Strategic Athletics Finance & Operations Lead

SUU; Cedar City (UT); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Utah University seeks an Associate Athletic Director of Business Operations and Financial Officer for Athletics to be the financial architect of a multi-million dollar Division I program. You will oversee fiscal management, forecasting, and capital projects, partnering with external staff to optimize revenue sharing and solvency.

The role requires deep expertise in budgeting, ERP systems, and NCAA compliance, with a track record of strategic financial leadership within intercollegiate

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum 5 years of budget oversight, preferably in NCAA Division I.
• Proficiency with Banner ERP and advanced Excel modeling.
• Knowledge of NCAA financial legislation, Title IX and tax laws.

Responsibilities

• Strategic financial planning and revenue-sharing engineering.
• Cap allocation modeling with multi-year forecasting.
• Long-range forecasting for contracts, subsidies, distributions and revenue.
• Capital project planning including debt service and cash flow.
• Oversee sport supervision and financial operations.
• Annual budget formulation and expense controls.
• University reconciliation of athletic accounts with the central office.
• Prepare NCAA financial reports and EADA filings.
• Vendor negotiations and procurement management.
• Compensation modeling and HR collaboration.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

Banner ERP

Microsoft Excel

Job description

The Associate Athletic Director of Business Operations and financial officer for Athletics serves as the principal financial architect and strategic business advisor for the athletic department. This role is responsible for the overall fiscal management, strategic forecasting, and operational efficiency of a multi-million dollar Division I athletic program. The position will steer the department through a rapidly evolving collegiate landscape, working directly with external staff to engineer capital structures for institutional revenue sharing, commercial growth, capital facility projects, and overall departmental solvency.

Date of first consideration: 09/28/2026.Strategic Financial Planning & Revenue-Share Engineering

• Revenue-Sharing Models: Implement, and audit long-term financial models to support direct student-athlete revenue sharing, ensuring compliance with changing legal frameworks.
• Cap Allocation Modeling: Partner directly with the Athletic Director, General Manager of NIL, and sport administrators to model roster-cap parameters and project multi-year sport-by-sport operational impacts.
• Long-Range Forecasting: Build 5-to-10-year financial forecasting models that account for fluctuating contracts, institutional subsidies, conference distribution shifts, and ticket revenues.
• Capital Project Planning: Direct financial feasibility studies, debt-service structuring, and cash-flow management for major athletic facility renovations and capital construction campaigns.
• Sport Supervision: Potentially serve as a sport supervisor overseeing all aspects of assigned sport.

Fiscal Management, Budgeting, & Accounting

• Annual Budget Formulation: Author and manage the comprehensive annual operating budget across all sport programs and support units.
• Expense Control & Audits: Monitor daily expenditures, conduct variance analyses, and implement cost-containment measures across team travel, equipment procurement, and administrative overhead.
• University Reconciliation: Serve as the chief liaison to the central university business office to reconcile internal athletic accounts, institutional transfers, student fees, and general fund distributions.
• Financial Reporting: Oversee the exact preparation and submission of mandatory annual financial filings, including the NCAA Financial Report and the federal Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) report.

Revenue Integration & Contractual Oversight

• Commercial Venture Evaluation: Conduct financial due diligence and ROI assessments on third-party commercial contracts, including apparel deals, multimedia rights (MMR), food/beverage services, and ticketing platforms.
• Collective & Gift Integration: Track, record, and project incoming philanthropic donations alongside the athletic external team, optimizing the deployment of restricted endowment funds and operational capital.
• Vendor & Procurement Management: Standardize and lead the department’s Request for Proposal (RFP) processes and direct negotiations with corporate vendors to maximize economies of scale.

Human Resources & Internal Operations

Compensation Modeling: Structurally manage the department's payroll and collaborate with human resources and athletic director to design performance- based and competitive compensation packages for coaches and administrators.

Internal Business Staff Management: Serve as the internal athletic business manager and liaison with appropriate campus entities, including accountants, travel coordinators, and payroll personnel.

Risk & Tax Mitigation: Audit financial operations to minimize liabilities, assess insurance coverages, and mitigate department-wide operational liabilities.

Teamworks/Software Manager: Serves as the liaison for all department wide software platforms.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors degree
• Minimum 5 years of demonstrated high level budget oversight, with preference given to NCAA division 1 experience.
• Mastery of enterprise-level financial ERP software (e.g.Banner) and highly advanced financial modeling skills in Microsoft Excel.
• Thorough familiarity with NCAA financial legislation, Title IX compliance metrics, and federal/state employment and tax laws.

Preferred Qualifications

Masters Degree

Decisive leadership style with a proven track record of communicating complex financial projections clearly to non-financial stakeholders, board members, and coaching staffs.

Ability to fluidly pivot financial strategies in response to landmark judicial rulings, legislative updates, and evolving collegiate market shifts.

This position is contingent on funding.

Due to recent changes in H1B visa fees, Southern Utah University is no longer able to sponsor international faculty and staff that require an H1B visa and are currently living outside of the United States.