Assistant Director Position Budget Management
About NYU Abu Dhabi
NYU Abu Dhabi is pioneering a new model of higher education for a global world, dedicated to excellence in teaching and research and to advancing cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. Drawing on the strengths of the NYU global network, it offers an outstanding liberal arts and sciences education to students from the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and around the world, with a distinctive focus on intercultural understanding and leadership. It supports innovative research and graduate education programs that push forward the frontiers of knowledge and respond in powerful and interdisciplinary ways to vital global and local challenges.
Position summary
Applications are welcome from all qualified candidates. In line with UAE regulations, Emirati candidates are encouraged to apply.
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) seeks to appoint an Assistant Director, Position Budget Management reporting to the Director, Budgeting, Financial Planning and Analysis.
The Assistant Director, Position Budget Management is required to strengthen institutional controls over personnel budgeting and position management. The role is responsible for ensuring that we have accurate, up-to-date position data in Workday and ensuring alignment between budgeted and filled roles across all employment categories, including faculty, staff, research, students, contingent, and third-party positions.
The role serves as the foundation for the Compensation Budget, which represents the University's single most significant line-item expenditure. Ensuring accuracy, visibility, and reconciliation of this budget is therefore critical to effective financial management and institutional sustainability.
Working collaboratively with HR, the Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs, the incumbent will coordinate and validate the creation, monitoring, and reconciliation of position budgets and associated compensation allocations. The position produces regular exception and variance reports for leadership, ensuring visibility, compliance, and accountability for all personnel lines across the University.
The Assistant Director promotes data accuracy, standardized processes, and efficient reporting practices, and will support system implementation and continuous improvements related to position budgeting to enhance transparency, control, and informed decision-making while safeguarding institutional resources.
Key responsibilities:
Position budgeting and controls
Maintain and ensure accuracy of the institution-wide Position Budget, which forms the foundation of the Compensation Budget, the single most significant line-item expenditure for the University
Monitor all position lines to ensure they are appropriately budgeted, accurately costed, and updated in Workday to reflect approved changes
Conduct periodic reviews and analyses of position and compensation data to confirm spending remains within approved budgets and control thresholds
Generate monthly exception and variance reports covering faculty, staff, research, student, and contingent compensation data, apprising senior leaders of issues or risks
Collaborate with HR, the Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to validate data and produce accurate reports related to compensation planning and budgeting
Investigate and resolve discrepancies between position, budget, and payroll data to maintain accuracy and accountability
Compensation monitoring and exception reporting
Conduct monthly reviews and analyses of compensation spending across all personnel categories to ensure alignment with approved budgets and position controls
Update monthly and year-end projections for compensation spend, including staff, faculty, research, and student employees, to support accurate forecasting within established parameters
Generate and maintain dashboards and reports that provide leadership with clear visibility of personnel costs, utilization, and emerging trends
Coordinate with HR, Office of Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to stay informed of staffing changes and their financial implications
Collaborate with HR and Finance leadership to ensure consistency in personnel data, reporting standards, and compliance with institutional budgeting policies
Data integrity and system governance
Ensure the integrity and accuracy of personnel and compensation information across Workday and related financial systems
Review and validate payroll, position, and costing transactions, confirming that submissions are complete, adequately documented, and compliant with University policies and approved budgets
Verify supporting documentation for accuracy, funding source, and authorization before final approval
Maintain a clear audit trail of all reviewed and approved transactions to ensure transparency, accountability, and compliance with internal controls
Partner with HR, Academic Appointments, and Fiscal Affairs to resolve data inconsistencies or policy exceptions promptly
Collaboration and continuous improvement
Serve as the central coordination point between the Budget Office, HR, Fiscal Affairs, and Office of Academic Appointments for all position-budget and compensation matters
Promote consistency and compliance in position-tracking practices across all divisions
Identify and recommend process improvements that enhance efficiency, visibility, and accuracy in personnel budgeting and reporting
Provide accurate position data and analysis to support annual and mid-year budget cycles, audits, and management reviews
Support the Budget Office by preparing reports, validating personnel data, and contributing to budget presentations and mid-year updates
Assist in developing standardized templates, dashboards, and automated solutions that improve reporting efficiency and data consistency
Perform additional analyses and assignments as requested by the Director of Budgeting, Financial Planning and Analysis
Required education:
Bachelor’s degree in business management, human resources, economics, finance, accounting, or any related field is required.
Preferred education:
Master’s degree in business management, economics, finance, accounting, or any related field.
Required experience:
7+ years experience or equivalent combination in workforce planning, financial modelling, long-range forecasting and scenario analysis, HR and personnel compensation and planning
Experience working with ERP financial systems such as Oracle, Workday, Tableau and other financial management systems and software
Experience working with business intelligence tools (such as Tableau, OBIEE, Power BI, Business Objects, etc.) in a data warehouse environment
Experience presenting to senior leadership
Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Excel
Excellent knowledge of developing and monitoring against key metrics
Excellent interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills
Excellent knowledge of reporting and business analysis
Knowledge of organization, training, research and planning skills
Knowledge of business intelligence practices and tools, including simplified query tools
Preferred experience:
Professional financial and/or accounting certification is desirable.
Other information about NYUAD
NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai form the backbone of NYU’s global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity.
This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.