Financial Administration Analyst

Department
 

BSD SRF - Finance - Operations

About the Department
 

The mission of the Animal Resources Center (ARC) is to assist investigators in performing their animal research while ensuring appropriate and humane care of all laboratory animals. The Animal Resources Center (ARC) at The University of Chicago is responsible for the use and care of all research animals on campus. The ARC manages 6 facilities and a business office. Its sections are as follows: husbandry, maintenance, operations, veterinary care, finance and administration. The unit is administratively combined with the Office of Shared Research Facilities (OSRF).

OSRF oversees the core facilities, which make up a pivotal and essential part of the research ecosystem, providing critical resources that enable existing and emerging technologies to facilitate groundbreaking discoveries. OSRF Cores offer expertise in state-of-the-art instrumentation and services as well as experimental design and data analysis to advance research programs across the disciplines. Operated as fee-for-service facilities, OSRF cores are managed in order to best support the University’s mission to discover and create new knowledge of living systems. We are driven by the research needs of the faculty.

Job Summary
 

The job performs routine activities to establish and maintain accounting policies and controls, fiscal controls, preparing financial reports and safeguarding assets. Maintains accounting and financial records, including general ledger, financial statements, regulatory and management reports at the instruction of others.
The job provides professional support in monitoring the operating and capital budgets for divisions and/or University-wide administrative units. At the instruction of others, performs work that contributes to development of long and short term financial goals, business strategies/plans, and financial forecasts/models for major service programs and initiatives. Utilizes rudimentary knowledge of finance to help coordinate quarterly and year-end reporting for the operating budget.
Under the supervision of the Associate Director of Finance & Administration and the Director of Finance & Administration, this position provides financial and administrative support to the Core Facilities overseen by the Office of Shared Research Facilities (OSRF) and the Animal Resources Center (ARC).

Responsibilities

• Issue invoices on a monthly basis for 19 OSRF facilities and 14 departmental cores.

• Manage communication with investigators and core directors regarding invoice disputes, modifications, or concerns and make necessary adjustments in the billing system in a timely manner.

• Partner with core directors to ensure usage data is timely and accurately loaded into the billing system.

• Coordinate with the Sr. Business Support Assistant to issue past-due notifications monthly.

• Maintain investigator accounts in the AIMS system.

• Work with Senior Accountant to process ARC complex procurement requests, including standing orders, vendor set-up, and other special requests; assist cores with procurement requests as needed.

• Accurately record and submit monthly billing for several ARC services including SSTs, Transnetyx, and Gnotobiotics.

• Point of contact for Isoflurane ordering in the ARC.

• Main point of contact between the core management system support and the core directors through system implementation and as ongoing troubleshooting support; act as key system expert and maintain familiarity of system from all user types.

• Work with the Cancer Center to ensure we have the latest Cancer Center Member list; responsible for ensuring the members are accurately listed in the billing system.

• Monitor, update, and correct service rates in the billing system and on individual core websites.

• Maintain high level of professionalism in all written and verbal communication with internal/external core users and with core directors.

• Embrace the E4 Leadership Principles (Engage, Evolve, Excel, Equality) and continually strive for process improvement; engage in E4L events throughout the ARC and OSRF.

• Helps to prepare monthly reports, conducts and correct errors in accounts using existing procedures that are in place, and provides advice on the financial impact of human resources and academic affairs decisions.

• Works with other administrators on the procurement process, allocates expenditures for authorization, and advises in communications regarding funding agencies, subcontractors, and others at the instruction and direction of others.

• Performs a variety of routine operating or cost accounting activities which require basic knowledge of accounting theories