Assistant Vice Provost for Business Services

Duke University:

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

Be You.

The Assistant Vice Provost for Business Services leads the Business Services division within the Duke University Provost’s Office, the hands-on, unit-facing finance team responsible for budgeting, financial reporting, transaction processing, and financial customer service for the units it serves. The position ensures personnel and processes are oriented towards providing an exceptional level of service, supporting the needs of academic and administrative leaders and personnel within the Business Services-assigned units, while ensuring Provost’s Office budgetary and fiscal expectations are achieved.

This position reports to the Vice Provost for Finance & Administration and serves as a member of the VPFA’s finance and human resources senior leadership team. The Assistant Vice Provost leads a team of directors, associate directors, business managers, financial management analysts, and accountants who serve academic and administrative support units at Duke.

This position and its team own the execution layer of unit financial support: preparing unit budgets, processing accounting transactions, and serving as each assigned unit's day-to-day finance partner. The role requires strong financial and people leadership, the ability to manage a sizeable and distributed team across a wide range of unit types, and sound judgment in balancing consistent, auditable practice with the particular needs of individual units.

Education/Training: Work requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field.

Experience: Work generally requires a minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in financial management, budget development and analysis, or business operations, including at least five years in a supervisory or leadership capacity overseeing professional staff, sufficient to acquire considerable knowledge of accounting and general business practices and the ability to monitor and analyze fiscal operations, budget preparation, financial forecasts, and general business operations across a diverse, multi-unit portfolio. Or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience.

Preferred Qualifications: A significant preference for experience leading units responsible for financial and budgeting functions in higher education. Experience with SAP and analysis for Office reporting. Experience leading teams through organizational change or restructuring. Experience evaluating or deploying automation and AI-enabled reporting tools in an administrative environment. MBA or a related advanced degree or certification desired.

Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to lead, supervise, and develop a sizeable, distributed team of financial professionals across varied unit types.
• Advanced knowledge of accounting principles, budget development, and financial reporting within a complex, multi-unit organization.
• Ability to ensure personnel and processes are oriented towards providing an exceptional level of service, supporting the needs of academic and administrative leaders and personnel within the Business Services-assigned units, while ensuring Provost’s Office budgetary and fiscal expectations are achieved.
• Working knowledge of research administration and sponsored-award financial management across the full award lifecycle.
• Ability to translate University policy and financial strategy into consistent, repeatable operational practice across a varied portfolio of units.
• Strong analytical skills with sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential financial and personnel information.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to represent the division credibly to senior University leadership and external stakeholders.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (particularly Excel) and integrated financial systems.
• Experience using evolving AI and automation tools to improve service or efficiency.
• Ability to balance a high-volume, high-visibility workload across multiple concurrent initiatives while continuing to meet deadlines.

Hybrid eligible. The position may be partially remote with an expectation of working on Duke’s campus several days per week and as needed. The employee must reside within the region and daily commute distance.

Be Bold.                                       

Serve as the senior leader of Provost’s Office Business Services division, setting direction and standards for unit-facing financial support and representing the division in management-center and university-wide decision-making. More specifically:

Division Leadership and Staff Management

• Lead, supervise, and develop Business Services division staff, including Directors, Associate Directors, Business Managers, Financial Management Analysts, and Accountants; oversee hiring, performance management, workload distribution, and professional development across the team.
• Set division priorities, service standards, and operating practices for unit-facing financial support; ensure consistent, high-quality practice across a varied portfolio of assigned units.
• Oversee staffing structure and capacity planning for the division; recommend adjustments to spans of control, reporting relationships, and resourcing as unit needs and portfolio assignments evolve.
• Lead the division through implementation of organizational realignment, including the transition of unit assignments, roles, and workflows, with clear and sustained communication to division staff and served units.
• Ensure division practices comply with University financial, procurement, and research-administration policy; participate in audits, risk assessments, and internal-control reviews, and ensure timely resolution of findings.
• Serve as a member of the VPFA’s senior leadership team, representing Business Services in management-center-level planning, policy-setting, budget discussions, and organizational decision-making.

Unit Financial Management and Budget Oversight

• Provide administrative oversight, direction, and final review of operational budgets, financial planning, and organizational/business matters for Academic Support Units and Other Provost Units served by the division.
• Oversee preparation and presentation of annual budgets for assigned units; ensure consistency, accuracy, and timeliness of budget materials across the division's full portfolio.
• Serve as the division's escalation approver and final point of judgment for financial and procurement transactions, unit contracts, and exceptions that exceed Director-level authority.
• Review variance analysis and financial reporting prepared by division staff; recommend corrective actions, process changes, or resource reallocation as needed.
• Work with Management Center Finance to coordinate the annual budget process, forecasts, and in-year reporting cycles for units within the Business Services portfolio.
• Serve as the escalation point for sponsored-award compliance and policy questions (for example, participant-payment/Social Security waivers, federal award mechanisms, and international-partner registration requirements), partnering with the Office of Research Support, the Office of Sponsored Programs, and sponsoring agencies on complex or high-risk matters.

Cross-Divisional Collaboration and Process Improvement

• Partner with the leaders of Management Center Finance; Schools, Systems, and Analysis; and Human Resources to maintain clear reporting relationships, escalation paths, and approval structures so that no unit's needs fall between divisions.
• Partner with Schools, Systems, and Analysis on reporting infrastructure, canonical data sources, and systems initiatives that affect Business Services staff and the division's reporting products.
• Identify opportunities to standardize, automate, or streamline recurring operational and financial processes across the division; sponsor evaluation and piloting of new tools, including AI-enabled reporting and analytics, in coordination with Schools, Systems, and Analysis and the Provost's Office AI & Automation Initiative, assessing feasibility, data requirements, risk, and expected operational impact.
• Represent Business Services in university-wide financial systems, reporting, and policy initiatives.

Unit and Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Serve as a senior point of contact and advisor to unit leaders, directors, and other administrative leadership on financial, administrative, and organizational matters.
• Provide guidance and escalation support to unit leadership on compliance with established budgets, University policy, and operational plans.
• Maintain a substantial working knowledge of the functions and priorities of units served by the division in order to deliver proactive, high-quality financial customer service.

Other responsibilities and duties as assigned. 

Choose Duke.

For best consideration, apply by November 13, 2026.

Duke University was created in 1924 with a gift from James Buchanan Duke to Trinity College. Today, it is widely regarded as one of the world's finest research universities and a leader in interdisciplinary innovation and global research and engagement. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is composed of two major organizations: Duke University and Duke University Health System.

At Duke University, the mission is to provide a superior liberal arts education, prepare people for lives of skilled and ethical service, advance the frontiers of knowledge, foster health and well-being, and promote a sincere spirit of tolerance. The full range of learning opportunities—experiential, service, and global—gives immediacy and excitement to undergraduate academic work. Most recently, Duke has enrolled over 6,700 undergraduates and nearly 10,000 graduate and professional students across ten schools.

Within the Office of the Vice Provost for Finance & Administration, the Provost Area Management Center (PAMC) is organized into four divisions: Business Services (BS); Management Center Finance (MCF); Schools, Systems, and Analysis (SSA); and Human Resources (HR). Each division is led by a senior leader who is a member of VPFA's management team and who partners closely with the other division leaders to deliver consistent financial and HR support across the Provost's portfolio.

Join our award-winning team as identified by Forbes magazine as America’s Best Large Employer 2026 and be part of an inclusive culture that values excellence, innovation, and discovery. As an organization, we have exciting opportunities to be forward-thinking leaders in our field. We want talented individuals to join us, examine our current operations, and create innovative solutions that will revolutionize and enhance the way we approach our work.

Duke University is consistently ranked among the top universities worldwide and is renowned for its cutting-edge research across disciplines.

Beyond the engaging work, you'll also benefit from Duke's competitive benefits package including health insurance plans, generous paid time off, retirement programs with employer contributions, tuition assistance for employees and their children, and more.

Job Code: 00001284 ASSIST VICE PROVOST, BUSINESS SERVICES
Job Level: 98

Duke is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions), sexual orientation or military status.