Associate Director, Commercial Finance

**Job no**: 564891
**Work type**: Full-time
**Location**: Flexible, Geelong - City, Geelong - Waurn Ponds, Melbourne - Burwood
**Categories**: Finance
- Flexible location + hybrid work arrangements
- Full-time and fixed term for 5 years - Commencing from 24th February 2025
- An attractive salary package on offer | 17% Superannuation

We are building a new Commercial Finance capability as part of the Finance & Assurance function at Deakin University. This team is pivotal in supporting Deakin's strategic and commercial investments and project decision making.

The Commercial Finance team will independently assess the financial viability of strategic projects and initiatives and commercial activities and partnerships, identifying financial risks along with risk mitigation strategies and ensure compliance with financial and regulatory requirements.

The team will deliver quality financial modelling with a focus on commercial decision support and investment evaluation to justify potential investment by quantifying benefits and identifying KPI’s, providing impactful analysis and return on investment insights and recommendations.

**About the role**:
The Associate Director, Commercial Finance brings extensive and specialist knowledge of their area of expertise commercial finance and an understanding of the complexities of the higher education environment. The role is recognised as a principal specialist in commercial finance and leads and motivates a team of professionals to collaborate and deliver outstanding advice and services to our customers. The role is likely to have interactions with more senior positions, particularly to resolve differences of view on professional or leadership issues. The role leads the enhancement of practices and methodology central planning and reporting and recommends solutions to more complex university-wide issues.

The role reports to Director, Planning & Performance and leads the Commercial finance team to support the University in achieving its short-term and long-term strategic and financial goals enabling effective decision-making through implementing structured return on investment frameworks and tools and commercial models.

**The **Associate Director, Commercial Finance **will**:

- Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of financial professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-performance work environment. Provide guidance and support to team members in delivering strategic initiatives, ensuring their growth and development.
- Develop and implement strategic initiatives that align with Deakin’s goals and future needs. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify a vision and strategy for commercial finance to support the needs of the University to enhance insights into financial performance and improve decision making.
- Establish long-term partnerships with leaders, act as a trusted advisor, change direction in alignment with learnings and offer expert solutions and strategies that best serve the area’s needs.
- Lead the team to provide commercial and financial analysis and support for strategic projects and initiatives.
- Identify and assess financial risks related to strategic projects and initiatives and commercial activities including risk mitigation strategies and ensure compliance with financial and regulatory requirements.

**To be successful, you’ll have**:

- A postgraduate degree in a relevant field, such as finance, accounting, or business administration, and CA/CPA qualification in required.
- Demonstrated experience in commercial and finance leadership roles, ideally within a matrix structure, with demonstrated expertise in providing commercial decision support and investment evaluation.
- Proven ability to establish long-term partnerships with leaders, act as a trusted advisor, adapt strategies based on insights, and deliver expert solutions aligned with organisational needs.
- Strong communication skills, high attention to detail, responsiveness, and the ability to manage non-finance stakeholders effectively while fostering collaboration and teamwork.
- Exceptional strategic planning, organisational abilities, and analytical skills, including the ability to model and interpret complex data and financial reports to support decision-making.
- Strong leadership and team management capabilities, with a commitment to delivering excellent internal customer service and building constructive, long-term relationships with stakeholders.

**Here's how to apply**:
Please submit your updated resume and a short cover letter outlining your skills and experience.

**Applications close at 11:55 pm on Sunday 8**th** December, 2024**

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**Who are we?**

Deakin is a leading public university in Victoria, transforming education for over 61,000 students across five campuses: Melbourne Burwood, Geelong Waurn Ponds, Geelong Waterfront, Warrnambool, and our dynamic online campus. As a progressive, open-minded institution, we’re proud to deliver the highest studen