Organizational Background

From the top of Mount St. Alban, St. Albans School looks up to the Washington National Cathedral and out to the United States Capitol. Our location serves as an embodiment and constant reminder of the School’s motto: Pro Ecclesia et Pro Patria, for Church and Country. The School was established in 1909 by the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation.  Our mission is to prepare boys in grades 4 through 12 to develop and use their spiritual, intellectual, artistic, and physical gifts not for themselves alone, but in service of the greater community. As an Episcopal school, we welcome and embrace boys of all faiths and backgrounds to this caring community that learns, prays, plays, sings, and eats together. We are committed to a diversity among students, faculty, and staff that shapes and enriches our shared experiences.  

As part of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation (PECF), St. Albans, the Cathedral, the National Cathedral School, and Beauvoir benefit from strong ties and collaboration.

Description

Reporting to the Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations, the Associate Director, Financial Planning and Analysis serves as the primary lead for management of the School’s operating and capital budgets and the financial planning function which is comprised of financial analysis and the data analytics infrastructure supporting analysis and reporting. This position must work closely with the budget and planning resources throughout the School while ensuring compliance with financial policies and procedures. This position will provide advice to the Assistant Head and guidance to departments on budgetary matters and expense management. Further, this position will conduct analysis to support senior leadership’s initiatives and projects.

Specifically, areas of responsibilities will include:

Annual Budget and Planning Process

• Overseeing and managing the School’s budget model;
• Developing short- and long-term operating and capital and IT plans in accordance with School strategic and business objectives;
• Preparing and disseminating fiscal year budget and planning guidelines within the context of the School’s strategic plan, near-term goals and objectives, recent financial and operating performance measures, and predicted external influences;
• Working with budget owners throughout the School to build a budget “from the bottom up” within these broad budget parameters;
• Serving as the primary contact for budget owners throughout the School, providing guidance and oversight of the budget management process ensuring fiscal accountability and responsibility;
• Presenting progress reports on budget preparation and making recommendations regarding the finalization of the School’s budget;
• Maintaining an operating and capital budget and modeling tool that incorporates rolling forecasts and multiple future years’ financial plans;
• Managing the annual operating and capital budgets and five-year plan development process;
• Designing, developing, and implementing the five-year models for capital and IT expenditures and cash flow;
• Designing, developing, and implementing position-based budgeting, including staffing plans and salary allocations;
• Designing, developing, and implementing performance-based budgeting;
• Creating a process for budget management of endowments, including analysis and review of the annual draw rate;
• Managing a process to facilitate a better understanding of the School’s revenue streams and cost structure with the objective of providing senior leadership with the early identification of both financial threats and opportunities;
• Preparing critical budget analyses of business proposals and assessing the financial performance of current projects, plans, and other business operations with the Assistant Head; and
• Acting as data custodian for the School’s budget system, responsible for the integrity of the data within the budget system.

Reporting

• Preparing budget information to support various committees of the Governing Board and PECF;
• Preparing and updating long-range financial projections for the School; 
• Preparing quarterly and year-end year-over-year, budget to actual analyses, and forecasts;
• Providing budgetary reports to budget owners throughout the School to assist in analysis and decision-making;
• Partnering with School leadership and various offices in reviewing and analyzing financial data, including forecasting and monitoring of revenues and capital, operating, and human resource expenses;
• Incorporating key operating measures supporting indicated financial results and trends; and
• Including meaningful narrative and graphical analysis of the information contained within the package in a succinct fashion clearly pointing to significant trends requiring specific corrective action by operating managers and/or the intercession of senior leadership.

 Additionally, other areas of responsibility will include:

• Managing fiscal control functions, including the budgetary approval of recruitment, compensation, and capital acquisition transactions;
• Overseeing preparation of the School’s annual fringe benefit rates proposal;
• Working with the PECF to review cost allocations and direct charges as incorporated in the School’s budget;
• Working with the National Cathedral School to budget for the Coordinate Program;
• Calculating appropriate overhead allocations for auxiliary activities;
• Collaborating with others at the School to enhance and expand the School’s risk management planning and processes;
• Coordinating with the PECF and its institutions on budgetary matters;
• Advising on issues of financial policy formulation and achievement of the School’s mission in collaboration with others in the School including the Director, Finance and Business Services;
• Working with the Director, Finance and Business Services to monitor capital activity, long-term debt activity (including transfers to sinking funds, payments of principal and interest, and participation in swaps), and net assets and funding sources (including transfers, reconciliation, and analysis) in accordance with budget plans in place;
• Maintaining complete confidentiality of all information associated with the job function; and
• Adhering to School policies and procedures and safeguarding School assets.

The position may perform other related duties as assigned.  The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.