Executive Director of Budget & Finance / Chief Financial Officer
Location: Utica, NY Job Type: Full-Time, 12-Month
Mohawk Valley Community College provides accessible, high-quality educational opportunities to meet the diverse needs of our students. We are the community's college, committed to student success through partnerships, transfer and career pathways, and personal enrichment.
The College is looking for exceptional colleagues to join the MVCC community. We are currently seeking an Executive Director of Budget & Finance / Chief Financial Officer in our Budget & Finance department. As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Fiscal Officer, and Treasurer of the College, the Executive Director of Budget & Finance is responsible for providing emotionally‑intelligent, inclusive, strengths‑based leadership to inspire and support faculty and staff in maximizing resources and identifying solutions that advance the mission of the College and the communities it serves.
The CFO serves as the College's senior financial strategist and fiduciary leader, responsible for oversight and stewardship of all College funds, reserves, investments, and financial assets. The position provides executive leadership for all budget development, financial planning, fiscal management, accounting, financial reporting, audit, compliance, treasury, and financial systems functions of the College.
Reporting to the President, the CFO exercises broad independent judgment in guiding strategic financial decisions, ensuring long‑term financial sustainability and resilience. and supporting the optimum attainment of the College's mission. As a member of the President's Cabinet, the CFO actively participates in shared governance and institutional decision‑making.
Key responsibilities for this position include:
Demonstrates inclusive, strengths-based leadership by fostering a high-performing and collaborative organizational culture that supports employee engagement, wellness, and respect across the College and communities it serves.
Serves as a collaborative and engaged member of the President's Cabinet, providing executive‑level financial leadership and analysis to guide institutional strategy, policy development, and resource allocation.
Provides strategic financial leadership by aligning institutional resources with the College's educational and operational business models and assessing the long-term fiscal sustainability of changes in enrollment, funding, programs, and external conditions.
Provides executive leadership for the College's comprehensive budget and finance functions, including long‑range financial planning, annual operating and capital budget development, multi‑year forecasting, and fiscal strategy.
Develops, administers, and maintains the College's operating and capital budgets in alignment with institutional priorities, including analysis of funding sources, debt capacity, financing strategies, and long‑term fiscal sustainability.
Provides regular budget status reports, variance analyses, and financial guidance to administrators with budgetary responsibility to promote proactive, accountable, and transparent budget management across the institution.
Designs, implements, and oversees institutional wide financial projections, including trend analysis and scenario modeling to support decision-making.
Conducts financial feasibility analyses of academic programs, student services, administrative operations, and proposed initiatives to assess sustainability, efficiency, and long‑term financial impact.
Partners with academic and administrative leadership to support department‑level planning through financial modeling and scenario development in response to programmatic, enrollment, staffing, and service delivery changes.
Oversees the Business Office, including general accounting, payroll, purchasing, accounts payable and receivable, bursar operations, cash management, investments, restricted and grant funds, and project accounting.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm
Hours per week: 35
Qualifications:
Required Qualifications:
Master's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, public administration, or a related field
Seven (7) years of progressively responsible senior‑level financial and administrative leadership experience
Demonstrated record of distinction in budget planning, financial management, and fiscal leadership in a complex, multi‑department organization
Thorough working knowledge of public sector or higher education finance, accounting, budgeting, audit, and compliance requirements or comparable complex regulatory environments
Excellent analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills
Demonstrated commitment to the philosophy, mission, and values of a public community college
Consensus‑building leadership style with the ability to work effectively in a shared governance environment
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in a public community college or other higher education setting
Experience negotiating contracts, including collective bargaining agreements
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or other relevant professional certification
Demonstrated experience leading financial transformation initiatives, institutional sustainability efforts, or organizational change
Additional Information:
Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. If you currently need sponsorship or will need it in the future to maintain employment authorization, you do not meet eligibility requirements.
Offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check.
We encourage applicants who meet the minimum qualifications and have transferable skills to apply. If you have related experience that may not align perfectly with the job description, we'd still like to hear from you.
Mohawk Valley Community College has more than 800 full-time and part-time employees at our campuses in Utica and Rome, NY. We are located in the Central New York region at the foothills of the Adirondack mountains between Syracuse and Albany, NY in Oneida County.Founded in 1946 as one of the first community colleges in New York State, MVCC is one of 64 campuses of the State University of New York.The College offers about 100 transfer and career technical programs, including liberal arts and sciences, healthcare, engineering technologies, trades, engineering science, business, human services and fine arts. A diverse institution with a global view, MVCC offers career, transfer, and transitional education, programs for personal and cultural enrichment, and supports community and economic development.Interested candidates will find competitive salaries and outstanding benefits along with an enriched, collaborative work environment that is based on excellence in teaching and student service, employee success with continued contributions, and commitment to our surrounding communities.Mohawk Valley Community College is committed to fostering a diverse community of outstanding faculty, sta...ff, and students, as well as ensuring equal educational opportunity, employment, and access to services, programs, and activities, without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction. MVCC does not discriminate. MVCC is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.Employees, students, applicants, or other members of the College community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) may not be subjected to harassment that is prohibited by law, or treated adversely or retaliated against based upon a protected characteristic.The College's policy is in accordance with federal and state laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination and harassment. These laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as Amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, and the New York State Human Rights Law. These laws prohibit discrimination and harassment, including sexual harassment and sexual violence.Inquiries regarding the application of Title IX and other laws, regulations and policies prohibiting discrimination may be directed to the Executive Director of Human Resources.