Portfolio Finance Manager

Staff - Non Union

Job Category

M&P - AAPS

Job Profile

AAPS Salaried - Accounting, Level D

Job Title

Portfolio Finance Manager

Department

DAE Finance

Compensation Range

$7,400.83 - $11,540.42 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Posting End Date

March 26, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Description Summary
The role of the Portfolio Finance Manager is to provide high level financial and budgetary analysis and reporting to the Governance and External Relations portfolios, in support of strong budget management.
This position is primarily responsible for providing broad financial decision support, advice, tools and reports to directors and budget managers within the Governance and External Relations portfolios; development of unit level individual budgets; financial modeling; sensitivity analysis for financial planning beyond the budget period, conducting financial analyses in respect of fundraising revenues; assessing existing financial systems and recommending and implementing changes; and developing / supporting financial processes. This position plays a significant role in supporting the Director of Finance in providing strategic financial management.
A significant portion of each day will be spent dealing with complex and strategic financial and data issues. Must be able to deal with changing priorities and multiple deadlines. Must be able to build relationships and work collaboratively to provide support for academic and departmental priorities.
Organizational Status
The Finance Manager reports to the Finance Director, and is part of a finance team providing financial support to the Portfolio, working independently or in collaboration with UBC Financial Operations, UBC Budget Office, other UBC Finance Managers, and portfolio executives, directors, managers, and staff.
Work Performed
- Develops and implements consistent financial and budgetary reports/systems and structures for the Governance units that enable the department directors to monitor the financial health of the areas in their responsibility, including quarterly financial reports, financial models, estimates, summaries of results, and variance analysis built from information from the university-wide systems.
- Develops and implements processes that can be readily maintained and used by others to create, gather and compile financial data and estimates into meaningful financial formats to support the development of budgets and financial projections for the portfolio ensuring consistent practices between departments and within the Governance and External Relations Portfolios as a whole.
- Performs granular analysis of actual costs for the Governance and External Relations Portfolios as a whole, including analysis of budget drivers such as salary and benefit costs, vacancy savings, travel costs, etc. and sets up systems to monitor these.
- Develops and maintains expert knowledge in UBC s financial systems (including Workday, OfficeConnect, Adaptive Planning) and other relevant UBC databases (Tableau) to be able to extract and analyze data relevant to financial analysis and forecasting and to act as a point of contact with department personnel to assist in their accessing or understanding of financial reports.
- Guides the process and technical preparation of the quarterly forecasts and annual budget by providing departments with strategic, technical and practical guidance and support to enable them to prepare accurate projections for upcoming years in a common VP Portfolio format.
- Supports the preparation of 5 year plans by department, developing assumptions and guidelines for forecasting and for multiple scenarios, and useful common formats.
- Builds financial models as required to assess the financial viability and impact of new and existing strategic initiatives. Involved in the development of business plans for new programs and activities.
- Responsible for ensuring the portfolio units are expending specific purpose and endowment funds in accordance with the respective fund guidelines and are in financial order at all times.
- Authorizes payments, transfer of funds, yearend accruals and prepayments.
- Provides advice, direction and guidance concerning budget, accounting and financial matters, accounting policy interpretation and sound business practices; advising on financial implications of various planning options.
- Conducts business process analysis, documenting process flows and facilitating workshops to elicit improvement, and in training in new systems and structures.
- Guides and co-ordinates the implementation of new, UBC-initiated financial reporting including implementing new processes and systems, providing communication, training and assistance.
- Liaises with internal and external auditors to answer queries and respond to any perceived weaknesses

- Assists UBC Financial Reporting in preparation of Foundation Financial Statements

- Undertakes special projects at the request of the Finance Director
- Provides back up support for the Finance Manager, DAE and Finance Manager, VP External Relations during peak periods and absence.
Consequence of Error/Judgement
The Finance Manager must have a thorough understanding of the principles of accounting and sound financial management skills. He/she is required to apply this theoretical knowledge to research the information needs of faculty management, develop structures to collect the data required, and create processes to compile the data into meaningful reporting formats which enable financial results and risks to be readily determined. The position is required to use judgment to interpret financial information received from a variety of sources, assess financial risks and problems, and make recommendations to manage the risks and resolve financial issues.
Reports reviewed and shared by this position must be correct, contain the appropriate, complete information, and present the information in a manner that enables them to be easily understood by Unit leaders. Errors in the information/reports prepared by this position could result in poor financial decisions by Senior Management. If reports to funders (such as the Ministry of Health) are incorrect, this could damage the relationship with the funder, cause significant reputation losses to the Faculty. In addition, if the information presented does not support appropriate financial monitoring, then problems could be overlooked and continue to worsen over time and thus jeopardize the financial health of the Faculty and the University.
Supervision Received
Reports to the Finance Director. Works with wide latitude. Is expected to work independently under general direction in a collaborative and professional environment.
Supervision Given
This position has no direct reports. May indirectly manage work of an analyst, and supervise work-learn students, clerical staff and consultants.
Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Completion of the CPA accounting program (CA, CGA or CMA). Minimum of seven years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
-Experience in financial and budgetary analysis and development of financial tracking and reporting systems required.
-Experience in post-secondary education preferred
-Experience in fund accounting, budgeting, management of accounting systems and teams is preferred.
-Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment.
-Ability to work effectively under pressure.
-Ability to organize workload, set priorities and work within deadlines.
-Strong organizational and planning skills, including an ability to determine priorities, be self-directed, and work with minimal supervision.
- Ability to act with confidentiality tact, discretion and sound judgement.
- Must have excellent oral and written communication skills with strong attention to detail.
- Strong interpersonal and client relationship skills.
- Strategic and system thinking skills.
- Strong information system and project management skills.
- Ability to independently apply knowledge of policies and procedures.