Business Administrative Associate

University of Illinois Springfield•Springfield, IL

About The Position

The Business Administrative Associate supports fiscal planning, budget monitoring, financial reporting, transaction processing, and business operations for the College of Health, Science and Technology (CHST) Dean’s Office and academic units at the University of Illinois Springfield. The role coordinates budgets across operating, personnel, gift, grant, contract, and other fund sources; prepares reports and projections; monitors spending and fund balances; and provides financial information for planning and decision-making. The position reviews transactions, supports purchasing and reimbursement workflows, monitors expenditures for compliance, maintains fiscal documentation, and coordinates with campus business, finance, purchasing, HR/payroll, and accounting offices. It also serves as a resource for college fiscal processes, supports improvements to procedures and tracking tools, and assists faculty and staff with onboarding and guidance on business practices. The associate provides limited fiscal coordination for grants and contracts, including expenditure monitoring, reporting support, deadline tracking, and coordination with relevant campus offices. The role also arranges business travel for college faculty, administrators, and staff in accordance with university and University of Illinois System travel policies and processes related expense reports. Additional work includes process improvement, special projects, internal reviews, and other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, management, or a field related to the position.
Two years of professional business, financial, and/or managerial work experience. A master’s degree in an area consistent with the position’s duties may substitute for one year (12 months) of work experience.
Strong fiscal, analytical, and organizational skills.
Ability to monitor budgets, identify discrepancies, track spending trends, and prepare accurate financial reports.
Ability to manage multiple deadlines, recurring processes, and competing priorities accurately and discreetly.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to timely follow-through.
Ability to interpret and apply university, campus, college, and fund-source policies and procedures.
Ability to communicate financial information clearly to people without finance or budget backgrounds.
Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, administrators, and central campus offices.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment with budget, personnel, and financial information.
Ability to improve processes, organize complex information, and create practical tracking and reporting tools.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet software.
Additional education, training, and/or work experience in an area of specialization inherent to the position may be required based on position requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience with fiscal planning, budget monitoring, reconciliations, purchasing, financial reporting, or business operations in higher education, public-sector, nonprofit, healthcare, or other complex administrative environments.
Experience preparing budget projections, variance reports, fund-balance summaries, or other financial analyses.
Experience with enterprise financial systems, procurement systems, HR/payroll-related fiscal data, or similar administrative platforms.
Experience supporting multiple fund types, such as operating funds, personnel budgets, gift funds, grants, contracts, restricted funds, or project-based funds.
Experience providing fiscal support to faculty, academic administrators, program directors, or unit leaders.
Experience with grant, contract, or sponsored-project fiscal tracking.
Strong spreadsheet skills, including formulas, reconciliations, projections, pivot tables, and recurring financial reports.
Experience developing internal procedures, tracking tools, dashboards, checklists, or process documentation.

Responsibilities

Coordinate college-level fiscal planning across operating, personnel, gift, grant, contract, and other fund sources.
Prepare and maintain budget tracking tools, financial reports, fund summaries, and projections for the Dean’s Office and CHST units.
Monitor spending, fund balances, commitments, encumbrances, and projected year-end balances; identify budget trends and potential fiscal concerns.
Prepare routine and ad hoc financial reports and support annual budget planning, mid-year reviews, fiscal year-end activities, and other recurring budget processes.
Support planning for salary, operating, equipment, travel, strategic initiative, and other college-level expenditures.
Review and track financial transactions for accuracy, appropriate fund use, and timely resolution of discrepancies.
Support purchasing, reimbursements, transfers, journal vouchers, procurement-card activity, travel transactions, and other business processes.
Monitor and approve transactions and expenditures for compliance with university, campus, college, and fund-source requirements.
Coordinate with campus business, finance, purchasing, HR/payroll, accounting, and other offices to resolve fiscal and transaction-related issues.
Maintain organized fiscal documentation and track pending transactions, commitments, and approvals.
Assist CHST units with fiscal questions, account information, transaction status, and budget availability.
Serve as a fiscal and business operations resource for the CHST Dean’s Office and academic units.
Develop, document, and improve procedures for budget tracking, reconciliations, purchasing workflows, reporting calendars, and financial documentation.
Guide faculty and staff on fiscal processes, purchasing procedures, reimbursement expectations, and budget tracking practices.
Coordinate business operations involving finance, personnel budgeting, procurement, contracts, grants, and college administration.
Arrange business travel for college faculty, administrators, and staff in accordance with university and University of Illinois System policies and procedures; create and process expense reports for travel purchases.
Provide limited fiscal coordination for CHST grants and contracts, including budget tracking, expenditure monitoring, reporting support, and communication with faculty and central offices.
Monitor sponsored-project spending, available balances, budget categories, projected expenditures, and fiscal deadlines.
Gather and organize financial information for sponsored-project reports, budget revisions, no-cost extension requests, and closeout preparation.
Maintain tracking tools for active CHST grants and contracts and escalate complex compliance, sponsor-specific, proposal, contract, or financial-management questions to appropriate campus offices.
Identify opportunities to improve fiscal tracking, reporting, communication, and workflow efficiency; develop or maintain dashboards, spreadsheets, templates, and checklists.
Document standard operating procedures and participate in special projects involving fiscal planning, resource allocation, budget analysis, process improvement, or college operations.
Perform other related duties as assigned.