Financial Specialist, College of Engineering Business Office

University of Delaware•Newark, NJ

13d•Remote

About The Position

The College of Engineering (CoE) at the University of Delaware is nationally recognized for its exception educational experiences and for integrating instruction, research, and public engagement. With 7 academic departments, more than 30 centers, programs, and institutes, and featuring outstanding research and teaching facilities, CoE serves over 3,500 students and is supported by approximately 195 staff. The College’s 180+ faculty members emphasize the value of an engineering education and a deep commitment to excellence in scholarship and all forms of creative and intellectual expression, with sponsored research expenditures totaling more than $64M per fiscal year. Under the limited supervision of the Director , Procurement & Financial Processing and in coordination with the Department Business Administrators, the Financial Specialist performs a complex range of research and financial activities to support credit card holders in making informed and responsible decisions that are compliant with the funding agency and institutional policies. . The Financial Specialist actively participates in planning and decision-making related to spend by providing guidance to faculty, college and department business administrators, staff and graduate students including research and academic based travel, and the procurement of goods and services related to contract and grant operations and the college. A high level of independent judgment is required to ensure financial record system accuracy, appropriate application of procurement procedures and process, Uniform Guidance and both College of Engineering and University policy compliance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business administration, Accounting, Finance or other related field with three years of related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Knowledge of 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance and OMB Circulars A-21, A-110, A-133 and other pertinent external regulations required with ability to interpret, adapt and apply guidelines and procedures.
Advanced working knowledge in spreadsheet and database management.
Ability to analyze and interpret financial data, make independent decisions and judgments in keeping with the level of the position and ensure that expenditures are compliant with approved policies, procedures and a variety of sponsors.
Strong organizational skills with attention to detail.
Experience using financial systems.
Ability to handle multiple assignments concurrently.
Ability to work in a cross-functional, agile, collaborative team.
Ability to communicate and interact well with peers, supervisors, and others in a positive and professional manner.

Nice To Haves

Experience with PeopleSoft and various sponsor databases Query writing and report generations using a variety of data sources preferred.
Concur & UDExchange preferred.
Working knowledge of University financial and operating policies and procedures preferred.

Responsibilities

Manage the requisition processing on all purchasing requisitions to include purchase orders and non-PO payments such as honorarium, awards, payments to individuals and vendors, participant support/incentive, legal payments, patents, leased space, etc. in a research-intensive environment. On average, the college has over 6k purchase orders annually with spend totaling more than $20M.
Ensure that all contract and grant expenses are allowable, allocable, reasonable, and allocated as budgeted, in compliance with policies and procedures, and in collaboration with commodity approvers and the College’s Office of Research Administration team.
Serve as Primary Cost object Approver on all UDExchange (UDX) transactions and Concur Expense Reports as well as Department Purchasing Specialists for UDX transactions >$5k.
Manage requisition processes for capital equipment in collaboration with commodity approver and CoE Research Administration. Identify and ensure tracking of fabrication transactions for capitalization and coordinate asset inventory tagging with Department Business Administrators and CoE Research Administration.
Serve as liaison for internal constituencies including faculty, students, College leadership, CoE Office of Research Administration, Departmental Business Administrators and UD’s Central procurement department.
Manage the CoE’s approximately 700+ UD credit cardholders providing guidance and troubleshooting assistance while serving as single point of contact for initial and ongoing training needs with UD Procurement systems and processes. Ensure all detailed receipts and documentation are included to meet audit and compliance standards. On average, the college has 45k transactions totaling more than $10M in credit card expenditures on an annual basis.
Serve as single point of contact for any CoE faculty, staff and students that may have Out of Pocket expenses and need submission to UD for reimbursement following UD policies and federal regulations.
Manage UD credit card and declining balance card requests including review of business justification for needs as well as establishing single and total credit limit recommendations. As Department Purchasing Specialists within UDExchange, request and coordinate the addition of new suppliers in UDExchange system. Ensure users are trained in various purchasing and credit card software systems. Provide troubleshooting and guidance to resolution when errors or issues occur. Provide follow-up and ongoing training support for CoE user groups.
Manage weekly review of open cardholder transactions in Concur to ensure cardholders are adhering to policy for timely submission of purchases. Send email reminders and escalation notifications to cardholders not adhering to policy for timely submission of purchases and reimbursements. Ensure accurate processing of webforms used for Payments to Individuals and Non-Employee Reimbursements.
Resolve any inquiries made by faculty, staff, and students regarding travel, research, and other financial expenditures and payments. Escalate issues to Supervisor, Grants Analyst, Department Business Administrator or College Leadership as needed.
Interpret and enforce all Uniform Guidance, UD and College-level Procurement, Credit card and Travel policies and regulations to ensure compliant transactions. Assist cardholder in identification of fabrication transactions through capitalization process; understand and interpret UD and federal policies related to capital equipment.
Process journal vouchers and cash transmittals as needed for procurement and financial transactions. Verify, resolve, and provide supporting documentation for procurement related issues that are detailed in the automated closeout report for contracts and grants.
Assist College-level Research team members retrieving receipts/backups for audits, sponsor inquiries or other reasons as needed. Prepare and review reports in central systems to validate data. Resolve complex procurement and financial issues. Identify and resolve when purchases are made out of compliance that require repayment to UD through payroll deduction process.
Create, develop, analyze and refine ad-hoc reports and perform miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.