Grade: 31E

Context of the Job:

The Core Facility Finance & Operations unit is a centralized team dedicated to supporting all core facilities reporting to the Research Office. The core facilities support research and teaching for multiple departments and colleges at the University of Delaware as well as users from external universities and corporations. These highly specialized facilities provide shared user access to cutting-edge capabilities that enable competitive research that would otherwise be too costly for individual researchers to support.

Under the direction of the Manager, Core Facility Finance & Operations, the Financial Analyst II is responsible for unit and core facility financials including budget, billing, and rate calculation. In addition, the team is charged with ensuring compliance with federal service center and UD policies, with financial oversight governed by 2CFR200, Uniform Guidance. The specialized knowledge of the Core Facility Finance & Operations unit ensures streamline data gathering, support of multiple billing platforms, collaboration with core directors, and other university departments for consistency and compliance in rate setting, overall operations, and budget management.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Responsible for the day-to-day financial management of the Core Facility Finance & Operations unit and core facilities reporting to the Research Office.
• Ensure proper fiscal processing of financial and spending requests via various university electronic systems including PeopleSoft and Webforms.
• In coordination with the Manager and Business Administrator II, develop and implement systems to improve fiscal controls and processing.
• Work closely with the Manager to effect complex financial coordination and accounting and to develop and implement department reporting.

• Facilitate the process to solicit, select, and onboard new core facilities into the centralized structure at the Research Office.
• Ensure data consistency, accuracy, and completeness in the processing of all financial transactions, including reconciliation.
• Ensure compliance with federal service center and UD policies, with financial oversight governed by 2CFR200, Uniform Guidance.
• Act as primary contact, subject matter expert, and administrator for iLab, FOM, or other billing platforms used by core facilities.
• Responsible for core facility financial support including rate calculations, billing, receivables, and revenue/expense analysis while ensuring compliance with federal and university policies.
• Compile data, reports, trending and variance explanations for budgeting, accounting, strategic planning, and forecasting. This includes analyzing, reconciling, and maintaining all accounting records for the core facilities; purpose code reconcilement and reviewing data reports and resolving discrepancies as appropriate; ensuring accuracy and availability of funding and compliance with standard accounting and audit procedures.
• Recommends and resolves potential financial/budgetary issues. Strives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing processes and looks for alternatives that better meet the business needs. Recommends and assists in implementing enhancements to financial/budgetary processes and procedures.
• Recommends changes to software as needed to maintain compliance and billing efficiency.
• Recommends solutions to solve complex administrative/procedural problems.
• Supervises support staff; motivates, develops, directs, and assigns work and special projects for staff; monitors workload and productivity; evaluates performance; aids in analyzing and resolving complex issues.
• Works closely with the Manager to complete budget turnaround data each year.
• Performs job-related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or business-related discipline and four years’ experience in administrative/supervisory capacity, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with billing, budgeting, financial analysis/forecasting, and customer service.
• Familiarity with UD accounting system, PeopleSoft financials, and UD policies and procedures is preferred.
• Working knowledge and understanding of federal and state regulatory policies, procedures, and guidelines, including Uniform Guidance, strongly preferred.
• High level of independent and sound judgment, critical thinking, initiative, and accountability; strong written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to build strong and cohesive working relationships among diverse groups within the department, the greater university, and external partners.
• Ability to compile, analyze, and interpret complex data.
• Ability to use advanced techniques in spreadsheet, database, and/or presentation software.
• Ability to handle multiple assignments concurrently and re-prioritize; ability to successfully adapt to rapid change.
• Ability to plan, organize, implement, evaluate, and modify administrative support needs.