As a patient-focused organization, University of Utah Health exists to enhance the health and well-being of people through patient care, research and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. University of Utah Health seeks staff that are committed to the values of compassion, collaboration, innovation, responsibility, integrity, quality and trust that are integral to our mission. EO/AA
The Associate Chief Financial Officer – Health Academics (ACFO-UUHA) serves as a senior financial executive to the Chief Financial Officer, U of U Health with primary responsibility for oversight and stewardship of Health Academics finances, including the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, Colleges of Health, Nursing, and Pharmacy, Health Sciences Centers and Institutes, and Health Sciences administrative units.The ACFO-UUHA leads programmatic financial strategy for Health Academics units, ensuring alignment with broader health system goals through strategic planning, transparent reporting, and effective resource allocation. The role serves as the financial counterpart to academic leadership and promotes compliance, sustainability, and integration across academic, research, and clinical domains.As a functional leader, the ACFO-UUHA provides leadership and direction for the coordinated U Health finance function serving UUHA units. The role is responsible for standardized finance service delivery and for building strong financial partnerships that support business owners and decision-making. The ACFO-UUHA works closely with system finance leaders to align support for budgeting, forecasting, financial planning, performance reporting, pro forma analysis, reconciliations, month-end activities, compliance, workforce funding, and related finance needs. Reports to the Chief Financial Officer, UU Health, and is a member of the system finance leadership team. It has high accountability to the Executive Vice President of Health Sciences, Dean of the School of Medicine, CRO/AVP Research, UU Health, CHRO,UU Health, Chief Innovation Officer, Provost, and other senior academic leaders to ensure strategic alignment and mission needs are met.
Corporate Overview: University of Utah Health is an integrated academic healthcare system with five hospitals including a level 1 trauma center, eleven community health centers, over 1,600 providers, and a health plan serving over 200,000 members. University of Utah Health is nationally ranked and recognized for our academic research, quality standards and overall patient experience. In addition to our clinical delivery system, we have a School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and College of Health providing education and training for over 1,250 providers annually. We have over 2 million patient visits annually and research grants exceeding $350 million. University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics represents our clinical operations for the larger health system.
ResponsibilitiesEssential Functions- Academic Strategy: Partner with the EVP of Health Sciences, CFO,UU Health, deans, CRO/AVP Research, UU Health, and senior leadership to develop and execute financial strategies supporting research, graduate and professional education, and faculty development.
- Infrastructure Investment: Lead capital planning and financial modeling for Health Academics infrastructure, including laboratories, technology, and core facilities working closely with system planning and capital planning leaders.
- Research Growth: Develop and implement funding strategies to sustain and grow research programs, leveraging partnerships, philanthropy, indirect cost recovery, and external grant support.
- Faculty & Program ROI: Provide analysis and advice to senior leadership on the financial impact of academic investments, including start-up packages, endowed positions, and faculty compensation models.
- Academic Shared Services: Guide shared service financial functions supporting the academic mission, including grants administration, sponsored projects, and tuition/fee management.
- Enterprise Integration: Partner with the CFO, UU Health and ACFO to integrate academic and clinical financial planning into a unified, sustainable enterprise model that advances institutional strategy.
- Representation: Represent the Health Academics financial perspective in governance, committees, and system-level decision-making.
- Essential Functions: Enterprise Finance Touchpoints
- Budgeting: Partner with the ACFO, UU Health to provide strategic assumptions, programmatic inputs, and forecasts for the annual budget and planning cycle.
- Financial Controls: Ensure effective financial controls and compliance with federal, state, and institutional requirements, including NIH and OMB Uniform Guidance, while collaborating with the accounting division to adhere to higher education accounting standards.
- Financial Reporting: Use financial statements and cost accounting data produced by the ACFO, UU Health to inform academic strategy and operational decision-making.
- Deep knowledge of higher education finance, research funding models, and academic health center operations.
- Experience in capital planning, long-range forecasting, and complex funding structures.
- Strong analytical, strategic, and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate financial data into actionable strategy.
- Ability to influence and build consensus in environments with shared governance and multiple stakeholders.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills for audiences that include faculty, administrators, senior leaders, and governing boards.
- Demonstrated leadership in building financial systems and structures that support innovation, compliance, and sustainability.
- Ability to collaborate effectively across diverse finance verticals, particularly with enterprise accounting and corporate finance teams.
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, Health Administration, or related field.
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive financial leadership, with at least 5 years in an academic medical center, higher education, or research-intensive environment.
- Demonstrated experience in capital planning, research finance, and academic program financial management.
- Master’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, Health Administration, or related field.
- Experience with federal research compliance, grant administration, and sponsored project accounting.
- Experience working with faculty governance bodies and academic leadership.
- Proven record of integrating academic and clinical financial strategies.
Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation.
- This is a sedentary position that may exert up to 10 pounds and may lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. This position involves sitting most of the time and is not exposed to adverse environmental conditions.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Health Administration, or a related field
- At least 10 years of progressive financial leadership experience
- At least 5 years of experience in an academic medical center, higher education, or research-intensive environment
- Demonstrated experience in capital planning
- Demonstrated experience in research finance
- Demonstrated experience in academic program financial management
- Master's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Health Administration, or a related field
- Experience with federal research compliance, grant administration, and sponsored project accounting
- Experience working with faculty governance bodies and academic leadership
- Proven record of integrating academic and clinical financial strategies
University of Utah Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about University of Utah and has not been reviewed or approved by University of Utah.
-
Retirement Support — Employer-funded retirement contributions on both the academic campus and U of U Health are notably strong, with automatic contributions and additional voluntary savings options. This emphasis makes long-term financial benefits a distinctive part of the total compensation offering.
-
Healthcare Strength — Multiple medical plan choices, robust mental-health support through the Employee Assistance Program, and wellness programs create a comprehensive health offering. Network options and wellness incentives further enhance coverage quality.
-
Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave policies provide options for fully paid periods or extended partial-pay leave for staff, with parallel provisions at U of U Health. Separate frameworks for faculty include modified duties and leave arrangements during family transitions.
University of Utah Insights
What We Do
The University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, is the flagship institution of higher learning in Utah. Founded in 1850, it serves over 31,000 students from across the U.S. and the world. With over 72 major subjects at the undergraduate level and more than 90 major fields of study at the graduate level, including law and medicine, the university prepares students to live and compete in the global workplace. Known for its proximity to seven world-class ski resorts within 40 minutes of campus, the U encourages an active, holistic lifestyle, innovation and collaborative thinking to engage students, faculty and business leaders. The University of Utah became a member of the PAC-12 conference in July 2011. Technology and Commercialization The University of Utah is tops in the country for creating start-up companies from university research, according to a ranking by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). See http://unews.utah.edu/news_releases/u-of-utah-no-1-for-startups for more information. Forbes magazine’s recent ranking of the “Best States for Business” pointed to “an educated labor force” as a big reason Utah came in at number one. The U supplies many of the employees for companies that keep expanding their operations in Utah, such as Goldman Sachs, Adobe, Omniture, Oracle, Ebay and many others. http://pac12info.utah.edu/commercialization-of-innovation/ Healthcare University of Utah Health Care recently ranked first in the nation in a prestigious national study. The University Health System Consortium’s 2010 Quality and Accountability Study compared 98 of the nation’s top academic medical centers and ranked them based on core quality measures, patient safety indicators, mortality rates, re-admission rates, and patient satisfaction scores. See more about University of Utah Health Care at http://healthcare.utah.edu/index.php




