Financial Assurance Officer: ORIED - UTK

The Financial Assurance Officer position ensures financial compliance with university fiscal policies and requirements established by Federal, state, and local governments, as well as private entities in relation to sponsored projects; works with the manager and university officials to keep policies and procedures current with changing requirements; monitors/tests the effectiveness of departmental compliance to mitigate risk; identifies potential areas of compliance vulnerability and works with supervisor to develop corrective action plans for resolution of problematic concerns; develops/instructs compliance training programs for UTK. Expenditures for Sponsored Projects ranks as a high-risk area of exposure for compliance for this university with managing an average of 2300 WBS elements whose expenditures totaled $317M in FY2024.

Compliance Monitoring:

• Be a subject matter expert in the area of financial compliance of sponsored projects by:

• Stay abreast of changes in federal regulations, such as 2 CFR Part 200 Office of Management and Budget Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards,

• Attend professional conferences to keep informed of new developments and networking with other professionals,

• Provide guidance to department Research Accountants and campus community in the interpretation of policies and federal regulations,

• Research compliance programs at other institutions and Federal agencies to gather ideas for developing monitoring platforms, and

• As part of a collaborative effort, provide recommendations for revisions of university and campus fiscal policies and procedures to senior administration to mitigate risk associated with non-compliance.

• Use data analytics to develop reports to monitor areas of high risk. Work with units that have been identified as high risk and develop plans

and/or processes to mitigate risks. Periodically review the plans/process to determine if reducing the risk was mitigated or needs further action.

• Collaborates with HURON and DASH in developing reports and programmatic changes to improve financial compliance, disseminate changes to

the campus research administration community, follow up on the changes to ensure the outcomes were what was intended and if not, continue to

problem solve.

Training:

• Develop and conduct training on for sponsored projects accounting for compliance with UT fiscal policies, federal guidelines and based on best practices.

• Facilitate learning through a variety of delivery methods including classroom instruction, virtual training, and on-the-job coaching.

• Communication to inform employees about training options.

• Handle logistics for training activities including venues and equipment.

• Present training programs using recognized training techniques and tools.

• Assess training needs for new and existing employees for sponsored projects financial compliance, including Principal Investigators, departmental accounting staff, staff internal to the Division of Research Administration. This may include:

• Organize and develop training programs to meet specific training needs,

• Develop training aids such as manuals and handbooks,

• Provide training outline for individual employees.

• Track and report on training outcomes.

• Design and apply assessment tools to measure training effectiveness.

• Maintain employee training records.

• Provide feedback to program participants and management.

• Evaluate and make recommendations on training material and methodology.

• Keep current on training design and methodology by researching industry standards.

• Manage and maintain in-house training facilities and equipment.

• Provide ad hoc or specialized training upon request.

Audit Activities

• Plan, coordinate and facilitate departmental financial compliance reviews for sponsored projects, noting areas of concern and make recommendations to mitigate risks. Report findings and recommendations to departmental management. Follow up on findings to ensure any actions taken did reduce the compliance risks. If not, continue to work with the department and if warranted, escalate to a senior management, such as manager or director.

• Coordinate documentation from departments/faculty upon external audits requests, anal