Assistant Director, Position Budget Management – Finance, Budget Office

Applications are welcome from all qualified candidates. In line with UAE regulations, Emirati candidates are encouraged to apply

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) seeks to appoint an Assistant Director, Position Budget Management reporting to the Director, Budgeting, Financial Planning and Analysis.

The Assistant Director, Position Budget Management is required to strengthen institutional controls over personnel budgeting and position management. The role is responsible for ensuring that we have accurate, up-to-date position data in Workday and ensuring alignment between budgeted and filled roles across all employment categories, including faculty, staff, Research, students, contingent, and third-party positions.

The role serves as the foundation for the Compensation Budget, which represents the University's single most significant line-item expenditure. Ensuring accuracy, visibility, and reconciliation of this budget is therefore critical to effective financial management and institutional sustainability.

Working collaboratively with HR, the Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs, the incumbent will coordinate and validate the creation, monitoring, and reconciliation of position budgets and associated compensation allocations. The position produces regular exception and variance reports for leadership, ensuring visibility, compliance, and accountability for all personnel lines across the University. 

The Assistant Director promotes data accuracy, standardized processes, and efficient reporting practices, and will support system implementation and continuous improvements related to position budgeting to enhance transparency, control, and informed decision-making while safeguarding institutional resources.

Key Responsibilities:

Position Budgeting and Controls

• Maintain and ensure accuracy of the institution-wide Position Budget, which forms the foundation of the Compensation Budget,  the single most significant line-item expenditure for the University
• Monitor all position lines to ensure they are appropriately budgeted, accurately costed, and updated in Workday to reflect approved changes
• Conduct periodic reviews and analyses of position and compensation data to confirm spending remains within approved budgets and control thresholds
• Generate monthly exception and variance reports covering faculty, staff, rResearch, student, and contingent compensation data, apprising senior leaders of issues or risks
• Collaborate with HR, the Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to validate data and produce accurate reports related to compensation planning and budgeting
• Investigate and resolve discrepancies between position, budget, and payroll data to maintain accuracy and accountability

Compensation Monitoring and Exception Reporting

• Conduct monthly reviews and analyses of compensation spending across all personnel categories to ensure alignment with approved budgets and position controls
• Update monthly and year-end projections for compensation spend, including staff, faculty, research, and student employees, to support accurate forecasting within established parameters
• Generate and maintain dashboards and reports that provide leadership with clear visibility of personnel costs, utilization, and emerging trends
• Coordinate with HR, Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to stay informed of staffing changes and their financial implications
• Collaborate with HR and Finance leadership to ensure consistency in personnel data, reporting standards, and compliance with institutional budgeting policies

Data Integrity and System Governance

• Ensure the integrity and accuracy of personnel and compensation information across Workday and related financial systems
• Review and validate payroll, position, and costing transactions, confirming that submissions are complete, adequately documented, and compliant with University policies and approved budgets
• Verify supporting documentation for accuracy, funding source, and authorization before final approval
• Maintain a clear audit trail of all reviewed and approved transactions to ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with internal controls
• Partner with HR, Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to resolve data inconsistencies or policy exceptions promptly

Collaboration and Continuous Improvement

• Serve as the central coordination point between the Budget Office, HR, Fiscal Affairs, and Office of Academic Appointments for all position-budget and compensation matters
• Promote consistency and compliance in position-tracking practices across all divisions
• Identify and recommend process improvements that enhance efficiency, visibility, and accuracy in personnel budgeting and reporting
• Provide accurate position data and analysis to support annual and mid-year budget cycles, audits, and management reviews
• Support the Budget Office by preparing reports, validating personnel data, and contributing to budget presentations and mid-year updates
• Assist in developing standardized templates, dashboards, and automated solutions that improve reporting efficiency and data consistency
• Perform additional analyses and assignments as requested by the Director of Budgeting, Financial Planning and Analysis

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in business management, human resources, economics, finance, accounting, or any related field is required 

Preferred Education: 

• Master’s degree in business management, economics, finance, accounting, or any related field

Required Experience:

• 7+ years experience or equivalent combination in workforce planning, financial modelling, long-range forecasting and scenario analysis, HR and personnel compensation and planning
• Experience working with ERP financial systems such as Oracle, Workday, Tableau and other financial management systems and software
• Experience working with business intelligence tools (such as Tableau, OBIEE, Power BI, Business Objects, etc.) in a data warehouse environment
• Experience presenting to senior leadership
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Excel
• Excellent knowledge of developing and monitoring against key metrics
• Excellent interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills
• Excellent Knowledge of reporting and business analysis
• Knowledge of organization, training, research and planning skills
• Knowledge of business intelligence practices and tools, including simplified query tools

Preferred Experience:

• Professional Financial and/or Accounting certification is desirable

About NYUAD

NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai, form the backbone of NYU’s global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity. This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.