models and scenarios, and leveraging Ellucian Colleague and the university's scenario-planning and PFM software. The position supervises financial planning and analytical staff as assigned.

The ideal candidate brings strong financial and analytical expertise, sound judgment, curiosity, and the ability to communicate financial information clearly to both financial and non-financial audiences. This is a highly collaborative role with the opportunity to influence how financial information is used across the university to support sound planning and stewardship of institutional resources.

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the university's annual operating and capital budget processes, including standardized timelines, assumptions, templates, review checkpoints, and departmental accountability.
• Maximize the financial and budgeting capabilities of Ellucian Colleague to establish a consistent, integrated, and reliable university-wide budget process and improve budget entry, consolidation, monitoring, and reporting.
• Develop and maintain institution-wide financial forecasts, with formal forecasts prepared at least quarterly and updated more frequently when material conditions change.
• Prepare rolling revenue and expense projections and analyze key financial drivers, including enrollment, retention, tuition and fees, financial aid, compensation, benefits, and other operating assumptions.
• Develop and document what-if scenarios, sensitivity analyses, and multi-year financial models to evaluate institutional priorities, financial sustainability, risks, and potential operating outcomes.
• Become proficient in and effectively utilize the university's scenario-planning/PFM software, including Synario as application, to support forecasting, scenario analysis, and long-range financial planning.
• Prepare accurate, timely, and insightful budget-to-actual analyses, forecasts, dashboards, and financial reports for the CFO, President, Executive Leadership Team (ELT)/Cabinet, budget managers, and other university stakeholders.
• Partner with the Controller to ensure budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning are grounded in accurate, reconciled, and timely financial results and clearly documented assumptions.
• Collaborate regularly with Student Financial Services, Institutional Research, Advancement, Admissions, Academic Affairs, Human Resources, and other university offices to develop, validate, and communicate financial assumptions and projections.
• Conduct financial assessments of proposed academic programs, staffing changes, capital investments, strategic initiatives, and other miscellaneous planning matters as requested by the CFO and university leadership.
• Prepare financial analyses, business cases, and presentation materials for the CFO and President and, as requested, support presentations to the Finance Committee and other relevant Board committees.
• Supervise, coach, and develop the Budget Analyst and an additional financial planning or analytical position as assigned; establish clear responsibilities, workflows, documentation standards, deadlines, cross-training, and quality expectations.
• Support budget managers through financial guidance, training, and tools that promote consistent budgeting practices, fiscal responsibility, and informed decision-making across the university.
• Maintain confidentiality of information regarding students, employees, donors, and institutional financial matters.
• Responsible for supervising assigned staff including, but not limited to, hiring, training, evaluating, and managing performance.
• Demonstrate a commitment to serving and inspiring students and colleagues in a context of a Christian University, integrating your Christian faith into your role and responsibilities.
• Embrace the mission, vision, and values of Fresno Pacific University, affirm the FPU Faith Expectations, and support the ideals and practices articulated in The Fresno Pacific Idea
• Uphold and advance Fresno Pacific University's commitment to Christ-centered higher education, holistic student development, and serving diverse communities.
• Complete tasks timely with work that is comprehensive, complete, and accurate
• Communicates clearly, listens attentively, and seeks to understand others
• Collaborates productively with colleagues of varying skillset
• Other job duties as assigned

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, or a related field
• Minimum five years of progressively responsible experience in budgeting, financial planning and analysis, accounting, or a related financial management field
• Demonstrated experience developing budgets, forecasts, financial models, and scenario or sensitivity analyses
• Experience supervising, coaching, or leading professional staff
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and demonstrated ability to work with financial reporting, ERP, and analytical tools
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to translate complex financial information for nonfinancial audiences
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to collaborate across organizational functions
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, maintain confidentiality, and produce accurate work in a dynamic environment

Preferred:

• Experience in higher education or nonprofit financial management
• Experience with Ellucian Colleague or a comparable enterprise resource planning (ERP) system
• Experience with Synario, PFM, or comparable financial planning and scenario-modeling software
• Knowledge of higher education financial drivers, including enrollment, tuition, financial aid, and auxiliary or advancement revenue
• Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field; CPA, CMA, or other relevant professional credential

Environmental Conditions:

• Indoors in a normal office environment with little exposure to excessive noise, dust, fumes, vibrations, and temperature changes at least eighty percent (80%) of the time.
• Frequent computer use at a workstation, up to eight hours per day.
• Frequently work at a fast pace with unscheduled interruptions.
• Drive personal or University vehicles to appointments.
• Public contact position requiring professional apparel, personal hygiene, and grooming.

Physical Demands:

• This position typically functions indoors in an office environment with light to moderate noise associated with business office equipment. The position may involve travel for meetings and events.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to: remain in a stationary position 80 % of the time, be able to move about inside the office to access file cabinets/office machinery etc., operate a computer and keyboard and other office productivity machinery such as calculators/copy machines/printers. The employee is occasionally required to position self to reach items on the floor and in high cabinetry.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Employee must be able to communicate with others to exchange information including both over the telephone and in-person communication with callers and community members and be able to read a computer screen and paper documents.
• Reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities will be provided in accordance with law.

$90,000 - $120,000 is the annual starting salary for this role and reflects what Fresno Pacific University reasonably expects to pay for this position. Actual compensation may vary based on qualifications, experience, and internal equity. In addition to compensation, FPU offers a competitive benefits package.

Reserving its rights as a religious institution, Fresno Pacific University is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, age or disability, or other classes protected by applicable law. Committed to excellence and actively supportive of cultural diversity, FPU invites individuals who contribute to such diversity to apply. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you should contact FPU's Human Resources Department at [e-mail]. As a religious institution, the University will administer the equal opportunity employment policy consistent with the Fresno Pacific University statement of faith, the FPU Idea and the University's governance by the Pacific District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.