Director Of Capital Planning

The Director of Capital Planning is responsible for the strategic management of the full scope of the capital budgeting and planning process at Wake Forest University. This includes preparing the annual capital budget and five-year capital plan, developing financial reports, capital forecasts and presentations to senior management and the Board of Trustees, providing a comprehensive analysis and reporting on all capital projects, and maintaining capital policies and procedures. Will collaborate closely with key stakeholders to align projects and capital plans with university strategic priorities and goals to manage resources effectively.

Essential Functions

• Oversees and coordinates the annual capital budget and five-year capital plan in close collaboration with the AVP Budget and Financial Planning, the Controller's office, Facilities, and Information Systems.
• Provides financial support related to capital projects and serves as a resource and expert on capital budgeting issues and processes.
• Collaborates closely with the Controller's office to provide decision support for evaluating University capital projects, determining funding sources, and assessing impacts on other initiatives and conducts analyses to discern the long-term financial implications of these decisions.
• Strategizes with the AVP Budget & Financial Planning to provide recommendations to the SRVPFA and the University's executive leadership team, facilitating strategic financial decision-making.
• Provide capital forecast projections. Reviews and approves all capital expenditures against approved capital plans. Prepares submissions for capital budget requests to the university Budget Committee.
• Develops and maintains capital budget policies and procedures and participates in the capital planning oversight committee.
• Reviews capital project requests for accuracy, ensuring budgetary compliance and collects, analyzes, and interprets financial data, identifying corresponding policy implications and/or recommendations.
• Conducts ROI analysis on capital projects and forecasts project impacts on the operating margin, considering factors such as debt service, maintenance and operating cost changes, and potential revenue opportunities.
• Prepares capital planning presentations to senior leadership and the Board of Trustees (BOT).
• Collaborate with executives and stakeholders to ensure alignment. Provide information in a summary or detailed manner for reporting and prioritization. Anticipates potential challenges and designs and develops mitigation strategies.
• Responsible for development of the capital planning software, identifying opportunities for innovation and process improvements. Will drive scenario modeling and forecasting specific to proposed capital projects in long term planning.
• Verifies compliance of legal contracts with approved BOT resolutions.
• Attends status meetings with project managers and departmental business managers, and participates in strategy sessions related to major capital projects.

Required Education, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related discipline with at least eight to ten years of related and progressively more responsible financial work, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. In-depth experience in long-range and or strategic planning is required.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community; proven communication skills, both orally and in writing.
• Must be a self-starter with unquestionable integrity and a strong sense of professional ethics.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks under pressure and is highly adaptable to rapidly changing priorities; excellent time management skills; ability to organize personal workflow.
• Ability to analyze and interpret policy and procedural questions without the benefit of precedents.
• Able to independently perform information research and analysis for new projects; ideally familiar with sources for researching higher education issues.
• Ability to work independently; evidence of good judgment and high-level problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge of fund accounting principles and GAAP, budget preparation, and fiscal controls required.
• Experience and technical expertise in budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling. This includes multi-year variable analysis, and sensitivity studies; in-depth experience in long-range and or strategic planning for academic environment preferred.
• High level of proficiency in Excel (templates development, pivot tables, macros) and the ability to utilize these skills to meet ad hoc data needs in support of leadership requests for analyses, forecasts, or ongoing reports.
• Experience with capital planning software such as Workday Adaptive Capital Planning preferred.
• A deep understanding of construction processes and engineering principles
• Ability to effectively represent analysis results and/ or projections in PowerPoint presentations and Excel graphs.
• Ability to acquire knowledge of new systems in a short time period.

Preferred Education, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• CPA and/or MBA preferred.
• Proficiency in project management software and tools.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for own work.

Additional Job Description

This position profile identifies the key responsibilities and expectations for performance. It cannot encompass all specific job tasks that an employee may be required to perform. Employees are required to follow any other job-related instructions and perform job-related duties as may be reasonably assigned by his/her supervisor.

In order to provide a safe learning and living community, Wake Forest University conducts background investigations and drug screens for all final candidates being considered for employment.

Wake Forest seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, and encourages qualified candidates across all group demographics to apply.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all qualified candidates to apply without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, disability and military or veteran status.

Accommodations for Applicants: If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact AskHR@wfu.edu or (336) 758-4700.