AVP, Financial Planning & Analysis

Job Description

Job Description

PCN 2063

The Opportunity

Merrimack College seeks a strategic, analytical, entrepreneurial, and technology-forward Associate Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis (AVP, FP&A). Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the AVP will lead enterprise analysis of revenue, costs, operating performance, and strategic investments—helping Merrimack accelerate sustainable growth, improve contribution margins, and strengthen financial accountability.

The AVP will work alongside the Vice President, Financial Planning and Chief Budget Officer, who leads institutional budgeting, the hybrid responsibility-centered management model, and long-range financial planning, and in close partnership with the AVP for Finance/Controller. This highly visible leader will provide forecasts, models, dashboards, and AI-enabled decision support that connect strategy, resource allocation, and operating results. Serve as a trusted advisor to the CFO and senior leadership, translating analysis into recommendations on growth, resource allocation, investment priorities, and financial risk.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Revenue growth and revenue-center analysis. Analyze undergraduate and graduate net tuition, financial aid, retention, research and sponsored programs, auxiliary operations, partnerships, and new ventures. Identify opportunities to increase sustainable net revenue and reduce revenue risk.

• Cost management and containment. Create transparent cost-center reporting, identify cost drivers, and develop actionable savings and productivity initiatives involving workforce, procurement, vendors, processes, technology, facilities, and shared services.

• Program economics and investment discipline. Develop contribution-margin, unit-cost, capacity, and portfolio analyses and evaluate strategic initiatives using market, revenue, cost, risk, break-even, payback, and return-on- investment measures.

• Forecasting and scenario planning. Build driver-based forecasts and sensitivity analyses for enrollment, net tuition revenue, compensation, benefits, auxiliaries, research, and major operating expenses, and make recommendations on emerging financial risks & opportunities.

• Budget and hybrid RCM support. Provide the Chief Budget Officer with analytical models, forecasts, performance metrics, and recommendations that strengthen institutional budgeting, accountability, and the College’s hybrid RCM framework.

• Performance management. Deliver executive dashboards, variance analyses, and operating reviews that explain what changed, why it changed, and what actions are required.

• AI-enabled finance and analytics. Lead responsible use of predictive analytics, generative AI, automation, anomaly detection, and business intelligence with strong standards for data quality, validation, explainability, privacy, security, and human review.

Initial Priorities:

• Establish standardized revenue-center and cost-center dashboards and operating reviews.

• Build an integrated enrollment, financial-aid, and net tuition revenue forecasting model.

• Develop a College-wide cost-containment and productivity pipeline with accountable owners and measurable results.

• Implement a practical roadmap and governance framework for AI-enabled FP&A and reporting.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, business administration, data analytics, or a related field.

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in FP&A, strategic finance, corporate finance, management consulting, higher education finance, or a related discipline.

• Demonstrated success in revenue analysis, cost analysis, financial modeling, forecasting, scenario planning, performance reporting, and business-case development.

• Experience partnering with senior executives and operating leaders in a complex, fast-moving, matrixed organization.

• Advanced proficiency with ERP, planning and forecasting, business-intelligence, data-visualization, and financial-modeling tools, including experience applying AI or advanced analytics to decision support.

• Exceptional communication, judgment, integrity, collaboration, and change-leadership skills.

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including financial modeling, forecasting, scenario analysis, and data reconciliation.

• Experience with enterprise financial and ERP systems; Jenzabar One or a comparable higher-education system preferred.

• Proficiency with business-intelligence and data-visualization tools, such as Microsoft Power BI or Tableau.

• Ability to integrate and analyze financial, enrollment, payroll, human-resources, and operational data.

• Familiarity with SQL, database querying, and budgeting or enterprise-performance-management platforms preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in business administration, finance, accounting, analytics, or a related field; CPA, CFA, CMA, or another relevant credential.

• Financial leadership experience in higher education or another complex, mission-driven, multi-unit organization.

• Experience with responsibility-centered management, academic program economics, unit costing, or activity-based costing.

• Experience implementing or enhancing enterprise planning, data-warehouse, business-intelligence, or AI-enabled finance capabilities.

Leadership Profile

The successful candidate will be strategically minded, analytically rigorous, entrepreneurial, and able to constructively challenge assumptions. The AVP will translate complex information into practical decisions, build trust across the College, and balance growth, affordability, academic quality, student success, and long-term financial sustainability.

Application Materials Should Include:

• Resume

• Cover letter stating motivation and interest in the position, citing experience relevant to the qualifications and including experience with, and commitment to, our Catholic Augustinian mission and our values.

This position is subject to the successful completion of a criminal background check.

Working Conditions

This is an on-campus position as employees are essential in order to provide a fully on-campus, residential college experience for our students and the community.

Statement on Our Mission