Controller
Board position ● Controller
Main Responsibilities • Controlling the budget • Responsible for the financial administration, taxes, insurances, contracts and all legal matters • Managing the accounting information systems • Supervising all controllers of the association (including supervision of underlying entities such as the ACD and the ARP) • Committee coordination: Master Club
The Controller is responsible for the financial administration and cash flow (debtors and creditors management, ongoing financial management, etc.) of Aureus. At the beginning of the year, you will prepare the budget for all activities of Aureus, which you will constantly monitor during the year. At the end of the year, you will compose the financial realization of Aureus. Another important aspect of this position is supporting and working on the development of the strategy of Aureus because many decisions in the board or the committees have a financial impact. Furthermore, you are responsible for monitoring budgets of all committees and you will maintain close contact with controllers of the different committees. Finally, you are responsible for legal matters.
Essential competencies: • Analytical capabilities • Affinity with and basic knowledge of financial management• • Great sense of responsibility • Structural working style • Eye for detail • Decisiveness • Communicative skills
Testimonial Jeroen van Workum
Why I applied for a board year at Aureus
The reason I applied for a board year was because of several unique experiences it offers. There is no internship, side-job, starters-position or traineeship that can offer the things you do and learn during this year. As a board member you basically are in the management team of a small- to medium-sized company, you think on both the strategic level in the form of creating a policy, as well as on the micro-level by managing the committee members and enabling them to pursue great events. This puts you in situations which your study does not prepare you for, but could also occur in your professional career later in life. While this all sounds highly serious, there are enough moments where you relax and blow some steam: committee member drinks, Aureus board ‘fun-times’. Constitution Drinks and all the other events the committee members organize.
Controller
What kind of issues do I have to deal with?
As the controller of an organization with 150 people working in 30 teams and up to 60+ projects or events, there are many financial decisions to be made all the time. My task is to make sure every decision is made after careful consideration and with the right goal in mind since money can only be spent once. I really like to challenge the committees and their controllers to be critical about their budget and let them think outside of the box, sometimes a lot more is possible with less money! To keep the overview of all decision making and all offers that committees receive, communication also is a highly important part of the job.
Network
What kind of issues do I have to deal with?
Since Aureus is right in between the student population and the faculty, it is in a unique position. We as an association know a lot about what is going on in students their lives, but also know the interests of a diversity of stakeholders within the VU environment. As a Network Officer, you are at the perfect position to connect different parties and people to leverage their knowledge and network. This can range from the International Office to the University Library, the Executive Board of the VU or even embassies from nations such as the United States of America. In your board, you will always be the person that can help others with finding someone or something within the VU, but also be the person who is looked at when things are not communicated well at for example the SBE Masterday, a very big collaboration with the School of Business & Economics. During the rest of the years, you will constantly be busy with ensuring that Aureus offers relevant activities and content for the education pillar. You optimize the tutoring, ensure nicely updated summaries and guide the SpeakerSeries committee towards organizing inspiring talks for all students.