Vice-President, Finance + Administration

Job Title

Vice-President, Finance + Administration

Job Description

Permanent Full-Time Excluded Position

8:30am to 4:30pm / Monday to Friday

Grade 19 ($182,817 to $243,756 per annum)

ABOUT EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY OF ART + DESIGN

Situated on unceded, traditional and ancestral xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories in Vancouver, Canada, Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) is where creativity meets practice. Ranked among the world’s top 30 universities for art and design (QS 2024), ECU is recognized globally for its hands-on, practice-based teaching and learning environment that equips students to experiment, take risks and drive innovation.

Since 1925, ECU has championed bold ideas and emerging talent through a close-knit, studio-intensive setting that connects students with award-winning faculty, cutting-edge facilities, and real-world opportunities. Today, ECU serves more than 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students, along with thousands more through continuing studies, contributing to Canada’s cultural and creative sectors and shaping the future of art, media, design and research.

Having marked our centennial in 2025, ECU continues to ask what art and design can make possible.100 years in the making, we are shaping what comes next.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Vice-President, Finance + Administration is a member of the University’s Senior Executive Team and is responsible for providing strategic financial leadership and direction to the organization, ensuring excellence in financial and strategic capital planning and master planning, oversight, and stewardship for all aspects of the University’s financial operational services and facilities. The Vice-President, Finance + Administration will support and collaborate with the VP Academic + Provost to achieve the academic mission of Emily Carr University. This will include the development and implementation of fiscal policies, that support the goal of operational effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability, while simultaneously ensuring investment in the educational environment. Furthermore, the Vice-President, Finance + Administration is responsible for the strategic oversight of all university facilities and is responsible for the executive oversight of any P3 partnerships. This includes responsibilities concerning the safety of all campuses and the community members that access the facilities.

Emily Carr University has a deep commitment to a culture of inclusion. Acknowledging the University’s diverse population and ensuring that every member of an inclusive campus is a valued contributor is a foundational pillar of the University’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). This role will support the University’s commitment to EDI and be part of the University’s commitment to building a culture of inclusion which is key to achieving academic excellence and student success

The Vice-President, Finance and Administration will place a strong emphasis on planning, innovation, accountability, teamwork, transparency, and leadership.

BENEFITS OF JOINING THE EMILY CARR COMMUNITY

• Enrollment in a comprehensive benefits package, including Dental Coverage, Extended Health, Disability Coverage and Life Insurance.
• Membership in the College Pension Plan.
• Competitive vacation and Professional Development benefits

TYPICAL DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Work as part of the executive leadership team in leading the University through a period of financial renewal and long-term planning as a response to the financial pressures associated with delivering an art and design curriculum.
• Build, support, and maintain internal and external partnerships that promote the idea of a university that is creative, responsive and sustainable, while exploring resource, and revue opportunities.
• Advance the strategic priorities with the development and implementation of innovative thinking, creative problem solving, and sustainability.
• With the President + Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Academic + Provost, prioritize strategic management of risk and financial management to protect the short and long-term sustainability of the University.
• Ensures that the University operates under the provisions of the University Act and works directly with the Ministry and relevant government agencies, cultivating collaborative relationships and ensuring compliance with all current mandates, and directives.
• Serves as the Principal Signing Officer for the University, ensuring that parameters and safeguards are provided for major institutional contracts and expenditures.
• Operate in an open, respectful, and collaborative way with commitment to accountability and transparency to the President + Vice-Chancellor and University community.
• Lead the transformation of the operating model of the University through innovation, new revenue generation opportunities, expense reduction, and leveraging technology and productivity to ensure leading operational effectiveness and efficiency. This will require change management to support the co-ordination of changes across people, processes, and technology.
• Works collaboratively with the President + Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Team in developing the operating budget.
• Work to ensure effective bicameral governance at the university by supporting the Audit + Finance Committee (AFC), as a standing committee of the Board of Governors, and the Senate Budget Committee, a subcommittee of Senate.
• Work with the Advancement Leadership to be an effective partner in managing philanthropic support received through donor activities and government funding opportunities across all three levels of government that support new capital investment.
• Build a professional and highly skilled internal team that prioritizes and drives forward innovations in the capital planning, finances, and University operations.
• Work with Faculty and Staff to develop stronger financial literacy across the organization and understand how initiatives impact the bottom line.
• Prioritize the building of an inclusive, diverse and healthy campus.
• Work collaboratively with President and other campus stakeholders to build a risk management strategy.
• Work closely with the General Manager, P3 Facility Operations to steward valuable campus physical resources such that they aid in the fulfilment of the University’s mission and support the attainment of the University’s goals.
• Work with the senior leadership team in identifying goals for the next five years that are aligned with and support the goals of the University’s Strategic Plans.
• Foster a culture of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) by remaining current in EDI trends that impact field of work and make recommendations to the President + Vice-Chancellor and Executive for improvements in support of the ECU community, and the strategic goals of the University.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nonprofit management, business, communications, or a related field. Master’s degree and/or CFRE designation is an asset.
• A degree or post-graduate degree from an accredited post-secondary institution in finance, commerce, accounting, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Must be a member in good standing of the Chartered Professional Accountants Association of BC (CPA).
• More than seven (7) years of experience at a senior level with responsibilities including the production of financial statements, investment management, budget projections, risk management, working directly with Boards and Board Committees, government agencies and supervision of senior staff.
• Experience in leading with a service and solutions focus.
• Experience in working within a complex governance structure and a broadly accountable context.
• Experience in working in a complex, multi-union environment.
• Experience in fostering and maintaining positive relationships and partnerships with community, business, government, and other institutions and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.
• Experience in an entrepreneurial environment would be an asset.
• Demonstrated superior creative-thinking and acting strategically.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively and proactively manage institutional risks, including the ability to assess, track and mitigate.
• Deep understanding and commitment to a positive workplace culture built on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
• Demonstrated Risk Mindset that allows for the identification, assessment and response to risks.
• Change Management Strategies and Innovative Thinking.
• Relationship Building across diverse stakeholders and equity seeking groups.
• Demonstrated superior written, presentation and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated expertise in project planning, development and implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to model appropriate professional, ethical and collaborative behaviours consistent with the responsibilities of this position.
• Demonstrated progressive managerial experience, preferably in a unionized, public-sector environment.
• Demonstrated success in leading and managing fiscal and physical/facility-based resources and providing guidance and mentoring to a diverse team.
• Experience in major capital planning and negotiating and overseeing insurance contracts an asset.

Preferred Qualifications

Additional Information

Emily Carr University especially invites those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and will assist us to expand our capacity for diversity in the broadest sense. In addition, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment in Canada, we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized. These include women, persons with diverse gender expressions and identities, persons of all sexual orientations, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Indigenous persons. All qualified people are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. While we thank all candidates for their interest, only those short-listed will be contacted.

Posting Detail Information

Posting Number

SA019-2026

Open Date

06/24/2026

Close Date

07/09/2026

Open Until Filled

No

Special Instructions to Applicants