About the Role

A prestigious Tier 1 university in the Northeast is seeking a dynamic and strategic Chief Financial Officer to lead its financial operations and drive long-term fiscal sustainability. The CFO will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, providing strategic financial guidance and ensuring the institution’s financial health aligns with its academic mission and institutional goals.

This is an executive appointment with institution-wide authority over financial strategy, operations, compliance, and risk. The CFO partners directly with the President, Board of Trustees, and senior leadership to translate financial data into strategic direction — and to build the financial infrastructure needed to support a complex, multi-unit research university operating in an increasingly competitive and resource-constrained higher education landscape.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Strategy and Planning

• Develop and execute comprehensive financial strategies that support the university’s long-term growth, fiscal stability, and operational efficiency across all academic and administrative units.
• Lead financial planning, forecasting, and analysis efforts, ensuring data-driven decision-making that enhances resource allocation and supports institutional priorities.
• Drive financial sustainability initiatives including revenue diversification, cost optimization, capital deployment, and strategic investment planning.

Financial Operations and Reporting

• Oversee all financial operations including budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, treasury management, endowment oversight, and risk management.
• Ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of all financial reporting to internal leadership, the Board of Trustees, external auditors, and regulatory bodies.
• Maintain and continuously improve the financial systems, policies, and internal controls that underpin institutional financial governance.

Executive Leadership and Board Relations

• Collaborate closely with the President, Board of Trustees, and senior leadership to align financial objectives with academic strategy, enrollment goals, and long-term institutional planning.
• Present financial performance, budget variances, and strategic financial recommendations to the Board and its Finance and Audit committees in a clear, accessible format.
• Serve as a thought partner to the President on high-stakes decisions involving capital projects, program investment, debt financing, and institutional restructuring.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Ensure full compliance with all applicable financial regulations, GAAP reporting standards, federal and state grant requirements, and institutional policies.
• Manage relationships with external auditors, bond rating agencies, financial institutions, and government oversight bodies.
• Lead enterprise risk management efforts, identifying and mitigating financial, operational, and compliance risks across the institution.

Team Leadership and Organizational Development

• Provide leadership and mentorship to finance, accounting, treasury, and budget teams across the institution, fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Build team capacity through hiring, professional development, and organizational design that positions the finance function to scale with institutional growth.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with academic deans, department heads, and administrative leaders to align financial planning with operational reality at all levels of the institution.

Education, Experience, and Core Competencies

Core Leadership Competencies

Why This Role Matters

The CFO of a Tier 1 research university is one of the most consequential financial leadership roles in the nonprofit sector. The institution’s ability to attract faculty, support research, expand programs, maintain facilities, and deliver on its student access commitments all depend on sound financial stewardship. The CFO is the person who makes that stewardship possible — and who ensures that financial reality and institutional ambition stay in productive dialogue.

In the current higher education environment, with enrollment pressures, rising costs, constrained state funding, and increasing competition for research dollars, the CFO’s strategic role has never been more important. This is not a maintenance role — it is a transformation role for someone ready to shape the financial future of a major institution.

Retained Search by Excelon Associates

Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm headquartered in Asheville, NC, with additional offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL. Since 2007 we have placed chief financial officers, vice presidents for finance, controllers, and senior financial administrators at universities and higher education institutions across the United States. Our higher education practice brings deep sector knowledge to C-suite searches that require both financial expertise and genuine fluency with the culture and governance of academic institutions.

For institutions committed to financial excellence and strategic leadership, Excelon Associates is a trusted recruitment partner. We connect universities with CFOs who combine technical depth, executive presence, and a genuine understanding of the higher education mission. Reach out today to start a confidential conversation.