Financial Manager

Financial Analyst 3

Job Family: Budget, Planning and Financial Analysis

Time Type: Full time

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree and five (5) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Job Profile Summary: Performs intermediate to complex financial analysis and reporting. Supports the design, maintenance, and improvement of financial systems and reports in support of other financial activities within the institution. Communicates with peers, managers, and ASU senior leadership.

Job Description: Candidates interested in a career with a focus on financial and project management are invited to apply to join the team at ASU's School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering (SBHSE) within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (FSE).

Members of the Research Advancement Team provide financial oversight and post-award support for sponsored projects, grants, contracts, and faculty accounts while working closely with faculty who are making impactful advances in solving today's global issues. The Financial Manager partners with faculty, staff, and university offices to monitor expenditures, prepare budgets and forecasts, ensure compliance, and resolve financial issues. The position also advises faculty and post-award staff, supports process improvement, and contributes to team leadership while delivering excellent customer service and clear communication.

This is a mid-career track position (Level 3 of 7) reporting to the SBHSE Research Advancement Manager (RAM) with opportunities to increase complexity based on job performance, as well as growth into multiple branches of specialization or supervisory tracks.

Position Salary Range: Salary Range $66,200 - $73,000 per year; DOE

Essential Duties:

• Independently manage a complex portfolio of sponsored projects, faculty discretionary and startup; reconcile accounts, monitor expenditures, and prepare financial analyses and reports.
• Review payroll, budget-to-actual, deficit, personnel, sponsor-specific, and projection reports to identify trends, risks, missing information, and needed actions.
• Prepare budgets, projections, and financial scenarios using university financial systems and forecasting tools to support faculty and leadership decision-making.
• Review and approve financial and payroll transactions, ensuring expenses are allowable, allocable, reasonable, and consistent with sponsor and university requirements.
• Prepare, review, and advise on post-award administrative documents, sponsor reporting materials, cost share tracking, and account management requirements

Problem Solving and Process Improvement:

• Independently identify post-award issues, research options, resolve missing or conflicting information, and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Interpret policies, procedures, sponsor requirements, and financial data to determine the best available course of action.
• Improve existing post-award processes, reports, tools, or workflows to increase consistency, accuracy, compliance, and service quality.
• Lead or contribute to administrative initiatives affecting research administration, financial management, compliance, budgeting, or reporting.
• Escalate complex or high-risk issues with clear analysis, recommended next steps, and implications for faculty, sponsors, and the school.

Communication and Collaboration:

• Advise faculty, staff, and team members on difficult post-award financial matters, including spending plans, projections, compliance issues, and sponsor requirements.
• Build effective working relationships with faculty, department staff, central offices, and other university partners to resolve issues and support sponsored project administration.
• Communicate financial information clearly in writing and verbally, adapting communication style to faculty, leadership, and sponsors.
• Manage competing deadlines and responsibilities while maintaining accuracy, sound judgment, and high-quality service.

Desired Qualifications:

• Demonstrated knowledge of policies, procedures, and regulations governing complex grants, contracts, sponsored projects, cost share, and post-award financial management for sponsors such as NIH, NSF, ARO, and other non-profit organizations.
• Experience managing a complex portfolio of sponsored projects, discretionary, and startup accounts in a university or similarly complex environment.
• Experience preparing budgets, financial reports, spending projections, sponsor reports, and budget-to-actual analyses for a high volume of awards or accounts.
• Experience reviewing payroll, personnel, deficit, transactions, and financial reports to identify risks, discrepancies, missing information, and needed actions.
• Demonstrated ability to independently analyze complex problems, research options, interpret requirements, and recommend practical solutions.
• Experience improving financial, administrative, reporting, or post-award business processes.
• Experience advising faculty, staff, or leadership on difficult financial or research administration matters.
• Experience using systems such as Workday Financial, ERA systems, Concur, Adaptive Planning, forecasting tools, sponsor portals, or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and collaborate with partners outside the immediate work unit.
• Effective verbal and written communication, sound judgment, initiative, organization, and a strong commitment to customer service.

Working Environment:

• Activities are performed in an environmentally controlled office setting subject to extended periods of sitting, keyboarding, and manipulating a computer mouse (75%); required to stand for varying lengths of time and walk moderate distances to perform work (10%).
• Infrequent bending, reaching, lifting, pushing and pulling up to 25 pounds (5%).
• Regular use of standard office equipment including but not limited to: computer workstation/laptop (keyboard, monitor, mouse), printer, fax, calculator, copier, telephone and associated computer/technology peripherals.

Flexible Work Options:

ASU is a diverse enterprise with a wide variety of work and learning modes, locations, and a commitment to sustainability, innovation, and employee work-life balance. We are determined to maintain our position as an employer of choice in a competitive labor market.

• SBHSE supports a hybrid work arrangement where employees spend a minimum of 60% of their regular workweek at their primary ASU work location, subject to review and approvals per ASU policy.

Department Statement:

At the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, we are delivering a world-class learning experience for our students and advancing research and innovation all at scale. The Fulton Schools research enterprise leads use-inspired research and key national initiatives, including the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, accelerating microelectronics and workforce development for the Department of Defense. We also lead the Electrified Processes for Industry Without Carbon Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute, supported by the Department of Energy, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen manufacturing. Additionally, we lead an NSF Engineering Research Center developing sustainable civil infrastructure and partner with another ERC advancing clean water technology.

The Fulton Schools hosts numerous research centers that leverage faculty expertise to drive engineering innovation and entrepreneurship across four interdisciplinary impact areas: Climate Technology Solutions, Competitive Manufacturing in an Advanced Economy, National and Economic Security, and Technology-Enhanced Health and Medicine. Our faculty are achieving excellence at scale, positioning the Fulton Schools among the nation's top engineering colleges for invention disclosures, U.S. patents, and startups.

We are an engineering school on the rise at the nation's most innovative university, situated in the heart of its fastest-growing metropolitan area. The breadth of our faculty's research interests and interdisciplinary approach, along with over 55+ graduate and 28 undergraduate degree programs, creates a strong foundation for collaboration and the advancement of ideas that contribute to a more sustainable and livable global future.

The Fulton Schools of Engineering is driven by core values that define our approach, distinguish our practice, and guide daily decisions in academics, research, corporate partnerships, and entrepreneurship. These values shape how we recognize, reward, and communicate success. At the Fulton Schools of Engineering, we:

• Cultivate excellence.
• Deliver innovation that matters.
• Encourage bold thinking.
• Foster a community of learning and collaboration.
• Build a foundation for all to be successful.

Driving Requirement: Driving is not required for this position.

Location: Campus: Tempe

Funding: No Federal Funding

Instructions to Apply:

Current employees, student workers seeking staff opportunities, and students applying for student worker positions must apply directly through the Workday Jobs Hub.

To be considered, your application must include all of the following attachments:

• Cover letter