Clinical Research Finance Specialist

University of Colorado•Hybrid, CO

2d•$59,012 - $90,937•Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is seeking a Clinical Research Finance Specialist/ Research Senior-Principal Services Professional to provide financial, operational, and research administration support for the department's clinical trial and sponsored research program. This is an open-rank position and may be filled at the Senior or Principal Professional level, commensurate with the selected candidate's qualifications, experience, and demonstrated competencies. Under the direction of the Program Manager of Research Finance and Administration, this position plays a critical role in the fiscal management of clinical trials and sponsored research activities within the Department of Ophthalmology. The successful candidate will work closely with investigators, clinical research staff, the Program Director of Clinical Research, external vendors, study sponsors, and university administrative offices to ensure accurate contracting, budgeting, billing, payment processing, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and related tasks. Core responsibilities include supporting clinical trial finance and revenue cycle operations, encompassing budget review and negotiation, sponsor invoicing, payment tracking, financial reconciliation, billing coordination, and study closeout activities. The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented finance and operations professional who is knowledgeable about the entire clinical research life cycle, experienced in managing a large clinical research portfolio, adept at partnering with faculty and research staff, and committed to sound financial stewardship in an academic medical environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, healthcare administration, research administration, or a directly related field from an accredited institution.
Two (2) years of professional experience in finance, accounting, budgeting, business operations, research administration, grants management, contract management, clinical trial finance, or a related field (for Senior Professional).
Three (3) years of professional experience in finance, accounting, budgeting, business operations, research administration, grants management, contract management, clinical trial finance, or a related field (for Principal Professional).
A combination of education and related technical/military/paraprofessional experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree on a year for year basis.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Three (3) years of clinical research or related experience (for Senior Professional).
Four (4) years of clinical research or related experience (for Principal Professional).
Experience with business operations and finance/accounting administration in an academic healthcare institution.
Experience in Pre-Award and Post-Award grants and contracts administration in a clinical research or healthcare setting.
Experience managing clinical trial budgets, sponsor invoicing, payment tracking, revenue reconciliation, and study closeout.
Experience reviewing clinical trial documents such as protocols, informed consent forms, clinical trial agreements, sponsor budgets, and payment terms.
Experience working with clinical studies, protocols, subject-related procedures, visit tracking, and activity-based billing.
Experience preparing financial reports, budget projections, reconciliations, and spending forecasts for faculty or leadership.
Experience supporting award setup, rebudgeting, progress reports, Research Performance Progress Reports, no-cost extensions, financial reports, award modifications, and closeout processes.
Experience interpreting and applying policies from a variety of funding structures, including federal, state, foundation, industry-sponsored, institutional, and clinical trial funding.
Experience serving as a financial or administrative resource to faculty, research staff, clinical research teams, or departmental leadership.
Experience with University software applications such as EPIC, OnCore, CU Data/m-Fin, A2E, InfoEd, PeopleSoft Finance, PeopleSoft HCM, CU Marketplace, Concur Travel and Expense, Smartsheet, Power BI, MyBI, ePERS, or similar systems.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel.
Experience developing financial forecasts, budget reports, reconciliations, and financial dashboards.
Experience supporting procurement, vendor payments, travel expense reporting, journal entries, payroll expense transfers, personnel funding entries, and funding changes.

Responsibilities

Serve as a departmental resource for clinical trial finance, billing, invoicing, payment tracking, and revenue cycle activities from study start-up through closeout.
Review clinical trial protocols, informed consent forms, clinical trial agreements, sponsor budgets, payment terms, and study calendars to identify financial and operational requirements; develop, negotiate, and finalize clinical trial budgets with sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) to ensure appropriate study funding and fiscal compliance.
Collaborate with Clinical Research Administration (CRAO), study teams, sponsors, and departmental leadership to support accurate study startup, financial tracking, billing, and closeout.
Interface with OnCore, EPIC, and other clinical trial management systems to track patient visits, medical procedures, recurring administrative fees, and invoice study activity.
Manage clinical trial accounts receivable and payable functions, including sponsor invoicing, payment tracking and reconciliation, follow-up on outstanding receivables, and processing vendor payments in accordance with contract terms, documentation requirements, and departmental procedures.
Perform financial reconciliations and resolve discrepancies related to study revenues, expenses, sponsor payments, invoicing, billing activity, and revenue allocations to ensure accurate financial reporting, account management, and study closeout.
Monitor clinical trial budgets, revenues, and expenses to ensure accounting accuracy, budget compliance, and adherence to institutional, sponsor, federal, state, and departmental requirements.
Develop and maintain a comprehensive calendar that includes award start dates, end dates, renewal dates, progress report deadlines, final report deadlines, invoice schedules, and other key financial milestones.
Prepare and submit journal entries (JEs) to distribute funds, correct financial activity, or transfer expenditures.
Prepare and manage purchase orders, invoices, sponsor payments, subcontract expenses, vendor payments, and other financial transactions to ensure accurate processing, tracking, and documentation.
Maintain supporting documentation for financial transactions, sponsor invoices, reconciliations, award terms, and audit requests.
Maintain complete and accurate study financial records; ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and applicable university, departmental, federal, and state regulations; and provide financial documentation and supporting records for audits, sponsor reviews, and institutional reporting requirements.
Extract data from InfoEd, CU Data, PeopleSoft, OnCore, EPIC and other systems to collect, verify, and store proposal, award, financial, and clinical trial data.
Partner with research finance leadership to advance strategic initiatives through scalable process improvement and the implementation of AI, automation, and data-driven solutions that strengthen research administration, operational efficiency, and compliance.
Serve as a departmental subject matter expert on our clinical trial financial policies, interpreting and applying sponsor, institutional, federal, state, foundation, and industry requirements to ensure compliance and provide guidance to faculty and staff.