Director of Finance Systems

Summary:

The Director of Finance Systems is a strategic leadership role responsible for overseeing the design, optimization, and ongoing support of financial systems across Brown University Health - including, but not limited to, Workday Financials, Payroll, Grants, and related financial platforms. This role is accountable for advancing digital finance capabilities, improving reporting and automation, enabling operational and decision-making excellence across the organization.

As the primary business owner of Workday Financials and other finance-related systems, the Director will lead cross-functional coordination, manage financial systems governance, and serve as the key liaison for Finance in its interactions with Information Services, Human Resources, Supply Chain, and other business units. This role also drives the strategic roadmap for financial systems innovation and ensures alignment with enterprise-wide goals.

This positions reports to the Senior Vice President of Finance and receives functional oversight via a dotted-line relationship with the Director, ERP Operations.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & System Ownership

Lead the strategy, planning, and execution of enhancements, integrations, and optimizations for Workday Financials and other key financial systems (e.g., Strata, Kronos, Epic, Adaptive Planning, bank platforms, and procurement tools).

Maintain and refine a multi-year roadmap for finance systems aligned with organizational priorities and emerging business needs.

Recommend and implement KPIs to monitor performance, usability, data quality, and ROI of financial systems.

Partner with Finance leadership to assess business requirements, evaluate new technologies, and support evolving reporting and compliance needs.

Oversee data flows between Workday and third-party systems, including payroll processors (e.g., ADP), banks, and operational platforms.

Governance, Planning & Execution

Chair the Financial Systems governance group to prioritize enhancements, address system gaps, and align cross-functional resources.

Lead the successful delivery of system implementations, upgrades, enhancements, and ongoing support for Workday and other financial platforms.

Manage a formal change control process for configuration changes across systems, ensuring stakeholder alignment and impact assessment.

Ensure system compliance with internal controls and audit requirements by partnering with Compliance and Internal Audit.

Stakeholder Engagement & User Support

Service as the primary business owner and subject matter expert for core financial systems, engaging with users to gather feedback and support evolving needs.

Partner with training and communications teams to maintain user-facing documentation and promote system adoption.

Ensure data integrity, consistent usage, and appropriate security protocols across all financial systems through audits, governance, and oversight.

Lead issue resolution in coordination with Information Services and external vendors for all finance-related platforms.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

Directly Manage:

Managers/Functional Leaders - accountable for financial system configuration, testing, reporting, training, and end-user support.

System Administrator/ Project Manager - responsible for security roles, access requests, data privacy settings, enhancements, testing coordination, documentation, and system release management.

Collaborate with:

IT technical leads and application support teams.

Stakeholders in Accounting, Budget, Grants, Supply Chain, and Human Resources.

IT Security, Compliance, and Internal Audit functions.

Acts as the primary escalation point for all financial system-related issues and decisions, engaging senior leadership as needed.

Other Responsibilities

Service as Finance's lead in the implementation or upgrade of financial applications and modules.

Stay current on industry best practices, Workday innovations, and emerging financial technologies to inform strategic planning.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Other information:

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, or related field required; Master's degree or CPA preferred.

Experience

10+ years of progressive experience in financial systems or ERP leadership roles, including 5+ years with Workday Financials or comparable platforms.

Strong understanding of financial operations, accounting, budgeting, grants, and procurement within a complex health system.

Demonstrated success in managing technology roadmaps, process improvement initiatives, and system governance frameworks.

Experience working with financial tools such as Strata, Kronos, Adaptive Planning, Epic, and bank/payment systems is strongly preferred.

Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder engagement skills.

Familiarity with integration frameworks, security protocols, and data governance best practices.

Supervisory Responsibility

Supervises up to 2-4 FTEs, including but no limited to financial system managers, financial systems analysts, and project-based support.

Provides functional guidance to other finance users, analysts, and cross-functional stakeholders on a project or task-specific basis.

Brown University Health is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ancestry, genetics, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran, or marital status. Brown University Health is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

Location: Brown University Health Corporate Services, USA:RI:Providence

Work Type: Full Time

Shift: Shift 1

Union: Non-Union