Job Description

Description

The

Finance Services

team within

Finance

is currently seeking a Full-time Regular

Director, Finance Services

.


Under the overall direction of the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (DCFO) & Associate Vice-President (Finance), the position leads directly and indirectly several units involved in providing and promoting strategic, specialized, integrated and comprehensive finance services across the University of Calgary (UCalgary) community and beyond in support of academic, research, and learning activities.


The Director will lead the areas responsible for providing the delivery of specialized and multifaceted strategic planning/budgeting and decision analysis, advisory services, variance/forecasting for the executive and senior management across all faculties/units and at an institutional level. This position provides expert knowledge in areas of strategic planning for UCalgary.


The Director, Finance Services position ensures that services are provided to all stakeholders effectively and efficiently to enable seamless and consistent strategic support for executive and senior management, faculty and staff. The goal is to provide timely financial information to meet the strategic decision-making needs of the leaders within UCalgary. This work will be conducted with support from the Director of the Financial Reporting group to ensure internal controls and system usage guidelines are followed.


In the leading the Finance Services department the incumbent will manage a high volume and variety of work with significant organizational impacts. The incumbent will provide credible expert advice, apply sound judgment, negotiate boundaries and manage projects, resources and complex issues and conflict. There is a high level of stress and pressure associated with this position. This role requires a proactive approach in a complex environment with a strong understanding of the university environment, operational activities, and key business stakeholders opinions. This individual will exercise independent discretion and judgement and will operate across all aspects of managerial decisions. This role demands a high level of interaction and is front facing which requires tact and diplomacy, confidentiality, ability to gain respect and trust, and a requirement to build strong working relationships across UCalgary. The impact of decisions made by this position will be university wide. Responsible for strategically directing and integrating the Finance Partner model for all faculties/units across UCalgary, ensuring the budget decisions, advisory and variance/forecast/planning services are provided for IRNA - IT and Capital and the associated management reports. The delivery of this work must align with required service delivery for all stakeholders with consistent standards and internal controls across all areas.


The Director supports a framework to ensure that all Finance Services staff have current knowledge and understanding of the UCalgary finance processes, procedures, internal controls and management reporting, and other regulatory bodies policies as required and are current on related business principles to enable enhanced and effective service. The Director is the primary interface with executive and senior management on strategic issues including planning and negotiation of services.


As well as requiring high-level expertise, technical/financial awareness, the work is of a highly complex and political nature and requires considerable sensitivity towards numerous stakeholders including executive and senior leadership. The recommendations and performance of the incumbent have financial and reputational implications for UCalgary.

Summary of Key Accountabilities

(job functions include but are not limited to):

Strategic financial service operations for UCalgary Internally restricted net assets (IRNA) and operating projects Capital Reporting and Information Technology (IT) Reporting groups Position management All financial management reporting associated with these areas, service delivery for all stakeholders involved Working within or exceeding the standardized service commitments Ensuring that Finance Services meet the needs of the University's core activities of the academy, research, learning and service Aligning all initiatives within their department with the the UCalgary strategic direction, ethics, values, and professional standards Ensuring that stakeholder expectations are negotiated, agreed to, and incorporated into the service plan process with service standards and delivery which are consistent.

Qualifications / Requirements:

Professional accounting designation (CA, CMA, CGA) and a related University degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Must possess an academic focus and demonstrate ten or more years' progressively more responsible experience in the planning, developing and managing of the support of academic uses of Finance in a complex research and university setting. Strong organizational, interpersonal, and written communication skills are required to ensure this client-facing function is effectively managed. Ability to communicate effectively with executive and senior management, faculty, administrators, staff, is essential. Able to perform a high level of interaction and with front-facing work which requires tact and diplomacy, confidentiality, ability to gain respect and trust, and a requirement to build strong working relationships across UCalgary. A record of strong leadership and a strategic vision must be combined with awareness of current and emerging developments in educational finance, academic and research environments. Demonstrated specialized experience in creating service performance management frameworks and taking action to correct performance where required This is specific to the deployment of Finance Services resources to ensure services levels are set up and maintained in accordance with the needs.

Application Deadline:

January 12, 2026

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.


This position is classified in the

Management Career Band, Level 4

of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.


For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our

Management and Staff Careers website

.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.


The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.


The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments (

oic@ucalgary.ca

) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture (

hrhire@ucalgary.ca

).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.