Senior Financial Specialist

Department: MCC Biomedical Engg
Salary/Grade: NEX/11

Job Summary

Provides day-to-day financial & accounting support using an advanced knowledge of applicable skills, methods & practices & some innovation, analysis, & reasoning to choose appropriate alternatives from among pre-defined policies & procedures to complete work that includes successive steps & involves some non-routine problems &/or decisions.

Apply industry and professional standards, university policy and procedure, federal and state laws and other regulations.

Provides administrative &/or clerical support.

The Senior Financial Specialist in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) manages the sponsored (grant) and non-sponsored finances for several BME faculty members. This position also manages the finances for a highly funded research center within the department. The Senior Financial Specialist helps with complex problem solving and provides financial policy interpretation and guidance. Due to the large amount of research performed in the department, this role manages a high volume of transactions including but not limited to lab orders, reimbursements, invoice payments, using and managing a department corporate card, transfer journals, account reconciliations and expense projections.

Accounting policy & procedure
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Analysis
Appropriation charges
Balancing
Budget
Cash receipt
Chart &/or account coding
Cost accounting
Creating new accounts
Endowment and gift accounting
Expense reimbursement
Financial Statements Forecasting
Grants &/or awards
Journal &/or ledger
Procurement card program
Purchase orders
Recharge
Reconciliation
Reporting
Transfer charges
Wire transfers

Specific Responsibilities:

Budget:

• Maintains & tracks individual budget accounts.
• Coordinates the annual budget process including tasks associated with the open/close processes.
• Updates calendar, spreadsheets, templates & forms, monitors submissions.
• Completes reconciliation procedures.
• Create summary reports.
• Coordinates &/or provides information for the annual salary review process.

Analysis, Statements & Reporting:

• Prepare account, budget, cost, expenditure &/or funds analysis.
• Provides reports to managers/PIs in tracking payment status & notification when balance & activities do not comply with policy and procedures or are inadequately prepared.
• Create reports & queries; reviews for incomplete records, data entry errors, &/or accounting mistakes.
• May analyze open encumbrances that are no longer valid & recommend appropriate modifications to ensure smooth processing of financial transactions.

Transactions:

• Completes & maintains transactions in enterprise systems.
• Provides review and oversight of all types of financial transactions, some of which may be complex in regard to size or duration of account.
• Reviews: ensures approval based on alternatives regarding practice & policy.
• Troubleshoot problems.
• Performs vendor/account research as needed.
• Obtains additional information from or provides instruction & guidance for customers/vendors; corrects or escalates.
• Accesses multiple banking systems to process transactions, retrieve information, &/or initiate wire transfers.
• Provides financial policy interpretation to determine the validity of customer requests & ensure compliance.
• Contacts outside agencies, banks &/or banking systems to obtain clarification of rules &/or regulations.
• Enter information into a database.

Grants &/or Awards:

• Provides assistance regarding grant financial administration such as preparing financial information for grant submission.
• Completes post award accounting.
• Sets-up sub-contracts &/or start-up research accounts.
• Modifies grant budgets.
• Closes grants.
• Approves expenditures on travel, consulting &/or equipment, along with various forms, such as Intra Institutional Vouchers, Requests for Accounting Corrections, the Research Assistant and Scholarship Appointments, &/or payroll adjustments, in accordance with granting agency guidelines & University policies & procedures.
• Processes subcontract payments according to rules & regulations of granting agencies.
• Reconciles subcontract payments.
• Verifies payroll funding entries.
• Corrects charges to various accounts.

Administration:

• Provides excellent customer service, over the phone and in person answering standard questions regarding status of requests, policies and procedures for processing transactions, &/or instructions for completing paperwork.
• Instructs & advises regarding options and appropriate courses of action & follows-up inquiries to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Provides administrative support in regard to HR matters such as hiring, onboarding, benefits, compensation, etc.
• Completes other administrative &/or clerical activities such as organizing meetings, reserving AV equipment.
• Coordinates office, lab &/or building repairs & maintenance.
• Maintains inventory.

Training:

• Assists with training of new staff members
• Creates & provides financial training on practice, procedure, policy &/or laws & regulations to customers.
• Supervision:
• Supervises or leads temporary, part-time or work-study students.
• Provides guidance to junior employees.

Miscellaneous

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)

• High school diploma or the equivalent.
• 3 years of accounting &/or bookkeeping or other relevant experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Excellent computer skills including proficiency in the use of spreadsheet, database and word processing software.
• Familiarity with financial reporting.

Preferred Qualifications: (Education and experience)

• Bachelor's degree
• Three or more years managing grant funding and processing transactions in an academic department

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Proven communication, interpersonal and analytic skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated competency in financial stewardship.
• Demonstrated ability to perform duties and responsibilities with accuracy and attention to detail and support for organizational policies, as well as the ability to anticipate demands/pressures of assignments and adjust accordingly.
• Ability to take a commonsense approach, be proactive and work independently.
• Excellent customer service skills.

Target hiring range for this position will be between $19.89 - $27.97 per year or per hour. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

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