Assistant Dean & Chief Financial Officer

New York University School of Law, a preeminent global law school, featuring innovative teaching, cutting-edge research, and intellectual and professional development in a uniquely collegial environment, seeks applications and nominations for the position of Assistant Dean & Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Reporting jointly to the Dean and the Associate Dean & COO and serving as a member of the Law School’s senior leadership team, the CFO is responsible for leading a customer-focused finance organization that delivers efficient and effective financial planning, management, and reporting to advance the teaching, research, and service missions of the School and to sustain and enhance the School’s eminence in its field.

The CFO directs the planning and management of financial, budgetary, and investment activities for the School and serves as the Treasurer (and an officer) of the School of Law Foundation. As the leader of the School’s Office of Financial Management and Office of Student Financial Services, the CFO oversees a staff of 13 FTEs and collaborates with colleagues in many of the administrative areas of the Law School as well as with counterparts in the University’s central Finance function and its Investments Office. The Law School’s endowment is held by the NYU School of Law Foundation, created in 1948 as an independent legal entity with the power to receive, invest, and spend income on behalf of the Law School. The Foundation is governed by an independent Board of Trustees. The current Foundation board, which is formally appointed by the University’s Board of Trustees, has 70 members and is led by a Chair and a Vice-Chair.

The CFO is responsible for the broad array of strategic and operational activities that comprise the work of the Offices of Financial Management and Student Financial Services. In addition, the CFO supports the Foundation’s Investment Committee in the development and execution of multi-year investment plans for the School’s endowment in collaboration with the Foundation’s outside investment consultants and the University’s Investments Office, contributing guidance on short- and longer-term funding needs related to programs, housing, financial aid, and other aspects of the School’s operation.

NYU School of Law seeks an experienced, strategic leader with a proven track record of success in leadership positions in complex, multi-constituent, mission-driven organizations. The CFO will have strong management and leadership skills and a proven ability to work collaboratively with a diverse group of staff, faculty, board members, and students. The CFO will demonstrate a sustained commitment to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their leadership and management activities, decisions, and recommendations.

The following specific qualifications are required (or preferred):

  • A graduate degree in Business Administration, Accounting, or another relevant field
  • 10 years of progressively responsible experience managing the financial operations of a complex organization
  • Demonstrated experience with budget oversight and operations at a management or executive level
  • Five-plus years of experience managing professional staff
  • Experience reporting to a board and staffing board-level committees, or comparable experience with governance entities
  • Budgeting, financing, and reporting skills that inspire confidence at leadership and governance levels along with attention to detail and the ability to be hands-on as needed
  • Excellent communication and relationship skills
  • Sustained and measurable commitment to programs, practices, and initiatives that enhance organizational diversity, equity, and inclusivity
  • Ability to lead change in a decentralized, consensus-driven environment and to work through influence and persuasion
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a wide variety of stakeholders and customers
  • Ability to explain difficult concepts (oral and written) concisely to diverse audiences
  • Ability to lead, teach, and motivate a cross-functional team to deliver results
  • Independent self-starter with excellent organizational, analytical, and planning skills
  • Ability to lead multiple initiatives, manage and prioritize complex business issues, and build and lead a high-performing finance organization that puts client service first
  • Strong commitment to maintaining the highest levels of integrity
  • Expertise in fund accounting and professional experience in a not-for-profit organization is preferred but not required; experience with the financial operations of an academic institution is also preferred but not required

 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

New York University is the nation’s largest private research university. Founded in 1831 in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York, the University comprises 18 colleges and schools and 11 global academic and research programs in more than 25 countries.  With over 2200 full-time faculty members conducting research in a wide range of academic disciplines and providing instruction to more than 50,000 students, the University’s programs consistently rank among the best in the country. For more information about NYU, visit www.nyu.edu.

NYU aims to be among the greenest urban campuses in the country and carbon neutral by 2040. Learn more at nyu.edu/nyugreen.

EOE/AA/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

 

The School of Law has engaged Opus Partners (www.opuspartners.net) to support the recruitment of the Assistant Dean & CFO. Craig Smith, Partner, and Marisea Rivera, Senior Associate, are leading the search. Candidates should send their CV and an introductory letter of interest addressing the qualifications established for the position to craig.smith@opuspartners.net or marisea.rivera@opuspartners.net. Nominations, recommendations, and inquiries should go to the same address. Every effort will be made to ensure candidate confidentiality.

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.