Financial Assistant: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - UTK

Reporting to Dr. Uday Vaidya, the Financial Assistant performs key financial, HR, and administrative functions. Duties include general administrative support, onboarding coordination communication and correspondence, travel/event coordination and working with the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Business Office, record maintenance, answering phones, greeting guests, assisting with events, and onboarding students relaying the information to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Human Resource.

• Provides purchasing support services for orders including equipment, office supplies, lab supplies, chemicals, classroom supplies, etc.

• Obtains appropriate pre-approval from faculty for orders charged to sponsored projects and department management approval for general orders. 

• Confirms delivery, setup and insurance requirements for product orders. 

• Serves as point of contact for delivery and validates receipt of packing slip. 

• Maintains asset listing and assists with annual inventory communication with the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Business Office.

• Manages inventory of department procurement card documentation and chemical inventory.

• Requires successful completion of campus P-Card and T-Card policy examination in order to ensure cardholder policies and procedures are followed. 

• Tracks procurement purchases and ensures transactions are compliant with fiscal policy. Reconciles purchase receipts with monthly statements. 

• Handles all procurement card audit requests, receiving of goods and distribution to requestors.

• Travel booking and be Dr. Vaidya’s delegate for expenses

• Coordination with Mechanical and Aerospace Business Office, ORNL and IACMI

Required Qualifications

Education:

• High school diploma or GED

Experience:

• One year of experience in financial/personnel management and Microsoft Office.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Organizational and time-management skills

• Ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks

• Autonomous and team-based work ability

• Sound interpersonal and communication skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word, Teams, PowerPoint)

• Ability to learn and utilize new technologies

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Associate’s degree in business, HR management, or a related field

Experience:

• Experience in an academic environment, communicating with non-native English speakers

• Experience with procurement/purchasing

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Knowledge of accounting principles

• Experience with ORACLE/Huron systems

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

• Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

• UT market range: MR05

• Anticipated hiring range: $40,000-$42,000

• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here

• Find more information on UT Benefits here 

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments. To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before March 22, 2026

• Resume

• Cover Letter

About The Department 

The Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering Department is part of the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. More information can be found at https://mabe.utk.edu/