Financial Administrator

Department: MED-Medical Social Sciences
Salary/Grade: EXS/6

Target hiring range for this position will be between $56,780-$76,256 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Job Summary:

The Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, is innovative, collegial, collaborative, inclusive and highly committed to team science. We are unique among other departments at Feinberg in that we are dedicated to leveraging the social sciences to develop and implement innovations to transform health and healthcare equitably.

MSS has grown to roughly 260 faculty and staff in its 15-year history and we are hiring a Financial Administrator to lead our financial services team, which provides support across MSS in financial transactions, reconciliations, payroll management, financial reporting, planning, and analysis, and training and supervision of team members. Responsibilities include

• Leading the financial services team including hiring, training, and supervising
• Serving as the department-level payroll transaction approver
• Serving as a Level I and II approver in NU Financials
• Preparing financial analyses and reporting
• Supporting budget forecasting and annual budget planning

The ideal candidate:

• has experience supervising staff and providing work directions to colleagues
• is highly organized and has impeccable follow-through and attention to detail
• is highly capable of managing multiple priorities with competing deadlines in a high-volume department
• is proactive and process-disciplined by nature
• strives to improve processes to optimize efficiency and accuracy
• has strong leadership and interpersonal skills
• has strong project management skills
• thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced, and ambitious environment with a collaborative and mission-driven culture

We are seeking someone with excellent skills in team leadership, organization, time management, oral and written communication, accounting, numeracy, financial analysis, as well as someone with a team player attitude, a desire for continuous learning and enthusiasm for growing their skills.

• Supports a university accounting-related area or program.
• Manages financial operations &/or analysis in support of area/unit's mission & in coordination with central offices such as HR, Budget, Financial Aid, Facilities, Purchasing, IT, Provost, etc.
• Reviews a portfolio of multiple schools/depts' financial operations comprised of work that involves some complex problems &/or decisions.
• Accounting policy & procedure
• Additional/special pay
• Analysis
• Budget
• Creating new accounts
• Expense reimbursement
• Financial Statements
• Forecasting
• Journal &/or ledger
• Payroll
• Petty cash
• Procurement card program
• Purchase orders
• Recharge
• Reconciliation
• Reporting
• Salary administration
• Transfer charges
• Wire transfers

Please note: Supervisor provides objectives & deadlines. Work is reviewed for fulfillment of objective & deadlines & overall compliance with policy & procedures. EE completes some activities without direction, informing supervisor only of potentially controversial matters, &/or far-reaching implications.

Specific Responsibilities :

Budget:

• Participates in determination of budget including fiscal resource allocation of appropriated, discretionary, endowment &/or gift revenues.
• Prepares analysis & reports.
• Provides account research.
• Assists with budget projects.
• Updates budget estimates & provides commitment tracking support for all financial activity.
• Ensures lead schedules are prepared.
• Guides units of responsibility through university budgeting and forecasting processes, reviews budget and forecasting submissions.
• Acts a Budget Office expert on units and functions within portfolio of responsibilities.
• Coordinates &/or provides information for the annual salary review process.
• Reviews & reconciles actual expenses to budget per NU Audit guidelines.
• Approves funds reallocation within budget as necessary & appropriate.

Analysis, Statements & Reporting:

• Creates daily, monthly, annual, &/or project end analysis & reports regarding area/unit, grants &/or awards, accounts, funds, payroll, expense &/or revenue allocation, customer service activity, etc.
• Prepares financial analysis and lead schedules for supplies, equipment, &/or personnel decisions.
• Records journal entries and creates reports.
• Performs financial account reconciliations, statement analysis, and transaction research.
• Provides support for annual audit workpapers and quarterly financial statement workpapers.
• Maintains, and updates financial models and analysis.

Transactions:

• Provides review and oversight of all types of financial transactions some of which may be complex in regard to size or duration of account.
• Enters individual &/or summary of transactions into journals &/or general ledger or other NU enterprise system.
• Reviews; ensures approval based on alternatives regarding practice & policy; analyzes and classifies transactions in accordance with established chart or coding of accounts; creates new accounts; prepares, processes, reconciles & provides receipts (as appropriate) for transactions.
• Processes transfer &/or appropriation charges & may balance &/or close accounts.
• Troubleshoots problems; performs vendor/account research as needed; obtains additional information from or provides instruction & guidance for customers/vendors; corrects or escalates.
• Maintains Chart of Account lists.
• Prepares & delivers bank deposits
• Accesses multiple banking systems to process transactions, retrieve information, &/or initiate wire transfers.
• Provides financial policy interpretation to determine the validity of customer requests & ensure compliance.
• Contacts outside agencies, banks &/or banking systems to obtain clarification of rules &/or regulations.
• Controls account availability for all chart strings.
• Provides support for internal &/or granting agency audit requests.
• Reviews status of related university accounts, transactions and processes; troubleshoots issues as needed.

Grants &/or Awards:

• Reviews PI funding status on a monthly basis.
• Works with Dept &/or Research Administrator regarding financial grants management issues.
• Provides data for grant proposals; submits proposals
• Develops &/or administers budgets; coordinates IRB/IACUC, OSR/ASRSP transactions, &/or effort reporting.
• Interacts with faculty, staff &/or funders to build relationships, transfer knowledge, &/or advise on research policies & procedures.
• Monitors commitments and expenditures to ensure compliance with granting agency guidelines.
• Verifies accurate set up of sponsored project accounts.

Administration:

• Processes & presents data & information through the application of database, graphic & spreadsheet software.
• Obtains data by downloading from enterprise systems; develops and runs queries.
• Identifies sources for data & information to be used & completes special financial projects such as (enter in explanation of special projects):
• Performs general office support activities
• Manages operation of or interaction with a computer system or system processes that support the area or program.
• Ensures that area service level goals are met.

Training:

• Provides training and support to related university units or program participants; maintains website and training materials

Supervision:

• Supervises temporary, part-time or work study students
• Provides work direction to others
• Supervises other employees
• Assists with hiring employees

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as accounting, business administration, finance, or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 2 years financial, budgeting &/or preparing account reconciliations or financial statements along with financial analysis or other relevant experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Proficiency with excel and Smartsheet
• Adept at managing multiple priorities with competing deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Highly self-organized
• Highly process-disciplined

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with NU systems such as myHR, NU Financials, NUPAD
• Supervisory experience
• Project management experience

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Impeccable follow-through
• Highly proactive
• Strong critical thinking skills
• Strong leadership skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Experience with research salary planning/management

Benefits:

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parental leave; tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at to learn more .


Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement . Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process .


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