Associate Vice President for Finance and Controller

Associate Vice President for Finance and Controller

The Opportunity
Duke University was created in 1924 by James Buchanan Duke as a memorial to his father, Washington Duke. A cornerstone of Duke’s commitment to inquiry across disciplines, university-wide institutes and initiatives foster problem-focused education, research, and engagement to generate knowledge in the service of society.  Duke currently has 10 Schools & Colleges. Duke has approximately 42,479 employees and has operating revenues of approximately $6.9B.

Duke University is seeking an energetic, seasoned individual with significant experience in a Controller operation. The successful candidate will be well grounded in accounting rules and procedures, with a proven track record of working across the institution to solve problems and advance the institution’s goals. The successful candidate will have a sophisticated capacity in distilling complex information into understandable and coherent presentations for all levels of financial, and non-financial, staff and faculty.

The most compelling candidates will have a minimum of ten years’ leadership experience in an accounting or finance function. Qualified candidates may come from either higher education or private sector, with experience in either highly distributed, complex organizations or from the professional services realm.

The Associate Vice President for Finance and Controller (“Controller”) reports to the Vice President for Finance (“VP”) and is a key member of the senior finance team.  The Controller will lead an office that provides financial services to all of the institution’s academic and administrative units and assures timely and accurate analysis and reporting to all of its stakeholders. The University Controller maintains policies and procedures with regard to internal accounting controls and disbursement practices in the University and Duke University Health System (DUHS), participates in planning for and maintenance of the Duke corporate financial enterprise resource planning system (SAP), maintains fiscal records and prepares internal and external financial reports, and establishes processes for supporting departments in global support endeavors.  The position involves supervision of accounting systems administration, corporate payroll, accounts payable, internal and financial reporting, corporate tax, employee travel and reimbursement, fringe benefits reporting, financial training and global support.

The Controller will lead an office of 80 that continuously strives to improve processes and to provide service and accuracy in an increasingly complex and demanding regulatory environment. The Controller will establish collaborations and relationships across the university and health system to better serve the mission and to communicate financial policies and procedures. S/He will look outside the university to anticipate regulatory challenges and to understand how best to meet them. The Controller will be an essential advisor to the VP and other senior leaders across the University.

Duke University has retained Korn Ferry, a national executive recruiting firm, to assist with this search. All nominations, inquiries, and application materials should be submitted in confidence to Korn Ferry.  Korn Ferry will begin reviewing applications immediately and continue to accept applications and nominations until the position is filled. Please direct all applications, nominations, and inquiries for the position to the search firm at the contact information below:

Beau Lambert, Senior Client Partner
Vickie Antolini, Senior Associate
Duke specific email:  Dukecontroller@kornferry.com 

Duke University is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria. The University promotes Affirmative Action for minorities, women, individuals who are disabled, and veterans. Duke University is a drug-free, smoke-free workplace.