Position Focus:

The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) houses the largest collection of British Art outside the United Kingdom, encompassing works from the fifteenth century to the present in a wide range of media. Its collections include more than 2,000 paintings, 250 sculptures, more than 20,000 drawings and watercolors, 40,000 prints and 35,000 rare books and manuscripts. The Museum offers a vibrant, year-round program of exhibitions and events in person and online. Presented to Yale by collector and philanthropist Paul Mellon (Yale College, Class of 1929), and located in the last building designed by the internationally acclaimed architect Louis I. Kahn, the museum opened to the public in 1977. The Yale Center for British Art is free and open to all.

Reporting jointly to the Paul Mellon Director of the Yale Center for British Art and to Yale’s Senior Director of Finance & Administration for Collections and Scholarly Communication, the Director of Finance and Administration provides leadership and oversight to the museum’s financial, administrative, and operational functions. As a core member of the YCBA’s Executive Team, the DFA plays a vital role in guiding the museum’s strategic direction, ensuring that administrative decisions align with its mission and long-term priorities.

The DFA is responsible for the museum’s financial stewardship, human resources, information technology, facilities, and security departments. The DFA will cultivate a positive, professional workplace culture, promoting staff engagement and alignment, while fostering strong relationships with university partners in a union environment.

As the museum’s chief financial steward, the DFA manages an annual operating budget of $35 million, overseeing financial planning, budgeting, and resource allocation. To ensure fiscal health and sustainability, the DFA implements long-term strategies, risk management, and compliance, collaborating closely with university finance teams, external auditors, and institutional partners.

The DFA provides structure and strategic support to the building preservation and facilities teams that oversee the YCBA’s landmark building and off-site offices and facilities. The DFA plays a key role in guiding long-term infrastructure planning, shaping capital project priorities, and evaluating costs and sustainability strategies in collaboration with senior operations staff, the university’s Office of Facilities, and external partners.

In IT and Security, the DFA provides strategic oversight, ensuring these functions are effectively resourced and aligned with institutional priorities. The DFA also supports the IT lead in establishing governance structures, coordinating across the institution, and long-term digital and security strategies.

Essential Duties

1. Strategic Partner: Achievement of the organization’s mission and goals by working in close partnership with the organization leader, faculty, staff, students and service providers to develop and implement the organization’s strategy. Understands and monitors external and internal factors influencing the organization’s mission and goals. Plans for financial and non-financial resources required for the organization to achieve its goals. Supports organization and program leaders in conceptualizing, prioritizing, and planning new programs or program changes. Supports, and when necessary drives, the organization’s process for strategic planning with key faculty and staff.

2. University Citizen: Connects the organization and the University through communication, alignment of priorities, implementation of initiatives, and active engagement in organization or University administrative priorities. Effectively represents organization needs, challenges, and opportunities at the University level. Proactively shares knowledge and best practices with others.

3. Financial Analyst and Advisor: Provides comprehensive financial information, analysis and advice to optimize use of the organization’s financial resources. Creates and updates long range financial plan(s), reflecting all critical issues. Identifies available financial resources (current and future), and advises and deploys efficiently to best support organization objectives. Prepares all-funds budgets, analyzes financial activities and performance against budget, makes adjustments and takes action as needed.

4. Risk Management Administrator: Implements and maintains strong internal controls to provide reasonable assurance of effective and appropriate resource use, accurate financial information, adherence to contractual obligations and agreements, policies, procedures, and external regulatory requirements. Identifies, communicates, addresses and escalates risks in a timely and appropriate manner to protect the assets, resources, information and reputation of the organization and the University. Ensures all faculty and staff understand the regulations and Yale requirements as they pertain to their scope of activity.

5. Talent Manager and Developer: Ensures the organization employs effective practices for retaining, attracting and developing talent in line with University guidelines and contractual agreements. Ensures that all organization staff participate in the University’s performance management and career development processes. Ensures the needs of the organization’s current and future talent are assessed periodically and that issues are addressed, facilitating the movement of talent where appropriate and developing Business Operations staff. Cultivates a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives in the organization. Assures that the organization follows appropriate School and University policies and procedures related to Human Resources.

6. Administrative Services Leader: Ensures efficient and effective completion of all administrative and financial services provided to the organization. Ensures high quality delivery of administrative services by providers outside the organization, including human resources, information technology, procurement, student services, post-doctoral affairs and faculty affairs. Establishes, monitors, and meets or exceeds targets for operational excellence. Identifies and implements opportunities to achieve continuous improvement of processes. Responsible for building and managing a team of high-performance administrative and financial professionals.

7. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Minimum of a bachelor's degree and ten years progressively responsible experience 5 of which are in a leadership role; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Demonstrated fiscal responsibility and comprehensive knowledge of accounting, financial reporting and analysis. Demonstrated experience with complex strategic planning and resource allocation. Demonstrated experience in managing relationships and influencing outcomes. Demonstrated creativity and effectiveness in a complex organization. Demonstrated success in developing people and organizations.

Required Skill/Ability 1:

Well-developed managerial, decision-making, planning, organizational, problem-resolution and leadership skills. Demonstrated ability to manage people on a day-to-day basis and inspire a high level of commitment and performance.

Required Skill/Ability 2:

Excellent written and oral communication skills. Ability to adapt communication style to address the needs of individuals at all levels throughout Yale University.

Required Skill/Ability 3:

High-level strategic planning skills. Visionary with ability to influence. Ability to generate a strategic vision and to influence people to achieve this vision. Ability to negotiate skillfully with both internal and external constituents. Ability to anticipate changes in the business environment and proactively manage change.

Required Skill/Ability 4:

Strong computer skills including advanced knowledge of Excel.

Required Skill/Ability 5:

Solid understanding of internal control concepts and the implementation of internal control systems in a complex business environment.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent strongly preferred. Leadership experience in an art museum environment strongly preferred.

Drug Screen

No

Health Screening

No

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.

EEO Statement:

The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.

Inquiries concerning Yale’s Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment may be referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).

Note

Yale University is a tobacco-free campus