Senior Fiscal Specialist (0079408)

University of Hawaii•Honolulu, HI

10h•Onsite

About The Position

This position serves as the Senior Fiscal Specialist, providing daily fiscal operations support and reporting directly to the SLD Fiscal Manager. The role involves maintaining internal controls over financial operations, including reconciliation, accounting, and fund safeguarding, and recommending procedures for GAAP compliance. The specialist will audit and provide preliminary approval for fiscal documents, prepare various fiscal documents for payment processing, and review and approve daily deposits. They will also verify that all purchases adhere to State of Hawaii and University of Hawaii purchasing and disbursing policies, oversee the cashier section, and verify charges and credits to revenue sources. The role includes responding to inquiries regarding special transaction requests for student organizations, administering contract payments, auditing travel-related documents, overseeing fixed assets inventory, and tracking contract due dates. Additionally, the Senior Fiscal Specialist will act as a source of support in financial management and contract management, providing technical advice to students and advisors of Chartered Student Organizations (CSOs). The position involves supervising and training fiscal student assistants, maintaining fiscal document filing systems, collaborating on financial reports, developing training manuals, and serving as the PCard Department Coordinator. The specialist will also act as an advocate and fiscal resource for student organizations and communicate University policies and procedures. The role may require working beyond normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, and/or holidays, and may involve serving as a passport agent. Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Possession of a baccalaureate degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Finance or a related field and 4 year(s) of progressively responsible professional experience with responsibilities for administrative, operational and technical support services, including accounting, bookkeeping, or fiscal services; or any equivalent combination of education and/or professional work experience which provides the required education, knowledge, skills and abilities as indicated.
Considerable working knowledge of principles, practices and techniques in the area of accounting, fiscal services or business administration as demonstrated by the broad knowledge of the full range of pertinent standard and evolving concepts, principles and methodologies.
Considerable working knowledge and understanding of applicable federal and state laws, rules, regulations, theories and systems associated with accounting, fiscal services or business administration.
Demonstrated ability to resolve wide ranging complex problems through the use of creative reasoning and logic to accurately determine the cause of the problems and the resolution of the problems in an effective, innovative and timely manner.
Demonstrated ability to interpret and present information and ideas clearly and accurately in writing, verbally and by preparation of reports and other materials.
Demonstrated ability to establish and effective working relationships with internal and external organizations, groups, team leaders and members, and individuals.
Demonstrated ability to operate a personal computer and apply word processing software such as Microsoft Excel and Word, or comparable spreadsheet and word processing programs.
If applicable, for supervisory work, demonstrated ability to lead subordinates, manage work priorities and projects, and manage employee relations.
Knowledge of administrative and organizational processes as applied to the management of operations, services, facilities, and programs.
Considerable knowledge of accepted governmental accounting principles, techniques and fund accounting systems.
Ability to apply legal and policy provisions to situations consistently.
Ability to work effectively with a wide range of populations.
Ability to work outside normally scheduled business hours including evenings, weekends, and/or holidays as required.
Ability to extract data from databases and mainframe financial, personnel and student systems and use this data to prepare management reports.
Ability to understand problems from a broad perspective, and use conventional and unconventional reasoning to discern underlying principles and to create creative, sound and feasible solutions.
Experience reviewing financial reports and discerning trends and concerns from such reports.
Ability to multi-task and perform in a high-paced environment.
Strong attention to details.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field from an accredited institution.
Strong knowledge of administrative practices in higher education or comparable institutions.
Experience with revolving and special funds and/or revenue-generating operations.
Skilled in preparing and monitoring financial, personnel and student data reports.
Proven ability to multi-task and perform effectively in a high-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Serves as Senior Fiscal Specialist, providing daily fiscal operations support while reporting directly to the SLD Fiscal Manager.
Maintains internal controls over daily financial operations, including reconciliation, accounting, and fund safeguarding, and recommends procedures to ensure GAAP compliance.
Audits and provides preliminary approval for all fiscal documents submitted to include checking account codes, object codes, and supporting documentation to ensure accuracy and compliance with policies, procedures, and budgets.
Prepares fiscal documents such as disbursement vouchers, contracts, and contract encumbrance forms for payment processing to central systems offices for approval in a timely manner.
Reviews and approves the department's daily deposits that are processed by support staff, ensuring proper documentation and coding of transactions, and performs the daily deposits when necessary.
Verifies that all purchases fall within the guidelines of State of Hawaii and University of Hawaii purchasing and disbursing policies and procedures.
Oversees all activities of the cashier section, ensuring that appropriate protocols and controls are in place and compliant with state and university policies and procedures.
Verifies the charges and credits made to various revenue sources within the department are correct to include verifying records and billing for telephone and utility charges.
Responds to inquiries and resolves situations involving special transaction requests of student organizations such as stipends, cash awards, purchasing of prizes, non-personal service contracts, etc.
Administers contract payments for various contracts to include capital improvement projects, equipment purchases, consultants, events, tenants, as well as a wide range of service contracts.
Audits and provides preliminary approval for travel-related documents, including both department staff and student travel, ensuring compliance with policies and budgetary guidelines.
Oversees fixed assets inventory and completion of annual physical inventory.
Tracks contract due dates and provides notification to appropriate staff members of any upcoming expiration of contracts or needed modifications.
Serves as source of support in financial management, contract management, or other technical or functional areas, providing technical advice to students and advisors of Chartered Student Organizations (CSOs).
Supervises and trains fiscal student assistants, monitoring their progress and ensuring assigned tasks are completed accurately.
Oversees and maintains filing system for fiscal documents; ensuring the files are in retrievable order for six (6) years or appropriate retention periods per University policies and procedures.
Collaborates with the Fiscal Manager in preparing, reviewing, and reconciling detailed financial reports across multiple accounts and funding sources.
Develops training manuals and guides to assist staff and students with processing fiscal documents and following financial procedures.
Serves as PCard Dept Coordinator and liaison with PCard Administrator: oversees the program, establishes procedures to ensure compliance with purchasing rules and regulations, provides training and support to cardholders, and assists cardholders with problem resolution.
Serves as an advocate and fiscal resource for student organizations, assisting with fiscal planning, compliance, and reporting needs.
Interprets and communicates University policies and procedures to students, student organizations, and department staff to promote understanding and consistent application.
Works beyond normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, and/or holidays as needed.
Serves as a passport agent and assists the Information & ID Office with packaging passports for mailing.
Other duties as assigned.