Associate Director of Accounting/Controller

Position Details

Position Information

Announcement Number STAFF - VA - 26460 For questions regarding this position, please contact:

Scott Williams

scott.williams10@montana.edu

406-994-3983

Classification Title Managing Director Working Title Associate Director of Accounting/Controller Brief Position Overview

Museum of the Rockies seeks an Associate Director of Finance / Controller. The Associate Director of Finance/Controller reports to the Director of Finance and is responsible for accurate accounting records, maintaining GAAP and other regulatory compliance, maintaining MSU policy compliance, timely financial statement reporting, and managing MOR annual financial audits. The Associate Director of Finance/Controller will be a professional, experienced accountant that manages daily operations of the accounting office and implements effective financial controls and processes. This role will enforce accounting policy organization wide, educate departmental leaders for financial compliance, train accounting personnel, and produce monthly financial statements. The Associate Director of Finance/Controller must work both independently and collaboratively to ensure excellent customer service and highly effective financial reporting is available.

Position Number 4C1055 Department Museum of the Rockies Division Museum of the Rockies Appointment Type Professional Contract Term Fiscal Year Semester If other, specify From date If other, specify End date FLSA Exempt Union Affiliation Exempt from Collective Bargaining FTE 1.0 Benefits Eligible Eligible Salary $68,000 - $78,000 annually, commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications Contract Type LOA If other, please specify Recruitment Type Open

Position Details

General Statement

Museum of the Rockies (MOR) is Montana's most visited museum. In 2025, the museum served over 250,000 general visitors, children on school tours, and other program participants. MOR is a college-level division of Montana State University, an independent 501c (3) organization, a Smithsonian Affiliate, an accredited AAM museum, and a repository for state and federal fossils. The interdisciplinary museum has one of the finest collections of paleontology in the world (over 400,000 specimens) and a significant cultural collection (over 300,000 objects and artifacts) from the Northern Rocky region. Located on a 22-acre museum site, it includes a 120,000-square-foot-facility, the state-of-the-art Taylor Planetarium, the 240 seat Hager Auditorium, Martin Children's Discovery Center, and Living History Farm, along with an off-site 553-acre paleontology preserve.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Supports the Director of Finance to implement and execute effective and compliant accounting controls and processes organization wide to produce accurate and timely financial statements.
• Maintains quality control over the following areas: Accounts payable, general ledger, purchasing cards, debt service accounting, construction and fixed assets accounting and accounts receivable.
• Oversee day-to-day fiscal management activities by working closely with department managers and finance team staff.
• Establish and maintain effective chart of accounts that support accurate and compliant fund accounting for effectively reporting for grant requirements and departmental or project decision makers.
• Review monthly expenses to ensure proper coding for expense categories as well as fund and project accounting treatment.
• Manage all cash accounts and MSU index reconciliations. Work closely with OSP to manage grant transactions, requirement compliance, and reporting. Also work closely with fiscal shared services to ensure accounts reconcile and budgets are followed.
• Manage payroll reconciliations including time and effort reporting, purchasing policy controls, and approving all accounting journal entries.
• Assist in the management of human resource functions for the organization by working with university HR to onboard, reappoint, and systematically maintain a diverse staff of professional, classified, and student employees. Maintain appropriate confidentiality safeguard MOR's financial and personnel records while providing excellent external and internal customer service for inquiries and requests.
• Work closely with the auditors to ensure that timely completion of the audit and 990. Complete and provide the audit work papers to the auditors. Answer all questions the auditors may have in regard to the audit and 990
• Be the subject matter expert for Blackbaud Financial Edge, Blackbaud Altru, and Xtrulink.
• Provide excellent external and internal customer service for inquiries and requests.
• Work with the Director of Finance and auditors to ensure timely completion of the audit.

Required Qualifications - Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance or closely related field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience, in a non-profit environment, maintaining GAAP, GASB, and other accounting standards while managing transactional accounting and complex financial data with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated experience managing an accounting team, implementing accounting controls in a large organization, and managing the entire financial audit process including adjusted trial balance preparation.
• Ability to incorporate other tools like MS Excel, to compile or analyze complex data for presentation and simple interpretations.
• Ability to perform detailed, complex, and confidential financial work and effectively communicate results and policies to internal and external customers as requested or directed.

Preferred Qualifications - Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Experience with Blackbaud, or other accounting and relational database programs.
• Familiarity with Montana State University or State of Montana fiscal, Banner, and purchasing regulations and reporting.
• Experience working with grants from state, federal, and other external funding sources. Familiarity with 2CFR200 for federal grant requirements.
• Experience working in a museum, other non-profit, or university.

The Successful Candidate Will

• Be a collaborative leader with all departments and executive managers using exceptional organization and time management skills.
• Represent the Museum of the Rockies in a professional positive manner to all internal and external customers and maintain confidentiality where appropriate.
• Perform detailed and complex work maintaining accuracy with good judgement, effective communication, and positive interactions.
• Possess the ability to organize and prioritize workloads to exercise adaptability as needed and meet deadlines.
• Support and promote the mission of the museum.

Position Special Requirements/Additional Information

This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University's rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

Physical Demands

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required

This position has supervisory duties? Yes

Posting Detail Information

Number of Vacancies 1 Desired Start Date Upon completion of a successful search Position End Date (if temporary) Open Date Close Date Applications will be:

Screening of applications will begin on July 10, 2026; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established.

Special Instructions

This position is not eligible for sponsorship.

EEO Statement

Montana State University is an equal opportunity employer. MSU does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, national origin, physical or mental disability, or any other protected class status in violation of any applicable law.

In compliance with the Montana Veteran's Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran's preference, please complete the veteran's preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile.

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter

Optional Documents

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).