Finance Coordinator

Finance Coordinator

The Geology and Geophysics Department seeks a full-time, entry-level Grants Coordinator to manage post-award grants and contracts and serve as the primary liaison with university offices. Responsibilities include reconciling accounts, monitoring grant activity, guiding faculty on compliance, preparing journal entries, advising on payroll adjustments, and managing foundation and professorship accounts. The role ensures accurate financial oversight and keeps faculty and staff informed of university policies related to budgets, overhead, and other regulations. Ideal for a detail-oriented professional looking to support research administration in a dynamic academic environment.

Duties Include:

• 45% Finance: Reconcile professorship accounts, ensuring accurate year-end budgets, appropriate spending, and compliance. Execute budget and expenditure transfers and provide monthly reconciliations to account holders. Coordinate and lead account authority holder meetings to review financial performance and spending appropriations. Confirm account balances for honorific salary payments on professorship accounts and advise faculty on spending allocations. Reconcile faculty-awarded state-appropriated research support funds to ensure accurate tracking and compliance. Process internal and external invoices for recharge centers and maintain the master database. Assist with vendor enrollments for external clients and communicate with accounting personnel at external clients to secure payments. Process journal entries for internal invoices. Deposit cash, checks, and money orders via the CARD system for external invoices as well as departmental reimbursements.
• 40% Post-Award Administration: Advise Principal Investigators (PIs) on funding agency policies, ensuring compliance with budgets, reporting, and regulations. Manage all stages of the award lifecycle, from account setup and modifications to invoicing, subcontract management, and award closeout. Execute budget and expenditure transfers, no-cost extensions, and monitor payroll and effort for audit readiness. Reconcile cost-shared accounts and maintain accurate expenditure records, providing monthly financial summaries to PIs. Identify and resolve budgetary issues, including spending appropriations, offering actionable recommendations. Support timely and accurate quarterly, annual, and final reporting to funding agencies. Coordinate and lead PI meetings to review financial status and guide spending decisions.
• 10% Other Duties and Special Projects: Provide support for additional duties and special projects as assigned by the Assistant to the Chair/Business Manager and Chair to meet departmental needs. Serve as backup for the Assistant to the Chair/Business Manager as needed.
• 5% Grants/Contracts Liaison: Serve as the primary post-award contact for the Dean's Office and respond to inquiries from central administrative offices, the Chair, the CCM, and Principal Investigators (PIs) regarding grants and contracts. Participate in campus and college work groups, meetings, and trainings as needed to ensure effective communication and compliance across all stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree with related experience in accounting, finance, grants, or related field. LSU is dedicated to fostering an environment where our employees feel appreciated for their skills and individuality. If a candidate does not meet the minimum qualifications as listed but has substantial experience in the key job responsibilities, we encourage them to apply.

Advanced in the following job competencies required: Effective Oral, Written, and Non-Verbal Communication, Service to Customer and Institution, Delivery Results, Decision Making and Problem Solving, Prioritize and Multi-task, Mathematical reasoning, Attention to detail, Collaboration, Ethics/Integrity and Attendance.

Preferred Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or related field with 1 year Professional work experience; experience in grants administration, accounting, finance, or related field.

This position regularly engages in financial matters and must undergo a credit check per FASOP HR-04.