Chief of Staff to the EVP for Finance and Administration

The University of New Mexico seeks a collaborative, strategic, and accomplished administrator to serve as Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration (EVPFA). As a senior deputy to the EVPFA, the Chief of Staff plays a central role in advancing institutional priorities, strengthening executive leadership, and ensuring coordinated execution across one of the University’s largest and most complex portfolios.

UNM’s Finance and Administration organization supports the University’s administrative, financial, and infrastructure functions, encompassing a broad portfolio that includes financial services, budgeting, human resources, information technology, public safety, environmental health and safety, capital and space, institutional policy, and campus support services. The Chief of Staff plays a key role in ensuring that resources, systems, and operations are aligned with institutional priorities.

Reporting directly to the EVPFA, the Chief of Staff helps advance strategic priorities, coordinating complex cross functional initiatives, facilitating executive decision making, and ensuring organizational priorities remain aligned across the division. The Chief of Staff works closely with university leadership, the President’s Office, the Board of Regents, faculty and staff leaders, and external partners on matters of strategic importance.

What Makes This Role Different

This is not only an advisory or coordinating role. The Chief of Staff carries delegated authority to decide, commit, and direct on behalf of the EVPFA within defined limits, and has supervisory responsibility for critical enterprise functions, including the University Policy Office, Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness, and the EVPFA executive office.

The successful candidate must be comfortable moving between strategic advising and hands-on execution, counseling leadership on sensitive institutional issues, providing oversight to assigned departments, and developing high-quality work under tight deadlines. The Chief of Staff’s portfolio may evolve over time as additional enterprise functions or institutional priorities are assigned to the office.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Executive Partnership and Delegated Authority

• Serve as the EVPFA’s principal strategic advisor on organizational priorities, emerging issues, and executive decision making.
• Exercise delegated authority on behalf of the EVPFA on operational and administrative matters, applying judgment about what to decide, what to bring forward with a recommendation, and what to escalate immediately.
• Research, analyze, and synthesize complex information to support executive decisions and institutional strategy.
• Anticipate issues requiring executive attention and develop recommendations and options.
• Represent the EVPFA in meetings, committees, and institutional initiatives, as appropriate.

Oversight of Assigned Enterprise Functions

• On behalf of the EVPFA, oversees the University Policy Office and Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness department; sets goals and performance expectations, evaluates staff, makes staffing decisions, and administers budgets for assigned units.
• Lead the EVPFA executive office, including supervision of executive office staff, management of the office budget, and continuous improvement of office operations.

Divisional Operating Leadership and Enterprise Initiatives

• Strengthen the effectiveness of the Finance and Administration leadership team by ensuring that significant issues receive appropriate attention and that commitments made by divisional leaders are carried through.
• Design and lead divisional leadership activities, including strategic planning sessions, leadership retreats, and employee engagement initiatives to support clear organizational outcomes.
• Provide oversight of and support to major institutional and divisional priorities on behalf of the EVPFA, including the Elevate UNM Oracle Fusion Cloud implementation, presidential priorities, legislative initiatives, and other strategic initiatives.
• Maintain a broad view across the Finance and Administration portfolio, identifying emerging issues, competing priorities, and items requiring coordination across units.
• Lead and coordinate strategic initiatives on behalf of the EVPFA when the work requires executive sponsorship, cross-divisional coordination, or authority that extends beyond a single administrative unit.
• Serve as the primary liaison for the Regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee, including agenda development, quality control of committee materials, briefing of presenters, and follow through on committee direction.

Executive Communication

• Draft, review, and edit executive correspondence, speeches, presentations, briefing materials, Regents’ and legislative materials, reports, and messaging on complex, high profile, and politically sensitive issues.
• Ensure communications reflect institutional priorities, appropriate tone, and sound judgment while balancing multiple stakeholder perspectives.

Measure of Success

In the first 12 to 18 months, the Chief of Staff will have become a trusted deputy to the EVPFA and a collaborative partner across the Finance and Administration, helping divisional leaders navigate issues that cross organizational boundaries and ensuring the EVPFA has visibility into major institutional and divisional priorities. The Chief of Staff will have strengthened the effectiveness of the Finance and Administration leadership team, improved accountability and coordination across major initiatives, and increased the division’s ability to anticipate and resolve significant issues without unnecessary escalation to the EVPFA.

At the same time, the Chief of Staff will provide effective oversight of the University Policy Office, Crisis Management and Emergency Preparedness, and the EVPFA executive office, establishing clear priorities, supporting and developing staff, and ensuring these functions operate effectively and continue to improve. Success will ultimately be reflected in a Finance and Administration organization that operates with greater coordination, clarity, and accountability, and in an EVPFA who has greater capacity to focus on institutional strategy, executive leadership, external relationships, and the University’s highest-priority issues.

Work Expectations

This position requires consistent on-campus presence. The duties depend on constant engagement in divisional activity, direct leadership of assigned units, and readiness to respond to emergent matters. The role requires availability outside standard business hours and on short notice, such as during emergency activations, Regents’ meetings, and legislative sessions.

See the Position Description for additional information.