Senior Business Administrator - College of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Carnegie Mellon University•Pittsburgh, PA

About The Position

Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) is seeking a Senior Business Administrator to manage the department's day-to-day finance, accounting, and business operations. Working closely with the Senior Director of Finance & Operations and acting for them in their absence, this role builds budgets and forecasts, leads labor planning and project accounting for a research-intensive department, manages purchase order and effort certification processes, and supervises the department's Administrative Coordinator. The position is suited to someone interested in growing into senior academic business leadership. The Senior Business Administrator prepares budgets, forecasts, and financial review exhibits; supports leadership decision-making and reporting; and maintains financial dashboards. The role leads sponsored-award labor planning, manages project accounting and effort certification, and serves as a liaison to research administration groups. It also oversees purchasing, accounting controls, compliance activities, student organization accounting, and staff hiring processes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or business administration.
Three to five years of progressive experience in business administration, finance, and accounting, preferably at a research university.
Working knowledge of sponsored research finance and federal rules, including Uniform Guidance and 2 CFR 200, and effort reporting.
Experience building budgets and forecasts across multiple funding sources.
Advanced Excel skills.
Experience with Oracle Financials, Workday, and a business intelligence tool such as Tableau or Power BI.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and strong analytical skills.
A combination of education and relevant experience demonstrating comparable knowledge may be considered.
Successful background check.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA, CMA, or CRA credential, or progress toward one.
Experience at CMU or a peer academic department.
Knowledge of SPARCS and CMU policies.
Track record of process improvement or automation.
Experience supervising or leading staff.

Responsibilities

Prepare budgets, forecasts, and exhibits for the University Financial Review, and lead monthly variance reviews with the Senior Director.
Support the Senior Director with decision support for the Department Head and leadership, including annual reports, State of the Department materials, and faculty hiring and space scenarios.
Assist in building and maintaining leadership dashboards on research funding, expenses, and staffing using CIT Tableau, Power BI, or Excel.
Build and manage Oracle EPM budgets across operating, gift, endowment, internal, and sponsored funding sources, and produce department roll-up reports.
Lead labor planning on sponsored awards, including labor distribution forecasts, salary planning across PI awards, and monthly account reports and forecasts for faculty.
Manage project accounting in Oracle, including setting up and maintaining project/task (PTA) structures, monitoring balances and encumbrances, and reconciling project-level activity to department reports.
Own the department's effort certification process in the new system; the Senior Director certifies.
Act as a CEE liaison to the Research Accelerator and attend RAC and College research administration meetings.
Review and approve proposals and budgets in the Senior Director's absence.
Manage the purchase order process, initiate POs for Senior Director approval, clear encumbrances, and maintain PO procedures.
Approve purchase requests and expense reports in the Senior Director's absence.
Oversee and approve cost transfers (PDAs, APRs) and journal entries; manage internal awards and analyze AY salary return.
Approve financial transactions when needed or in the Senior Director's absence.
Reconcile financial statements to project-level reports and correct discrepancies as needed.
Manage accounting and reporting for CEE student organizations.
Supervise the Administrative Coordinator.
Serve as CEE's Workday department initiator for regular staff, fixed-term staff, research staff, and adjunct hiring; work may include visa coordination with OIE.
Perform other duties as required.