James Madison University - Assistant Dean for Finance and Personnel, College of Business

James Madison University (JMU) seeks an innovative, problem-solving leader with expert communication skills to serve as its next Assistant Dean for Finance and Personnel at its College of Business (CoB).

Located in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, JMU is a selective public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and for creating an inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. The student body includes approximately 20,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students, with over 900 full-time instructional faculty. JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. The university is committed to expanding diversity, fostering equity and inclusion, and supporting superlative teaching and scholarship. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.

The AACSB-accredited College of Business offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and the College graduates approximately 700 undergraduate and 100 graduate students each year. It is led by 130 full-time faculty. The College was recently rated by Business Week magazine as offering one of the top 5% undergraduate business programs in the country and also boasts a new 210,000-square-foot College of Business Learning Complex, a $100 million building completed in 2021.

Reporting to the Dean, the CoB Assistant Dean for Finance and Personnel provides leadership and vision for the college, serves as a key strategic advisor to the Dean for non-academic matters, and serves as the Dean’s deputy for administrative affairs, operations, finance, and the systems that support those functions and services. The Assistant Dean has overarching responsibility for managing the administrative operations of the college to include contracts and grants, budgetary and financial management, and CoB facilities. The Assistant Dean works closely with the Dean to develop and coordinate the college’s budget planning process, forecast and predict resource requirements for new and existing programs, and develop funding strategies.

The next Assistant Dean of Finance and Personnel at JMU’s College of Business must have a master’s degree, preferably in finance, human resources, administration, or a related field. Applicants with a master’s degree in other areas who have significant work experience in finance and/or human resources will be considered. The Assistant Dean must also possess a thorough knowledge of business, financial reporting and analysis, accounting, and human resources principles and practices. The position requires political acumen and the capacity to handle a large number of assignments with sensitivity to priorities, shifting demands, and consequences, and therefore the ideal candidate will also have the proven ability to function effectively in an evolving and high-performance environment. The selected candidate will also have a deep commitment to inclusion and ethical values as well as experience with and an ongoing commitment to working with a diverse community of students, faculty, staff, administrators, and external stakeholders.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the leadership profile.

WittKieffer is assisting James Madison University in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by February 3. Application materials should be submitted to WittKieffer’s candidate portal using the buttons below.

Nominations and inquiries may be directed to Greg Duyck and Cathryn Davis at JMUBusiness-AsstDean@wittkieffer.com.

James Madison University is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

We promote access, inclusion, and diversity for all students, faculty, staff, constituents, and programs, believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540) 568-6991.