Vice President for Budget and Planning

Cornell University is seeking an outstanding individual with exceptional strategic, operational, financial, and interpersonal skills to join the senior leadership team as Vice President for Budget and Planning (“VP”). The VP is the senior executive responsible for managing the institution’s resources and the annual budgeting process of the Ithaca-based campuses in addition to engaging with the Weill Cornell Medical College on budgetary and planning matters. The VP also leads institutional research & planning as well as University-wide space and capital planning. This position has a dual reporting relationship to the Provost of Cornell University as well as to the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cornell University.

Cornell University is a remarkable community of scholars, educators, students, staff, and alumni who are deeply influenced by proud traditions and a set of cherished founding principles. Unique among its Ivy League peers, Cornell is a private university with a land-grant mission. It is a world-class research institution known for the breadth and rigor of its curricula, and an academy dedicated to preparing young people to be well-educated and well-rounded citizens of the world. Cornell’s faculty, staff, and students believe in the critical importance of knowledge—both theoretical and applied—as a means of improving the human condition and solving the world’s problems. It embraces traditional liberal arts education, practical applications of knowledge, and interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to research and teaching. It champions free and open intellectual inquiry and expression, treats all individuals with dignity and respect, celebrates difference and diversity, fostering a sense of belonging, and remains open and accessible to all who meet its high academic standards.

The University consists of 15 schools and colleges, four of which receive support from New York State as part of Cornell’s land-grant mission. At the Ithaca campus, the Weill Cornell Medicine campuses in New York City and Qatar, and the new Cornell Tech campus in New York City, the University enrolls nearly 15,000 undergraduates and over 8,000 graduate and professional school students. Cornell employs approximately 8,100 staff and 1,600 professorial faculty members in Ithaca and at Cornell Tech, and an additional 5,000 staff and 1,700 faculty members at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. The University is governed by a 64-member board of trustees, which includes representatives from the faculty, students, staff, alumni, and New York State.

Cornell’s financial condition is strong with a balanced budget, a healthy endowment, and an enviable history of attracting research funds. The operating budget is approximately $4.8 billion, of which 54 percent supports the Ithaca campus and 46 percent supports Weill Cornell Medicine. The University’s investment portfolio is valued at close to $7.2 billion (as of June 2020). New York State provides direct funding of approximately $175 million a year, as well as other substantial support, for the four contract colleges, an amount that would require an endowment principal of more than $6 billion to produce each year. In FY 19, Cornell received $727 million in sponsored research funding, of which 56% supported research on the Ithaca campus and 44% at Weill Cornell Medicine, including its branch in Qatar. 

The VP works closely with members of the University’s senior leadership team and provides leadership in applying the University's resources to meet institutional priorities and academic programming needs. The VP is responsible for assisting the University in identifying institutional priorities and allocating resources through the annual budgeting process, through financial and capital planning, through administrative and academic reviews. The VP is also responsible for monitoring performance against budgets; advising and guiding University leadership on resource allocation; developing and advising on long- and short-term institutional planning; and providing information and research to support decision making and strategic planning. 

The Vice President will be an individual with exceptional administrative and financial skills who can serve as a key contributor to the senior leadership team at the University.  S/he must work at the highest levels of integrity, honesty, and openness, and create strong and enduring collaborative relationships with key leaders across the University, the faculty, the staff, and the Board. The Vice President will be an inclusive leader who has an appreciation for diversity in all its aspects, who weighs decisions thoughtfully and involves others in the decision-making process as appropriate. Senior-level operational experience in a comparably complex setting and a graduate degree with at least ten years of progressively responsible experience in budget and planning are expected.

Contact

Send nominations, inquiries and expressions of interest to CornellVP@russellreynolds.com.

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University’s heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations. Cornell University is an innovative Ivy League university and a great place to work. Our inclusive community of scholars, students, and staff impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose, and contribute creative ideas to further the university's mission of teaching, discovery, and engagement.