TL Senior Project Analyst

University of Dayton, Ohio•Dayton, OH

About The Position

Join UDRI as a TL Senior Project Analyst. This position provides contract, financial, and project analysis support across a broad portfolio of sustainment programs, primarily supporting government customers, with some engagement from industry partners. The role supports senior program managers, engineers, and technical leads by managing project finances, monitoring deliverables, coordinating contract actions, and generating performance insights. Team Lead responsibilities include coordinating workflows, mentoring junior analysts, enhancing process consistency, and helping leadership maintain an effective, collaborative project support environment. The position tracks contract deliverables and actions; reviews contract terms and compliance; manages budgets, burn rates, forecasting, and expenditure tracking; validates invoices and cost documentation; and prepares financial summaries, dashboards, and reporting packages. It also supports schedule and resource tracking, logistics, project data systems, risk and action logs, customer and partner communications, and process-improvement initiatives. The Team Lead coordinates junior analysts’ workflows, provides guidance and training, reviews work for accuracy and compliance, recommends improvements to tools and reporting, and supports leadership with training needs, assignments, and prioritization. The role also serves as a liaison between analysts and program leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, project management, engineering technology, or a related field.
At least 6 years of directly related experience in project management support, financial analysis, contract administration, or program coordination.
Ability to independently perform most responsibilities and exercise judgment in determining methods, approaches, and techniques.
Strong, in-depth knowledge of project or financial analysis standards, principles, and practices, including broad application of project management, financial, or contract management concepts.
Experience developing solutions to problems requiring integration of multiple factors, creativity, and thoroughness.
Ability to serve as a team member or informal team leader for projects or workflows within a professional work group.
Strong communication skills and ability to represent the organization as a primary contact on contracts or projects, interacting with senior internal and external personnel.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, for budget reconciliation, spend plans, deliverable tracking, and financial reporting.
Must be a U.S. citizen due to requirements of research contracts with the U.S. federal government.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in business administration, finance, project management, engineering management, or a related field.
At least 8 years of directly related experience in a government contracting, defense sustainment, or R&D support environment.
Experience providing technical guidance or mentorship to less experienced staff or analysts.
Demonstrated ability to anticipate problems, identify solutions, and support decisions affecting project schedules, client relationships, or expenditures.
Prior experience preparing cost proposals, spend plans, financial review packages, and contract deliverables for government customers.
Familiarity with project management methodologies, reporting standards, and common risk and issue tracking practices.
Experience leading or coordinating cross-functional workflows involving finance, contracts, engineering, and program management.

Responsibilities

Track and manage contract deliverables, coordinate contract actions, and support proposal development.
Review contract terms, monitor compliance, and identify impacts to scope, schedule, or funding.
Maintain and analyze project budgets, burn rates, financial performance, and expenditures.
Perform forecasting, variance analysis, and spend planning; reconcile and validate invoices and cost documentation.
Prepare financial summaries, dashboards, and monthly reporting packages for leadership and customers.
Support program managers and engineers with schedule tracking, resource forecasting, logistics coordination, and deliverable management.
Maintain project data systems, including risk, issue, and action-item tracking, shared folders, and action logs.
Compile and analyze financial, contractual, and project data to provide decision-support insights.
Coordinate communication among government customers, subcontractors, and internal functional teams.
Identify inefficiencies, recommend process improvements, and contribute to inventory, audit, and cross-team initiatives.
Coordinate junior project analysts’ workflows and promote consistent processes and high-quality outputs.
Mentor, train, and guide analysts on UDRI policies, contract workflows, deliverable tracking, and financial tools.
Review analysts’ work for accuracy, consistency, and compliance with internal standards.
Recommend enhancements to tools, templates, and reporting methods to improve team efficiency.
Support the Group Lead and senior program managers in identifying training needs, planning assignments, and prioritizing tasks.
Foster a collaborative, agile environment focused on accuracy, timeliness, and customer satisfaction.
Liaise between analysts and program leadership to clarify expectations and align work with sector objectives.