Northeastern University, renowned for its innovative and entrepreneurial model of education and research, seeks an outstanding leader for the position of Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration ("SVP").

Northeastern’s unique value proposition is grounded in several key tenets: an experiential education, including its highly regarded co-op program that prepares graduates to thrive in a technology-driven world; a global network of campus partners for students and faculty to leverage for learning and research; a deep investment in lifelong and experiential learning; a premium placed on pedagogical innovation; and a highly collaborative, partner-driven, and interdisciplinary research enterprise focused on high-impact solutions.

The university has experienced unprecedented growth over the last 20 years. Annual external research funding has increased by more than 450%, fueled by highly collaborative, interdisciplinary institutes and centers, and the hiring of more than 800 tenured and tenure-track faculty. Northeastern’s experiential model, with its signature co-op program, has been globalized and includes a vast array of real-world projects and experiences that attract top students at all stages of learning from around the world.

The next SVP will serve as a catalyst for the university’s extraordinary momentum and record of innovation in higher education. The successful candidate will combine exemplary finance credentials with strategic leadership ability, entrepreneurial ambition, systems thinking, collaborative and creative energy, and outstanding interpersonal and communication skills. This is an exciting opportunity to join a university with a unique mission and a differentiated and attractive position in the higher education landscape, led by a nimble and dynamic executive leadership team and a highly collaborative council of college and campus deans.

The Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration serves as the university's chief administrative and financial officer. The SVP sets a culture of collaboration, accountability and service across all business, financial, and administrative operations, and for the teams that deliver these functions across the institution. Reporting directly to the President, the SVP works collaboratively with academic and administrative leadership, the Board of Trustees, and external stakeholders to ensure the university maintains fiscal health, operational excellence, and strategic alignment with its academic mission. This position serves as a key member of the President's leadership team and plays a critical role in institutional strategic planning and decision-making.

• Strategic Partnership and Institutional Leadership: The SVP serves as a strategic partner to the President and Senior Leadership Team, contributing financial and operational perspective to shared institutional strategy and resource allocation decisions. This includes participation in long-term financial and operational planning, scenario modeling to support major initiatives, strategic enrollment and tuition pricing discussions, and institutional effectiveness efforts, with a focus on clarity, execution, and accountability.
• Enterprise Financial Leadership: The SVP provides executive oversight of all financial operations and ensuring fiscal integrity, regulatory compliance, and long-term sustainability. Responsibilities include oversight of annual operating budgets, multi-year financial planning and forecasting, and financial reporting to the Board of Trustees, rating agencies, and regulatory bodies.
• Budgeting, Planning, and Resource Allocation: The SVP leads the University’s annual budgeting and multi-year financial planning processes, working closely with deans, vice presidents, and academic leadership to align resources with institutional priorities. This includes guiding budget model design and implementation, evaluating the financial implications of academic and strategic initiatives, monitoring performance and variances across units, and promoting transparency and shared understanding of financial tradeoffs and constraints.
• Facilities, Capital Planning, and Real Estate: The SVP provides executive oversight of facilities management, capital planning, and campus development, ensuring that physical infrastructure supports the University’s academic mission and long-term growth. Responsibilities include development and execution of comprehensive capital oversight of major construction and renovation projects, deferred maintenance strategies, utilities and energy management, sustainability initiatives, and real estate and space planning. This role requires close integration of capital planning with operating budgets and disciplined execution.
• Campus Operations and Auxiliary Enterprises: The SVP oversees campus operations and auxiliary enterprises, including dining services, housing operations, parking and transportation, bookstores and retail operations, logistics , and campus support functions. The role ensures that auxiliary operations are financially sustainable, operationally effective, and aligned with the student experience and institutional mission.
• Enterprise Information Technology: The SVP provides executive oversight of enterprise information technology in partnership with the Chief Information Officer, ensuring that systems and digital infrastructure support academic and administrative needs across the University’s global footprint. This includes oversight of enterprise systems (ERP, student information systems, learning management systems), cybersecurity strategy, digital transformation initiatives, and technology capital planning, with an emphasis on reliability, scalability, and institutional enablement.
• Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness: The SVP oversees comprehensive human resources strategy and operations in partnership with the Chief Human Resources Officer. This includes compensation and benefits strategy, talent acquisition and development, performance management, succession planning, employee and labor relations, organizational development, and change management, with a focus on strengthening leadership capacity, execution, and institutional culture.
• Governance and External Engagement: The SVP serves as a primary administrative liaison to relevant Board of Trustees committees, supporting effective governance through preparation of materials, presentations, and ongoing engagement. The role also includes maintaining relationships with external partners such as banks, rating agencies, auditors, regulatory agencies, and peer institutions, and providing clear, disciplined counsel on financial and administrative matters.

Northeastern University seeks a senior finance and administrative leader who sees this role not as stewardship of a mature institution, but as a platform to build, integrate, and execute at scale. This executive will serve as a close partner to the President, bringing the judgment, operational discipline, and learning agility required to lead a complex, global, and fast-moving university. The successful candidate will be motivated by the opportunity to operate at the intersection of finance, management, and the execution of institutional strategy, and to help advance a university that has deliberately chosen innovation, experiential learning, and global engagement as its organizing principles.

This role calls for a leader who is comfortable making decisions in conditions of ambiguity, who can translate strategy into action, and who understands that scale, speed, and accountability are essential to sustaining institutional advantage.

Northeastern places greater emphasis on how a leader thinks and operates than on traditional credentials or sector background. The University is seeking someone who has already led large, complex systems, owned outcomes, and delivered results—not someone defined by tenure, pedigree, or adherence to legacy operating models.

Formal education, certifications, and sector background are not determinative. A graduate degree and senior leadership experience in complex organizations are expected; experience in higher education or similarly mission-driven environments may be helpful but is not required.

The search will continue until the position is filled. Applications should include a detailed curriculum vitae and a letter of interest highlighting the applicant’s vision and relevant leadership experience. To ensure full consideration, inquiries, nominations, and applications should be submitted electronically in confidence to Megan.Maxwell@kornferry.com.

SE: 510763526

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Korn Ferry shall provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified candidates, and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected basis. Artificial Intelligence tools may be used in connection with the recruitment process for this position