Director, Student Financial Support

Position Number: 40031252

Payroll Title: FINANCIAL SVC MGR 1 (000218)

Job Code: 000218

Job Open Date: 9/16/26

Application Review Begins: 10/1/26

Department Code (Name): GRAD (DEAN OF THE GRADUATE DIVISION)

Percentage of Time: 100

Union Code (Name): 99 - Non-Represented (PPSM)

Employee Class (Appointment Type): Staff: Career

FLSA Status: Exempt

Classified Indicator Description (Personnel Program): MSP

Salary Grade: Grade 24

Pay Rate/Range: The budgeted salary range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $100,100 to $125,000/year. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience; the budget for the position; and the application of fair, equitable, and consistent pay practices at the University. The full salary range for this position is $100,100 to $187,500/year.

Work Location: Cheadle Hall - 3117

Working Days and Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm

Benefits Eligibility: Full Benefits

Type of Remote or Hybrid Work Arrangement, if applicable: Hybrid - This position requires an on-site presence of 3 days per week.

Special Instructions:

For full consideration, please include a resume and a cover letter as part of your application.

Benefits of Belonging

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Brief Summary of Job Duties:

Provides leadership, direction, and expertise in the development and central administration for all graduate student financial support at UCSB, including fellowships, academic appointments, and fee remission programs. Manages the Graduate Student Financial Support unit and has responsibility for all financial support programs as they relate to the campus wide recruitment and retention of graduate students, including oversight of graduate student financial support activities originating in 45 academic departments and programs. Applies deep technical expertise to guide and manage the work of the unit, with particular attention to building a cohesive, well-functioning team. Leads development of Graduate Division's student financial support programs and budget strategies to conceptualize, recommend, implement, and assess the effectiveness of funding models in meeting Division and campus goals and needs. Serves as strategic advisor to the Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean on graduate student financial support, providing decision support on complex funding issues, evaluating policy implications, and modeling multi-year financial sustainability, including long-range strategies to strengthen the fiscal sustainability of the Division's fellowship portfolio. Directs the Division's campus-wide authority on graduate academic appointment policy and labor contract compliance, supervising the Graduate Appointment Policy Analyst in matters relating to the ASE and GSR collective bargaining agreements, unit designation determinations, and grievance response. Develops strategies to maximize effectiveness of graduate fellowship support budget of more than twenty-eight million dollars. Oversees distribution of over seven million dollars in non-central endowment and extramural funds held by academic departments. Oversees campus wide graduate student benefit of employment fee remission program totaling over thirty million dollars. Provides stewardship for Division's financial support related information systems, and in collaboration with Information Technology Services (ITS) identifies priority development, maintenance items, and resourcing considerations. Serves as liaison with other campus wide unit directors in areas that intersect with responsibilities, including Accounting Services and Controls, Billing and Accounts Receivable, Budget and Planning, Financial Aid, Information Systems and Computing, Instructional Computing, Institutional Advancement. Office of International Students and Scholars, Office of the Registrar, and ITS.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent training/experience
• 7-9 years progressively responsible experience in financial management, budget administration, or financial analysis, including experience with fund accounting or restricted/sponsored fund management.
• 4-6 years Supervisory experience
• Broad knowledge of financial transactions and financial systems, as well as related policy, accounting, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Strong skills in use of spreadsheet and database software.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively across the organization at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to build financial models and conduct scenario analysis in support of multi-year planning.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior leadership on high-consequence resource decisions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 1-3 years of experience in a higher education, public sector, or other complex nonprofit environment.
• Working knowledge of academic labor agreements and their financial implications.

Special Conditions of Employment:

• Satisfactory criminal history background check
• UCSB is a Tobacco-Free environment

Misconduct Disclosure Requirement:

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer.

"Misconduct" means any violation of the policies governing employee conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, or discrimination, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:

UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

Job Functions and Percentages of Time:

Management of Fellowship Support Unit and Fellowships - 35%

Provides leadership, direction and expertise in the development of Graduate Division's student financial support programs. This includes designing fellowship support programs, identifying budget strategies and implementation plans that meet division and campus goals, timelines and needs while protecting division resources from over commitment.

Establishes work plans and objectives, delegating related assignments to the Assistant Director of Fellowships and supporting staff. Provides consistent, hands-on oversight of unit staff to ensure duties are executed effectively and to a high standard.

Manages the graduate fellowship support budget of over twenty-eight million dollars annually in restricted UC, federal, state and extramural funds for centrally administered graduate student financial support. Ensures the accuracy and control functions related to these financial operations, including assessing, developing and implementing internal control procedures.

Manages budget in both a current year and multi-year context as liabilities are established years at a time.

Oversees the ongoing fiscal reconciliation performed by the Financial Analyst and manages annual fiscal close operations. Ensures cost accounting standards, regulatory compliance and audit compliance are maintained.

Responds to internal and external audit requests on behalf of the division.

Establishes objectives and high-level planning for all central fellowship award competitions which are delegated to and conducted by the Assistant Director of Fellowships.

Provides direction to the Assistant Director who assists academic departments with strategies for competitive support programs for recruitment and continuing students.

Ensures Fellowships unit is meeting operating goals and deadlines, including the timely and accurate disbursal of support covering student registration fees and stipend support allowing students to maintain good financial standing and registration.

Oversees the distribution of over seven million in non-central endowment and extramural funds held by academic departments that are disbursed by the Fellowships Unit through Graduate Division systems.

Manages the financial support section of five career staff positions and directly hires, trains, supervises and evaluates four of the career staff positions. Establishes unit roles and responsibilities, assessing human resource needs and solutions. Hires and trains limited appointment staff as necessary.

Student Financial Support Systems Management - 20%

Provides stewardship for the division's financial support related information systems, including both applications for internal use and web applications used by campus departments.

Evaluates ongoing functional needs of the Fellowship and Academic Appointment units and the effectiveness of existing information systems to meet those needs.

In collaboration with ITS, identifies priority development and maintenance items, resourcing considerations and develops planning to address needs.

Works with the Systems Operations and Analysis Unit to ensure the existence of sufficient campus training and documentation to facilitate effective use of the student financial system for Graduate Aid.

Management of Academic Employment - 15%

Oversees the campus-wide Graduate Student benefit of employment Fee Remission program totaling over thirty million dollars annually. Assesses and develops procedures to ensure accurate application of remission benefits, and cost recovery charged to campus accounts and faculty research grants, delegating assignments to the Assistant Director of Academic Appointments and supporting staff.

Ensures review and analysis of graduate student academic appointments for compliance with the UC-UAW Academic Student Employee Collective Bargaining Agreement. Provides strategic support for division in UC-UAW Collective Bargaining.

Supervises the Graduate Appointment Policy Analyst, who serves as central campus authority on Graduate Student Researcher Fellow and Trainee matters, including unit designation determinations, above-scale hire requests, and minimum salary guidance for ASE and GSR appointments.

Provides direction on grievance mitigation and response under the ASE (BX) and GSR (BR) collective bargaining agreements, and on the Division's role in campus and systemwide labor relations coordination.

Develops procedures to ensure Graduate Division policies on student employment are being adhered to by students and employing department, delegating assignments to the appropriate staff.

Ensures reconciliation of divisional balance sheet accounts and campus compliance with federal cost accounting standards and regulations. Develops procedures delegated to and executed by the Financial Analyst.

Responds to internal and external audit requests on behalf of the division.

Ensures effective communication and coordination between related central offices including Academic Personnel, Labor Relations, OISS, Academic Departments and the Graduate Division.

Financial Support (Reporting and Analysis) - 20%

Leverages significant domain expertise in student financial support, accounting, relevant policy and campus systems and data sources to assess and develop solutions for divisional reporting and analysis needs.

Provides direction to the Financial Analyst in the production of ad-hoc reporting and analysis on graduate financial support for the AVC and Graduate Dean, EVC and Provost, Divisional Deans, departments, and Office of the President.

Provides expertise and guidance to the Division's Institutional Research Analyst relating to financial support.

Designs complex financial analysis and quantitative models to support short and long-term planning and decision making. Works with the Financial Analyst to regularly update financial forecasts and projections.

Advises the Deans on issues involving University policies and procedures, campus practices or historical precedence related to student financial support, account and fund management.

Serves as staff resource for Graduate Council, campus, and system-wide committees in financial and academic appointment areas by identifying problem areas and proposing changes to correct.

Strategic Financial Leadership - 10%

Serves as strategic advisor to the AVC and Dean on graduate student financial support, providing decision support on complex, high-consequence funding issues requiring sound judgment under conditions of uncertainty.

Leads strategic planning and financial modeling for the Graduate Division fellowship portfolio, including multi-year sustainability planning and development of long-range strategies to strengthen the fiscal sustainability of the Division's fellowship portfolio. Evaluates policy implications of funding decisions and recommends changes.

Anticipates emerging financial and enrollment-related risks affecting graduate student support. Applies systems thinking to evaluate downstream financial and operational impacts of funding decisions across departments, colleges, and central administration.

Partners with campus leadership to identify and implement approaches that align fellowship commitments with available resources while maintaining competitiveness in graduate student recruitment and success.

UC Vaccination Programs Policy:

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccinations Programs.
As a condition of Physical Presence at a Location or in a University Program, all Covered Individuals* must participate in any applicable Vaccination Program by providing proof that they are Up-to-Date with any required Vaccines or submitting a request for Exception in a Mandate Program or properly declining vaccination in an Opt-Out Program no later than the Compliance Date (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.). Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

For more information, please visit University of California Policy on Vaccinations - https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/5000695/VaccinationProgramsPolicy

*Covered Individuals: A Covered Individual includes anyone designated as Personnel or Students under this Policy who physically access a University Facility or Program in connection with their employment, appointment, or education/training. A person accessing a Healthcare Location as a patient, or an art, athletics, entertainment, or other publicly accessible venue at a Location as a member of the public, is not a Covered Individual.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

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