Financial Analyst Intermediate
Position Overview
The Financial Analyst Intermediate will be a crucial member of the AAI Central Office team. This position will assist the AAI Director of Finance and Administration to carry out the mission of the Institute. Due to the large number and complexity of AAI’s research projects, we are looking for a strong analyst to work collaboratively with, and to provide support to the Finance Manager and the Assessment & Technology Solutions (ATS) center within the Institute.
The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas (KU) is a designated research center with an annual budget of $60M, 420 full time staff members, and 120 temporary staff members (GRAs, student hourlies, and temporary workers).
AAI exists to improve the lives of children, adults, and organizations throughout local, state, and national communities. AAI currently includes sixteen centers, which represent a wide range of services and programs and supports faculty research, both in the School of Education and Human Sciences and other academic units. AAI centers are strongly mission driven, but also are significantly more entrepreneurial than a typical university research center. The AAI mission is accomplished in four primary ways:
The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas (KU) is a designated research center with an annual budget of $60M, 420 full time staff members, and 120 temporary staff members (GRAs, student hourlies, and temporary workers).
AAI exists to improve the lives of children, adults, and organizations throughout local, state, and national communities. AAI currently includes sixteen centers, which represent a wide range of services and programs and supports faculty research, both in the School of Education and Human Sciences and other academic units. AAI centers are strongly mission driven, but also are significantly more entrepreneurial than a typical university research center. The AAI mission is accomplished in four primary ways:
- Partnering with local, state, national, and global communities to apply scholarship to implement programs with direct public impact.
- Developing and publishing generalizable knowledge that allows leveraging of the solutions developed so the success of the first part of our mission is magnified.
- Providing faculty with the support and encouragement they need to generate resources for research and development in support of enhanced achievement of individuals and organizations.
- Providing students with work experience vital to their professional development.
Job Description
Analysis and Reporting: 60%
- Prepare budgetary forecasts and reports at the Associate Director’s request.
- Compile and interpret all financial data, both expenditures and revenue for each Center within AAI and conduct statistical analyses to provide recommendations for future planning and expenditures.
- Perform complex technical analysis and financial reporting on various sources of funding including UKANS, KUCR and KUEA dollars.
- Develop and maintain custom reporting to provide financial planning and operational cost insight to support center directors
- Initiate financial changes as necessary to ensure accounting principles are followed Communicate these changes to the appropriate SSC staff. Verify through OAC that requested changes have been processed
- Support PIs with any special budget reports that are not supported by the SSC
- Reconcile transactions by comparing and correcting data
- Provide creative alternatives and recommendations to reduce costs and improve financial performance
- Evaluate historical and current financial data to understand the company’s financial condition
- Work closely with each Center’s financial person as necessary to train staff on most efficient methods when using the financial systems and interpreting data
- Provide leadership, guidance and interpretation of KU’s financial systems and business policies to administrative staff across AAI.
Position Requirements
This is a hybrid position, with an expectation of 2-3 days per week in our office located at the St. Andrews Office Facility, 1515 St. Andrews Dr., Lawrence, KS.
This position will require attendance at regularly scheduled meetings, onsite, and/or through telecommunication platforms.
This position will require attendance at regularly scheduled meetings, onsite, and/or through telecommunication platforms.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business or related field and 3 years of related experience OR High School diploma and 5 years related experience
- 5 years of experience with KU financial systems or other similar systems
- Two years of experience reconciling sponsored research projects and forecasting
- Excellent analysis and problem-solving skills, as demonstrated by work history
- Strong communication skills as evidenced in application materials
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with a wide variety of staff, faculty and administrators
Preferred Qualifications
- Five years of experience working with sponsored research projects
- An understanding of KU business operations, policies, procedures, and fiscal processes, as evidenced in application materials.
Additional Candidate Instructions
A complete application consists of:
Application review begins Thursday, January 02, 2025 and will continue until a qualified pool of applicants are identified.
- Cover Letter
- Resume
- 3 Professional References
Application review begins Thursday, January 02, 2025 and will continue until a qualified pool of applicants are identified.
Contact Information to Applicants
AAI HR, aaihr@ku.edu
Advertised Salary Range
Minimum of $60,000
Work Schedule
40 hours/week, Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm
Application Review Begins
Thursday January 2, 2025
Anticipated Start Date
Monday January 6, 2025