Vice President of Finance and Operations

Sarah Lawrence College is seeking a Vice President of Finance and Operations with outstanding leadership and executive skills to help lead the College into the future.

Reporting to the president, the Vice President of Finance and Operations is one of the four officers of the College and a key member of the eight-member senior leadership team. The Vice President provides leadership for and management of the following College functions:  finance, facilities, campus operations, campus safety, purchasing and auxiliary services. Critical responsibilities include leadership of the College's strategic and budget planning processes, a significant role in supporting the College's resource and revenue development efforts and serving as a liaison to four Board of Trustees committees: audit, finance, investment, and physical facilities. This is a position with significant visibility involving interaction with all campus departments and community leaders.

Founded in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College established a reputation for innovation and creativity in its model of residential undergraduate education and commitment to life-long learning. The College has steadfastly maintained its commitment to the liberal arts over its history, continually offering a BA in the liberal arts, the single undergraduate degree at the heart of its endeavor, along with a distinctive suite of graduate and professional degrees and life-long learning opportunities. The College has never been burdened by traditional departmental and curricular structures, and the education has always been infused with a focus on the whole student, in recognition of the essential need for a multi-disciplinary perspective, coupled with opportunities for close work with faculty.

The College has consistently ranked among the leading liberal arts colleges in the country and includes a community of approximately 1,400 undergraduate students, 300 graduate students, and 265 faculty members. Sarah Lawrence students share an enthusiasm for intellectual rigor, academic risk taking, creativity in all disciplines, collaborative engagement, and original and interdisciplinary work. The College is particularly committed to supporting a faculty, staff, administration, and student body that reflects the social, racial, and economic diversity that characterizes our society. The College’s undergraduate students come from nearly every state and from 50+ countries, with alumni residing in more than 80 countries. More than 80 percent of undergrads live on campus.

This role requires a bachelor’s degree; a graduate degree and/or equivalent credential is preferred, ideally in an appropriate and relevant field of study. The ideal candidate will have an extensive background as a finance and/or operations executive or manager as well as a history of successively increasing leadership responsibility and management experience; experience in higher education or not-for-profit organizations is desirable. The next vice president will be self-motivated, proactive, resourceful, high-energy, enthusiastic, present, and approachable; an empathetic team-player, they will be service-oriented, focused on the organization over self, and a leader with the highest level of ethics and integrity.

Sarah Lawrence College invites nominations, expressions of interest, and applications as part of the search for their next Vice President of Finance and Operations. The College has retained Veena Abraham, J.D. and Robert Luke of EQU Advisors as their partners for the search. For additional information on the roles and responsibilities for this position as well as to submit a nomination, expression of interest, and/or application, please visit www.equadvisors.com/slc-vp-fo.

For full consideration, candidates should submit a) a letter of interest outlining their experience relative to the role and agenda for the position and b) a resume by Friday, October 6, 2023. Additional information regarding references and due diligence will be requested from semi-finalists and finalists later in the process.

Sarah Lawrence College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and has as one of its goals the recruitment and retention of a racially and culturally diverse administration, staff, and faculty. To that end, every job opening is seen as an opportunity to increase diversity and every effort will be made to expand the applicant pool in accordance with these goals.