Research & Finance Analyst

Research & Finance Analyst

Are you a finance professional who sees the human story behind the spreadsheets? Do you thrive in a world-class institution where your work directly powers our communities and breakthroughs in adolescent health and childhood development? We are seeking a proactive, detail-oriented and communicative Research & Finance Analyst to partner with our two mission-driven pediatric divisions: Adolescent Medicine and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Financial Stewardship: Ensure fiscal integrity for a diverse portfolio of sponsored awards, service agreements, endowments, gifts, and other restricted, designated and unrestricted funds by executing comprehensive monthly reconciliations and fund balance reviews.
• Data Analysis: Extract and synthesize large, technical datasets from multi-platform systems (Oracle, OBI, SeRA, and Tableau) and perform complex financial forecasting, expenditure projections, and fund balance estimations to preemptively identify potential deficits or unspent funds requiring re-forecasting.
• Labor & Effort Management: Analyze labor distributions and execute adjustments in Oracle. Continuously monitor faculty and staff effort to guarantee total FTE remains strictly aligned with sponsor-imposed salary caps, committed effort changes, and allowable institutional limits.
• Strategic Advising: Serve as a proactive, consultative partner to faculty and staff, translating complex financial data into long-term strategic roadmaps to optimize expenditure and funding sustainability. Guide faculty through complicated submission and reporting workflows.
• Pre-Award Support: Partner dynamically with PIs to co-develop complex, multi-year budgets and facilitate necessary forms (PIF/PDRF, PI waivers, subaward documents, etc.). Peruse RFPs to identify constraints like salary caps, cost-sharing and unallowable costs, ensuring every proposal meets both University and sponsor standards.
• Compliance: Proactively research, interpret, and track evolving compliance guidelines and federal sponsor system updates (such as emerging NIH SciENcv requirements).
• Process Innovation: Spearhead the transition towards automated, scalable OBI and Oracle financial reporting models. Continuously evaluate existing financial operations to identify, design, and implement streamlined workflows.

Required Qualifications:

• Substantial experience in full lifecycle of research finance (both pre-award and post-award).
• Fluency in federal regulations, accounting principles, and financial information systems.
• Proven ability to manage general divisional financials and confidential personnel data with total integrity.

Desired Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience in both pre-award (proposal development, budget justification, RFP analysis) and post-award (reconciliation, forecasting, interim reporting, and closeouts), preferably in an academic medical center or a complex non-profit environment.
• Experience in managing a diverse portfolio of funds, including sponsored awards, service agreements, endowments, gifts, and unrestricted departmental funds, with a keen eye for restricted vs. unrestricted spending rules.
• Proficiency in institutional ERP and research tools (e.g., Oracle Financials, OBI, SeRA, Tableau) with the ability to map data across multiple platforms for complex reporting.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivots, VLOOKUPs, macros) and the ability to perform ad-hoc financial analysis.
• Expertise in managing labor distributions and effort certification, including NIH salary caps.
• Proven track record of maintaining internal controls and audit-ready documentation for all financial transactions and research activity.
• Experience managing the full "procure-to-pay" cycle, including the review and approval of PCard/TCard transactions, reimbursements, honoraria, and iJournals, ensuring compliance with institutional financial accounting standards.
• Ability to synthesize complex financial metrics into clear written and verbal presentations for Division Chiefs, PIs, and administrative leadership.
• Strong interpersonal skills for serving as the primary liaison between faculty, the Research Management Group (RMG), the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR), the Office of Research Administration (ORA), and departmental administrators.
• Proficiency in navigating sponsor portals and compliance platforms (e.g., eRA Commons, SciENcv, GrantVantage), with the ability to proactively guide faculty through complex submission workflows and system updates.
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field (Master's or CRA certification is a plus).

The expected pay range for this position is $116,995 to $135,302 per annum. Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of the salary the university reasonably expects to pay for a position upon hire. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. At Stanford University, base pay represents only one aspect of the comprehensive rewards package. The Cardinal at Work website provides detailed information on Stanford's extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees. Specifics about the rewards package for this position may be discussed during the hiring process.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE (REQUIRED): Bachelor's degree and four years of relevant experience or combination of education and relevant experience.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (REQUIRED):

• Advanced proficiency in business applications, such as Microsoft Office suite, especially Excel.
• Demonstrated knowledge of financial systems; internet and computer literacy.
• Knowledge of GAAP.
• Strong communication skills, including ability to prepare materials for and clearly and effectively communicate information to internal and external audiences and client groups.
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to contribute to or lead part of a multi-functional team.

CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSES:

None

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS*:

• Constantly sitting.
• Frequently perform desk-based computer tasks, use telephone, writing by hand, sort/file paperwork.
• Occasionally stand/walk, lift/carry objects weighing 11-20 pounds.
• Rarely reach/work above shoulder.

* - Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of his or her job.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Routine extended working hours during peak cycles around month end and fiscal year end; travel to school/unit sites across university.