Chief Financial Officer

Full-time position, posted 6/16/26

Position Summary

The Chief Financial Officer reports to the Executive Vice President in the stewardship of the University's financial resources with delegated authority in supervising critical financial functions of the University including accounting, purchasing, investments, and other related business matters.

Role Qualifications:

• Strong ability to work collaboratively and create goodwill with the University's Board of Trustees, cabinet, staff, faculty, parents, and students.
• Goal oriented with excellent analytical skills and accounting and finance knowledge, with the ability to confidently make decisions and recommendations to the Executive Vice President without need for frequent follow up.
• Ability to inspire, build morale and collaboratively lead projects.
• Willingness to explore the appropriate use of artificial intelligence for efficiency and effectiveness.
• Commitment to the Articles of Faith, Mission and Objectives of the University; desires to be a role model for students by demonstrating an active Christian faith in personal example and in work-related responsibilities.

Position Responsibilities:

• Oversees excellent cross training among accounting and finance staff as well as documentation of institutional knowledge, processes and procedures.
• Serves as an administrative staff liaison to the Finance, Facilities & Audit committee and the Audit Subcommittee of the University's Board of Trustees on matters related to accounting, finance and audit.
• Serves as an administrative liaison to the Investment Committee of the University's Board of Trustees and supports the Executive Vice President in implementing policy and producing analytical material for the Investment Committee.
• Supervises budget preparation and leads staff in generating budget analytics and projections necessary to support the President's Cabinet in budget decisions.
• Oversees the institution's accounting systems in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and the preparation of financial statements and other financial reports for internal and external constituencies.
• Monitors financial analytics and projections, reporting findings to Executive Vice President to support both short- and long-range planning.
• Supports the professional development of employees within Accounting and Finance.
• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• CPA or CMA preferred; with equivalent knowledge and experience in accounting and finance considered.
• Demonstrated experience with increasing levels of responsibility commensurate with the role.
• Strong communications skills, both oral and written.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.

Education:

Masters of Accountancy, Masters of Business Administration, or equivalent, preferred.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to walk; stand; sit; use hands; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work environment: The noise level in the work environment is usually minimal.

The employee is expected to adhere to all University policies.

About JBU

Information describing the university is available online.

Apply

To apply, please upload the following documents to the "Upload Your Documents" page:

1. Cover Letter
2. Your resume
3. A completed and signed staff employment application (Click Here to Access the Application)

Only complete materials will be reviewed. Applicants selected for an interview will be contacted by the university.

Contact Information:

Office of Human Resources
John Brown University
2000 West University Street
Siloam Springs, AR 72761
Phone: 479.524.7197
e-mail: jobs@jbu.edu