Vice President for Finance & Administration/Chief Financial Officer

Boise State University (Boise State) seeks inquiries, applications, and nominations for the position of Vice President for Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer (VPFA/CFO).

Named one of the most innovative universities in the country by U.S. News and World Report, Boise State, Idaho’s largest public research university, seeks an experienced, strategic, and collaborative leader to serve as its next VPFA/CFO. Alongside a visionary President, Dr. Marlene Tromp, and an exceptional Executive Team, the next VPFA/CFO will join a university that has bucked the trend of enrollment declines and is committed to providing a transformational learning experience for all students. 

This is an opportunity to work in a highly collegial environment with strong support from the University’s leadership to be innovative as a means to achieve the institution’s strategic goals, positioning the University well for its anticipated continued growth. The VPFA/CFO will work closely with the University community to make strategic investments in support of this growth, including expanding its residential footprint in Boise; refining the budget model to support the institution’s growing research trajectory; aligning resources to strategic plan objectives; analyzing and maximizing state support; augmenting opportunities for revenue generation; improving policies, procedures, systems and services for increased efficiencies and effectiveness; and ensuring student success (including academic and research) is at the forefront of decision-making around resource allocation. 

The VPFA/CFO will oversee finance and budget, information technology, a performing arts venue and an arena. These areas are managed by a strong team who is eager to support a strategic leader who values transparency, creativity, accountability, and effective communication. Boise State is ripe ground for a VPFA/CFO who wants to try new things and lead the institution to an even-more-vibrant future. 

Boise State provides an innovative, transformative, and equitable educational environment that prepares students for success, advancing Idaho and the world. Often described as “Blue Turf Thinking” after its iconic football field, this mindset shapes the scrappy, creative, and boundary-breaking style of its academic enterprise, grounded in ethics at its core. The University fosters a culture of innovation by inviting and rewarding the engagement of the whole community in its evolution and by building structures that incentivize creativity and bold new ideas. A top choice for students from Idaho and across the West, Boise State has more than doubled its graduate programming in the past 15 years and has set records for the number of graduates for 10 straight years.

This year, Boise State celebrates 90 years of serving students and the community, rising from a junior college to the state’s largest higher education institution with more than 160,000 alumni, and contributing an estimated $1.9 billion to the state’s economy each year. The campus is growing alongside the city of Boise, with new state-of-the-art research labs, living and dining spaces, and a brand-new high-tech home for visual arts. Boise State is home to more than 26,000 students from every state and more than 60 countries. The University has experienced sustained growth for decades and in fall 2021 alone, saw a 7.2% increase in overall student enrollment, including a 7.9% increase at the undergraduate level. In fall 2022, full-time, first-year student enrollment of native Idahoans grew by 20% over the previous year, a large contributor to which was a concerted effort to engage historically underrepresented students; at present, nearly two-thirds of Boise State students are in-state residents. 

The successful candidate will have a master’s degree in Accounting/Business/Public Administration or related field and 10 years of professional fiscal, facilities and/or operations experience overseeing a similarly diverse portfolio with at least five years at the executive-level of chief financial officer, vice president, or associate vice president. 

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and resumes with cover letters should be sent below. Electronic submission of materials is required.

Lindsay Gold is leading this search with Carley Davenport, Leslie Lemus, and Julia Hochner.