Financial Operations Analyst

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $72,000 to $82,000

Position Summary

Under the direction of the Senior Manager Finance and Operations, the incumbent will work closely with the Departments in order to maintain, implement, and optimize Standard Business Processes in accordance with University and government policies. This role will work with direct supervisor and SEAS Finance Leadership to provide relevant training to center and department staff on financial processes and procedures in SEAS.

The position will play an active role in updating and creating training materials with financial content. The Financial Operations Analyst will be responsible for monitoring the day-to-day processing of payments, procurement requests, journal entries, vendor management, and purchasing cards using ARC (Accounting and Reporting at Columbia), the university's financial records system. The incumbent will verify the accuracy of vouchers recorded in ARC and submitted into the workflow for departmental approval, including accounts payable, procurement requisitions, purchasing cards, and internal transfers.

This role will collaborate with departments to facilitate transactions as needed and communicate policy and procedural improvements to peer constituents. The incumbent will interpret and communicate established university accounting and purchasing policies for faculty, staff, and students concerning travel and business expense reports, invoices, purchase orders, consultant contracts, and subcontracts. They will also research and reconcile discrepancies and disagreements between external vendors, faculty, staff, and students regarding the status of their payment requests.

The incumbent will establish and maintain good working relationships with faculty, university offices, and colleagues in other departments, institutes, and centers. They will also make recommendations to improve operational efficiency, develop procedures to effectuate change, and assist the Assistant Director of Procurement and Compliance in ensuring that all administrators and business officers are made aware of these changes.

Responsibilities

Financial Analysis and Reporting (65%):

• 
  

  Responsibilities include monitoring and analyzing the School's day-to-day processing of invoices, Travel and Business Expense Reports via Concur, Procurement requests, Journal Vouchers, Vendor Management Onboarding (PaymentWorks), and Purchasing Card (P-Card) transactions in ARC.

  
  
• 
  

  Verify accuracy of vouchers recorded in ARC and those submitted for departmental approval and workflow processing in Accounts Payable, Procurement, and Controller's Office.

  
  
• 
  

  Communicate policy, procedural improvements, interpret and communicate established University accounting and purchasing policies.

  
  
• 
  

  Provide reconciliation of ARC statements on departmental projects against internal ledgers; prepare financial reports and other data analyses; identify and analyze of budget variances and discrepancies as they relate to sponsored and non-sponsored projects; promote adherence to University and School expenditure policies.

  
  
• 
  

  Process and review for accuracy and compliance check requests, stipends, invoices, travel reimbursements, and requisitions in ARC; Process transfers of monthly recurring journal allocations; provide emergency purchases utilizing the PCARD; process, review, and approve salary and cost transfers in PAC; liaison with departments processing payroll suspense; promotes adherence to University and School expenditure policies.

  
  

Financial Operations (15%):

• 
  

  Recommends and makes changes to processes to resolve erroneous transactions.

  
  
• 
  

  Researches and liaises with vendors, Sponsored Project Administration, and Sponsored Projects Finance to resolve procurement issues identified by the Department through monthly report reconciliation and maintenance.

  
  

Departmental Liaison (15%):

• 
  

  Liaise the departments in streamlining processes related to procurement, project reconciliation on sponsored and non-sponsored projects, and budget to actual variance analysis.

  
  
• 
  

  Provide procurement training in order to educate departments on efficient processes and promote adherence to University and School expenditure policies.

  
  

Related other duties (5%):

• 
  

  Generate, analyze, and distribute financial reports as necessary, contributing to account reconciliation efforts, and undertake additional duties as assigned.

  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent experience are required. Minimum 2-4 years of related experience.
• Must be knowledgeable about general financial and accounting practices including GAAP; Communicates upward (school level senior leadership) clearly and effectively; Must be able to quickly learn university electronic processing systems for purchasing and A/P, or have prior knowledge and experience with ARC. Must have strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and communication skills.
• Must have proficiency with data analysis in Microsoft Excel, and proficiency with other MS Office products such as Word.
• Positive, forward-thinking, mission-oriented attitude. Must be able to read and interpret ARC financial reports.
• Use of Excel, including the creation of pivot tables and formulas (i.e. VLOOKUP), will be a must for creating reports and analyzing variances including, start-up funds, department commitments, and Dean's subsidies.
• Familiarity with Columbia University's financial policies and systems is strongly preferred.
• As part of the applicant process, finalist will be required to complete a Excel skills assessment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.