Finance Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis

Информация

Общие сведения

Summary of Position and Key Responsibilities

The Finance Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis is responsible for leading the University's financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial modelling, and performance analysis functions to support strategic and operational decision-making across UCA. The position oversees the development and maintenance of the University's Financial Planning Data Model and provides expert advice to the CFO and Budget Owners on enhancements to planning methodologies, assumptions, and data structures to ensure alignment with the University's academic model, operating framework, and strategic objectives.

The role delivers timely and insightful financial analysis, supports effective resource allocation, ensures compliance with institutional policies and procedures, and promotes sound financial stewardship across the University. The position also leads continuous improvement initiatives in budgeting and financial planning processes, develops institutional capacity in budget management and performance monitoring, and contributes to the University's long-term financial sustainability and strategic priorities.

Требования

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or related field.
• CPA, ACCA, CIMA, CFA, or equivalent preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in FP&A or corporate finance, with at least 4 years in a leadership role.
• Strong analytical, modeling, and presentation skills.
• Strong ERP and reporting systems experience (SAP, Power BI, etc.).
• Familiarity with higher education finance and donor-funded projects preferred.

Competencies

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.

Обязанности

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Planning and Budgeting Leadership    

• Lead the annual budgeting and multi-year financial planning process in coordination with academic and administrative units.
• Review schools and departments’ budgets for accuracy and consistency with the operating plan, including procurement and staff planning.
• In collaboration with budget owners, prepare accurate monthly budget phasing based on the operating plan, and provide a budget plan for the next four years of the five-year budget cycle of UCA.
• Develop and maintain rolling forecasts and scenario analysis to support operating and strategic planning.
• In collaboration with the CFO, develop and upgrade budget and forecast policy and guidelines, templates and timelines in compliance with the university policies and procedures.
• Establish and oversee a comprehensive framework for collecting, validating, and analysing key operational and non-financial drivers, including enrolment, workforce, and activity-based metrics, to enhance forecasting accuracy, scenario modeling, and management reporting.  
• Oversee analysis of programme costing, academic initiatives, grants, and strategic projects

Financial Analysis and Budget Performance Monitoring

• Lead the preparation and presentation of monthly, quarterly, and annual dashboards and financial performance reports to the CFO and MEC
• Provide variance analysis and actionable insights on revenue, expenses, and capital projects, considering the YTD variances and adjusted Year-to-Go (YTG) plan to ensure alignment with the approved budget.
• In collaboration with the CFO, develop meaningful KPIs, dashboards, and management reporting tools to support institutional performance monitoring.
• In collaboration, establish and implement budget transfer guidelines, ensuring consistency, simplicity, and a robust budgetary control mechanism.
• Review and record external grant entries for management reporting.

Support preparation of management and strategic financial reports

• Partner with the CFO and Rector’s Office on various initiatives, including financial modeling, costing, etc.
• Serve as the primary FP&A business partner for the BU and SU leaders
• Advise the CFO and management to facilitate constructive discussions with the budget owners and university management regarding resource allocation and institutional priorities.
• Prepare cost allocation report based on the approved Cost Allocation Methodology (CAM) on a regular basis or when requested. Adjust the CAM model per CFO request
• Support forex analysis and forecasting.
• Support Treasury, grants, donor reporting and other finance functions as and when required.

Team Leadership

• Supervise PDPs and FP&A team members, ensuring timely delivery of budget transfers, reports, and adherence to quality standards
• Mentor staff and build capacity for advanced financial modeling and data analytics

Systems & Processes

• Develop, continuously improve and oversee financial planning tools (e.g., SAP, Power BI) and ensure data integrity
• Drive process improvements for efficiency and transparency.
• In close collaboration with the CFO, build budget owners’, finance, and other operations staff capacity in budget management.

Tekeli Campus Operations

• Effectively check, verify, and ensure compliance with the financial policies and procedures for all payments and make final recommendations for payment processing while ensuring adherence to the UCA authority matrix;
• Control of accounting systems;
• Organization of financial document flow;
• Verification of all cash substantiating vouchers of UCA;
• Verification of all cash substantiating vouchers of UCA;
• Tracking and reconciliation of the advance payments issued to workers;
• Ensure effective and accurate maintenance of fixed assets registry and coordinate periodic physical verification in accordance with the policy;
• Reflection in the financial accounting of economic transactions and creation of the corresponding financial reporting;
• Work with suppliers and contractors;
• Liaise with UCA Central Finance Office for other tasks;

Условия

Why Join UCA?

• Impactful Teaching and Research: Contribute to an academic institution that is dedicated to fostering innovation and development in Central Asia and beyond.
• Collaboration and Growth: Be part of a diverse, interdisciplinary academic environment, with opportunities for collaboration and research across multiple fields of societal relevance.
• Regional Leadership: Lead the development of innovative solutions to regional challenges in climate adaptation, sustainable development,  technology, data science, and digital policy.
• Support for Female Scholars: UCA is deeply committed to supporting all scholars in STEM fields, providing opportunities to further advance gender equity in academia.

How to Apply: 

Ready to join our team? We kindly invite you to submit your application for this position by clicking the Apply button on this page. To facilitate a smooth application process, please create an account on our website. Be assured that the account setup and application steps are straightforward.

Applications will be reviewed when received. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

Candidates from the founding countries of UCA: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan are encouraged to apply for the position.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.Review other job vacancies at: https://ucentralasia.org/career-opportunities