The posting
Special Instructions to Applicants
UCLA has retained Spencer Stuart to support this search. Applications, nominations and expressions of interest should be submitted to the Spencer Stuart team at [email protected]. Applications should include a resume and a letter of interest that addresses the candidate's qualifications, leadership experience and interest in the role. The search will be conducted with full confidentiality, and materials will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Department Summary
The University of California, Los Angeles seeks an accomplished, enterprise-minded leader to serve as Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Chief Operating and Financial Officer. Reporting to the Chancellor as a core member of the executive leadership team, this leader will bring together UCLA’s core financial, administrative, capital and operational functions under a single executive mandate—strengthening strategic alignment, financial stewardship, accountability, operational excellence and institutional effectiveness across the university.
UCLA is navigating a rare convergence of pressures and possibilities: financial constraints, rising operating complexity, significant capital and infrastructure needs, and heightened expectations for transparent, data-informed decision-making. The university operates at extraordinary scale, with an approximately $13.7 billion total operating budget, including roughly $8.4 billion associated with UCLA Health and $5.3 billion in campus operations, as well as endowment assets of approximately $5.56 billion held by the UC Regents and $4.72 billion held by the UCLA Foundation. Together, UCLA’s global brand, distinguished faculty and students, major research platform, health enterprise and deep ties to Los Angeles create both complexity and strategic possibility—and a compelling opportunity to strengthen the university’s operating model in service of its academic, research, clinical and public mission.
Position Summary
This is a Chancellor-backed enterprise leadership role with a clear mandate to create an integrated portfolio that connects UCLA’s administrative, financial, capital and operational functions under one executive leader. The goal is to strengthen strategic alignment, financial stewardship, accountability, operational excellence and institutional effectiveness across a large, distributed, entrepreneurial and mission-driven university.
As part of Chancellor Frenk’s broader leadership redesign, the Senior Vice Chancellor will serve as a strategic partner to the Chancellor, the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, and the Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, while also providing the operational leadership required to integrate diverse functions into a cohesive enterprise platform that supports UCLA’s academic, research, healthcare and public service missions
COMPENSATION
The anticipated annual base salary range is $600,000 to $750,000 commensurate with experience, qualifications, internal equity and applicable University of California approvals and policy.
Salary & Compensation
*UCLA provides a full pay range. Actual salary offers consider factors, including budget, prior experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business considerations. Salary offers at the top of the range are not common. Visit UC Benefit package to discover benefits that start on day one, and UC Total Compensation Estimator to calculate the total compensation value with benefits. Qualifications
UCLA seeks a seasoned enterprise operator with the credibility, judgment and range to lead at scale in a distributed, mission-driven environment. Strong candidates will combine financial sophistication, operational command and a demonstrated ability to integrate complex portfolios, build high-performing leadership teams, modernize systems, deploy resources and influence across academic, clinical, administrative and external boundaries.
EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES
- Senior executive leadership across finance, operations, capital, facilities, administration or similarly complex enterprise platforms in a large-scale, distributed organization.
- Demonstrated ability to translate institutional strategy into disciplined multi-year resource plans, investment choices and operating priorities in financially constrained or evolving environments.
- A record of modernizing systems, reporting, processes and decision support in ways that strengthen accountability, transparency, service quality and trust.
- Sophisticated understanding of shared governance, faculty culture, academic medicine and distributed decision-making, with the judgment to build alignment without over-centralizing.
- Presence, credibility and discretion to advise a Chancellor, partner with a Provost and health enterprise leaders, and engage effectively with UCOP, Regents, faculty, staff and external stakeholders.
LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES
- Enterprise orientation: Sees across functions, missions and stakeholder groups, and makes decisions in UCLA’s long-term institutional interest rather than from a single unit or portfolio perspective.
- Trusted influence in shared governance: Combines authority, listening and humility to build alignment with faculty, academic leaders, health enterprise leaders and administrative partners in a highly consultative environment.
- Strategic clarity and disciplined judgment: Brings candor, analytical rigor and sound judgment to complex, high-stakes decisions where financial, operational, political and mission considerations intersect.
- Steady change leadership: Leads significant organizational change with confidence, restraint and transparency, creating momentum without unnecessary friction or volatility.
- Service orientation and accountability: Raises expectations for responsiveness, ownership, follow-through and performance while maintaining credibility and trust across the institution.
- Mission-aligned entrepreneurial mindset: Identifies opportunity in complexity and helps convert UCLA’s distinctive assets into sustainable value, while remaining anchored in the university’s academic, research, healthcare and public mission.
Education, Licenses, Certifications & Personal Affiliations
Required: Bachelor’s degree and at least 15 years of senior leadership experience in finance, operations or administration.
Preferred: Advanced degree, such as an MBA, MPA or related graduate degree; experience in a major research university or similarly complex organization; and demonstrated experience in capital planning and infrastructure.
Schedule
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Union/Policy Covered
99-Policy Covered Complete Position Description
