Rob Watkins
Office of Finance and Administration
Accounting and Financial Manager

Rob Watkins is the Accounting and Financial Manager for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. He is responsible for managing the organizations monthly financial reports, payroll, retirement account, and charitable organizations registrations. In addition, he assists the Director of Finance with all aspects of the financial and accounting department. Mr. Watkins comes to the organization with over fifteen years of accounting, auditing, and financial experience.

Mr. Watkins was the Vice President of Finance and CFO, at Saratoga Food Group (SRG), a franchisee of Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits. He was directly responsible for the overall management of the Financial Department, which included budget management, financial forecasting, servicing and development of debt obligations, financial planning and analysis, payroll management, company tax preparation, treasury and all general accounting functions. He assisted the owner with the development and growth of the franchise, from two stores to sixteen stores, and was integral in reducing the market fund deficit to zero over a three-year period.

Prior to his tenure at Saratoga Food Group, Mr. Watkins spent nearly four years as an auditor for First Cash Financial Services. As senior auditor, he coordinated the audit team to effectively and efficiently evaluate the controlled inventory at each individual store level.

Mr. Watkins started his professional career at Marriott. He had various positions from Front Desk Supervisor to Night Auditor.

Mr. Watkins enjoys working out, traveling, and attending various sporting events in his free time.