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Associate Vice President – Auxiliary and Business Services

Job No: 26123
Department: CFO & Vice President for Admin
Work Type: Staff - Full Time
Location: Main Campus (Houghton, MI)
Full Time / Part Time: Full Time
Categories: Business, Finance, Student Affairs
Applications Close Date: August 16, 2026

Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.

The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year‑round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.

Responsibilities and Essential Duties

• Provides strategic oversight and executive leadership for a portfolio of self‑operated and contracted auxiliary and business service units, ensuring financial sustainability, operational excellence, and alignment with institutional priorities.
• Drives financial performance across the division, including budget development, long‑range forecasting, pricing strategy, and executive reporting of operating results to senior leadership.
• Leads contract strategy and vendor governance for all major auxiliary agreements, including dining services, vending, shuttle service, and pouring rights; ensures contractual, financial, and service expectations are met.
• Directs the division’s capital planning and deferred maintenance priorities, including coordination with Facilities Management on construction, renovation, and equipment lifecycle projects.
• Cultivates a culture of leadership excellence by providing coaching and mentoring, supporting professional development, and building a high‑performing senior leadership team of 5 direct reports who are accountable for outcomes.
• Evaluates business models and service delivery approaches across the portfolio, informed by peer benchmarking, financial analysis, and curated evaluative criteria.
• Establishes and enforces performance standards, key performance indicators, and operational monitoring systems to drive results and continuous improvement across all business units.
• Builds and maintains strong partnerships with university leadership, faculty, staff, students, vendors, contractors, alumni, and the broader campus community.
• Leads and supports divisional compliance with university policies, health and safety requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Represents the division to the Board of Trustees, senior leadership, and external stakeholders; prepares and presents financial, operational, and strategic reports and exhibits.
• Commits to learning about and applying continuous improvement strategies, including Lean methodologies, in everyday work; actively engages in university‑wide continuous improvement initiatives.
• Applies safety‑related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.

Required Education, Certifications, Licensures

Bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, hospitality management, higher education administration, or a related field.

Required Experience

• Significant and progressively responsible senior leadership experience in auxiliary services, higher education administration, finance, operations, or a comparably complex multi‑unit operation, with demonstrated success managing complex, multi‑million‑dollar operating budgets, multiple enterprise functions, and direct supervision of professional staff.
• Experience must include decision‑making authority for financial performance; development of housing, dining, or other auxiliary or retail pricing strategy and fee schedules; contract governance and vendor oversight; and demonstrated accountability for service quality and customer experience outcomes.

Desirable Education and/or Experience

• Master's degree in business administration, higher education administration, or a related field.
• History of positions with increasing scope and executive‑level decision‑making responsibility in higher education auxiliary services.
• Experience across multiple auxiliary functions such as housing, dining, retail, recreation, transportation, or museum operations.
• Certified Auxiliary Services Professional (CASP) designation or comparable certification.
• Demonstrated record of improving service quality, financial performance, and customer satisfaction through data‑informed decision‑making.
• Experience with capital planning, construction oversight, or major facility renovation projects.
• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies.
• Demonstrated success in aligning resources across divisions and reducing organizational silos.
• Proven ability to lead large‑scale transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated success in improving efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing service delivery.
• Experience evaluating and optimizing administrative structures and shared services.
• Experience supporting or leading revenue growth initiatives.
• Familiarity with pricing strategy, market analysis and program development.
• Exceptional ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly and effectively.
• Experience working with governing boards, executive teams and external partners.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

• Proven business, strategic, and financial acumen; ability to plan and manage operating and capital budgets for a complex multi‑unit enterprise.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, with demonstrated ability to engage effectively at all organizational levels, including governing boards, senior leadership, students, and external partners.
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning, contract negotiation, and operational oversight of outsourced service providers.
• Demonstrated expertise in leading, managing, and developing high‑performing senior administrative and operational teams across diverse disciplines.
• Analytical aptitude with proven problem‑solving skills and ability to develop solutions in complex, resource‑constrained environments.
• Ability to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and operate effectively in a rapidly changing environment with a high tolerance for ambiguity.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

• Familiarity with national auxiliary services, retail, housing, and business trends, benchmarks, and best practices, with the ability to translate industry intelligence into operational and strategic action.
• Experience developing and utilizing key performance indicators and dashboards to drive continuous improvement.
• The successful candidate will possess the following leadership characteristics:
  • Strategic and forward‑looking, with the ability to connect financial decisions to mission and impact.
  • Action‑oriented and results‑driven, with a strong capacity for execution.
  • Collaborative, with an enterprise mindset and a commitment to shared success.
  • Analytical and data‑informed, with a focus on measurable outcomes.
  • Skilled at leading through complexity and change in a shared governance environment.
  • Courageous and decisive, particularly in addressing inefficiencies and advancing institutional priorities.
  • A trusted and credible leader with high integrity and sound judgment.
• Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons from diverse backgrounds, creating a sense of belonging, and fostering a fair, objective, welcoming place to work for persons with a wide variety of personal characteristics and viewpoints.

Work Environment and/or Physical Demands

Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment, with regular site visits to a broad portfolio of facilities across campus and in the surrounding community. Visits to outdoor recreational venues, including a ski area and golf course, may require walking on uneven or weather‑affected terrain and use of golf carts, snowmobiles, chair lifts, or other site vehicles. The position requires the ability to navigate varied physical environments across seasons. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.

Required Training and Other Conditions of Employment

• Employee Safety Overview
• Anti‑Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation Training
• Annual Data Security Training
• Annual Title IX Training

Background Check: Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.

The salary range for this position is $160,000 - $180,000. However, the final salary will depend on experience and qualifications.

Title of Position Supervisor: CFO/VP for Administration

Posting Type: Internal & External

Dependent on Funding: No

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Michigan Technological University does not discriminate in its employment practices or in its educational programs or activities on the basis of sex and gender. Michigan Tech also prohibits retaliation against any person opposing discrimination or participating in any discrimination investigation or complaint process internally or externally. Reports of misconduct, questions regarding Title IX, and concerns about noncompliance should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator.