L&S Finance Manager Responsibilities
Responsibilities of the Finance Manager
People Management
A key function of the Finance Manager role is to provide support for those that report to them. Each manager supports their staff by staying informed of current efforts of the College, collaborating with the units they support to understand their unique needs, and providing effective guidance to ART financial staff so they may be effective in completing the tasks for which each role is responsible.
Share information
- As information becomes available from campus or the College, the Finance Manager role will receive that information ahead of other ART finance staff. The collective group of managers along with the L&S Associate Dean of Innovation & Strategic Budgeting will synthesize the information and develop plans to be shared as necessary
Complete employee evaluations
- Like every manager on campus, the Finance Managers are responsible for completing timely evaluations of the people that report to them in accordance with campus policy. Each evaluation will take into consideration the expectations of each role that reports to them.
Address performance issues and role accommodations
- If someone has a concern with the performance of a finance staff member, they may raise those concerns to the ART staff’s Finance Manager. The manager will work to address that feedback as they see fit.
- If finance ART staff experience a need for accommodation to be able to effectively do their job, they can reach out to their manager for next steps and support.
Skillset building and development
- Finance Managers support their employees by providing tools, resources, and learning opportunities that are intended to increase confidence and accuracy of work. Each situation may be addressed differently depending on the person and scenario.
Team building
- Creating team culture and psychological safety are responsibilities of each Finance Manager. This can be applied in multiple ways, a few examples are:
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- Developing the culture of the ART financial team
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- Helping to develop the culture of the overall ART support team
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- Helping to facilitate sensitive interactions between finance ART support and a unit, with an awareness of how an individual unit’s culture may be impacting a given scenario.
Guide processes and connect your team with resources
- When new or complex processes are encountered, a Finance Manager is a resource the finance staff can rely on for guidance. Even if they do not have the answer, they can find someone who may be able to give the extra support needed.
Facilitate coverage for when employees are out of office
- Managers will help to find and set up coverage as needed when an employee has a planned or unplanned outage from work.
Monitor and manage workloads in Halo
Halo is the ticketing system used to facilitate requests by L&S units for many functions supported by the ART finance staff. It is the responsibility of the Finance Manager to ensure tickets are being monitored, managed, and resolved in a timely manner. They are also responsible for ensuring the team has a balanced workload, and redirecting tickets as needed.
Monitor and manage their team's Workday tasks
- Approve leave time and payroll for their employees
- Manage Workday tasks
- Monitor staff Workday tasks
Manage cyclical processes
- Semester Hiring
- Summer Service and Summer Session
- Faculty Funding collection and Costing Allocation Verification
- Adaptive Budgeting and Planning
Facilitate reporting based on the needs of CCMs and units
- May be done ad hoc, typically in support of a project or customer specific needs
- May be ongoing as part of review for potential larger-scale issues in addition to reports being run by CCMs
Facilitate and encourage collaboration
- Finance managers are a conduit for departmental concerns and confusion
- Connect with HR, Research Administration, and Cost Center Managers
Training support for their staff
- Train new employees
- Train staff on new processes and tools
Overall
Managers should be able to pick up any job on their team and keep it moving for a short stretch.
Finance Managers must be reliable support for team members. The ways in which the manager meets the needs of their team may vary. It might be through helping to facilitate problem-solving within the team, completing certain processes themselves, or connecting staff to expertise across the college. This expectation is met when team members feel supported.