Research Accountant III

Accountant III Research

Bring your research accounting skills to Colorado School of Mines! Colorado School of Mines is seeking our next Accountant III Research, to lead the expense management of research grants and contracts in the Office of Research Administration (ORA). The person in this role is a key member of the research team and serves as a resource to faculty and administrators in the financial administration of sponsored research awards. Essential duties include the set-up of new awards in the financial system, expense and account monitoring, financial reporting, financial closeout and other post-award financial analysis and support for sponsored awards. The Accountant III interprets federal, state and Mines' terms and advises Mines' research community on their application. This position requires critical thinking skills to apply regulatory interpretation to sponsored activity. The Accountant III is also responsible for independently compiling, analyzing, and presenting financial data. Additionally, this team member works with campus constituents including faculty and staff to manage and reconcile sponsored activity. This position requires regular campus presence in Golden, Colorado. Currently this position is hybrid, with at least two days per week in the office.

Primary Responsibilities

• Create new research accounts and amend existing accounts in Mines' financial system and ORA's enterprise project tracking system, utilizing information obtained from the legal agreement, proposal documents and other project related documents.
• Recognize gaps and develop, improve best practices and standard operating procedure as new policies, terms, clause arise to better perform award setup.
• Monitor, review and reconcile award budgets, balances and expenses. This includes deficit monitoring and expense review both pre-expenditure and post-expenditure.
• Work with the broader ORA team to review deficit spending requests (currently, At-Risk Spending Requests) to determine if the financial risk to Mines is acceptable under current policy and practices.
• Review, approve, and perform salary redistributions and journal entries as needed to ensure proper expenditure accounting.
• Identify, investigate and resolve discrepancies or errors found within research accounts and coordinate with faculty members, ORA staff members, other departments and/or project sponsor, as applicable.
• When allowed under the terms and conditions of the agreement, the Research Accountant will approve faculty requests for no-cost time extensions, budget deviations, and pre-award spending.
• Assist the Property Manager in the Controller's Office to ensure all equipment is titled, accounted and tagged properly within School systems and per regulations.
• Develop and/or update ad-hoc reports using data from Banner, Cognos or other database applications for tracking, diagnostic and financial analysis of sponsored activity.
• Develop templates to improve and expedite financial administration of awards (i.e., tuition proportionate to salary calculation, re-budgeting, closeout workbook, etc.)
• Serve as subject expert on the financial monitoring of awards and provide training to staff on their applications, including financial and non-financial reporting.
• Prepare and accurately submit required financial reports within sponsoring agency timeframes. Analyze the financial statements, supporting documentation and other necessary information for each research account to ensure accurate financial reports are submitted.
• Prepare and accurately submit required non-financial reports within sponsoring agency timeframes. This includes Property Reports, Patent Reports, Cost Share reports, etc.
• Utilize School systems, such as Banner, Cognos and ORA's project software, to extract data needed for required reporting. Successfully navigate sponsor reporting systems to submit required reports.
• Determines and performs all closeout actions required by sponsoring agency and School policy and procedures, including, but not limited to:
• Maintain a detailed tracking of closeout activities
• Track all outstanding accounts receivable actions to successfully coordinate the process of financial closeout between the grant sub-ledger and the school's General Ledger
• Perform final expense review and account reconciliation
• Serve as subject expert of award closeout and provide training to staff.
• Act as reviewer of award setups. Pull quality control reports to ensure accuracy.
• Act as approver for journal vouchers & salary redistribution performed by the Post Award team at ORA.
• Lead and provide staff training on policies & procedural changes that impact Sponsored Awards.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration or the equivalent in experience
• Five or more years of Sponsored Research accounting experience
• Demonstrate ability to serve as a subject expert in various topics related to research accounting & other post award administration responsibilities.
• Experience with a high-volume portfolio with a variety of different sponsors.
• Demonstrate ability to lead strategic initiatives, recognize opportunities for development and improve standard practices
• Working knowledge of federal and other pertinent external research regulations.
• Ability to use spreadsheets, databases, presentation software, and enterprise financial systems
• Demonstrated customer service skills, the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community and ability to meet multiple deadlines
• Analyzation and problem-solving skills including the ability to use independent judgment
• Effective oral and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Higher education, and/or government accounting experience
• Uniform Guidance knowledge
• GASB knowledge and experience

Salary and Benefits

$75,000 - $85,000

Mines takes into consideration a combination of candidate's education, training and experience as well as the position's scope and complexity, the discretion and latitude required in the role, work location, and external market and internal value when determining a salary level for potential new employees.

Colorado School of Mines offers a robust portfolio of benefits for all employees. For this role, that includes:

• Flexible health and dental care options
• Generous sick/vacation time: 13 paid holidays per year including a week-long winter break for entire campus.
• Fully vested retirement plan on first day of employment, with generous employer contribution
• Tuition benefits (6 credits per year for employees, 50 percent discount for dependents)
• Free RTD Ecopass

All Mines employees also have access to discount programs through the State of Colorado and free tickets for Mines Athletics home games, as well as access to the state of the art Recreation Center (fitness classes and training, swimming pool and more) and equipment rentals through the Outdoor Rec Center. We are proud to have recently opened an on campus daycare center. For more details about benefits at Mines, visit mines.edu/human-resources/benefits.