Finance Specialist I

Position Summary

The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering is looking for a finance specialist I. This position will provide full support for analytical, administrative, and financial pre- and post-award research activities and services for the department. The ideal candidate for this position has a basic understanding of research administration and accounting practices in higher education. The position requires judgment, responsiveness, initiative, and able to manage multiple tasks while demonstrating excellent interpersonal and communication skills within and outside the department. Ideally, this will be a full-time position, but part-time job-seekers are encouraged to apply.

This position will be in-person and hiring at a starting salary between $45,370 and $52,720 per year.

The George R. Brown School of Engineering ranks among the top 20 of undergraduate engineering programs (US News & World Report) and is strongly committed to nurturing the aspirations of faculty, staff and students in an inclusive environment

We seek greater representation of women, minorities, people with disabilities, and veterans in disciplines in which they have historically been underrepresented; to attract international students from a wider range of countries and backgrounds; to accelerate progress in building a faculty and staff who are diverse in background and thought; and we support an inclusive environment that fosters interaction and understanding within our diverse community.

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.

Essential Functions

• Advises the Principal Investigator (PI) on administrative requirements in proposal preparation, and ensures guidelines are followed for proposal formatting and submission requirements
• Develops and finalizes budgets and budget justifications with the PI
• Performs structured analysis; conducts data mining; identifies, clarifies, and investigates discrepancies and exceptions; proactively develops solutions and processes
• Maintains, reconciles, reviews, combines, and validates financial data sets and accounts
• Contributes to development of budget, forecasting, and analyses
• Runs and analyzes financial reports; assists in preparation of management information reports
• Performs preliminary analysis, recognizes exceptions and recommends solutions that may require policy changes or the development of new processes
• Ensures work complies with complex internal policies and external regulations which may require interpretation
• Performs other duties as assigned

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree
  • In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, on an equivalent year for year basis may be substituted
• One year of related experience in budget preparation and account management
• Skills Required
  • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, particularly Excel
  • User knowledge and demonstrated experience of financial systems
  • Understanding and ability to apply basic accounting skills and concepts
  • Advanced communication skills, including ability to prepare materials for and clearly and effectively communicate information to internal audiences and client groups
  • Basic project management skills and ability to contribute as part of a project team

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education
• Experience in research proposal preparation/submission
• Experience in research award administration
• Knowledge of government research funding

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

Current Rice University COVID policies, which include vaccination, face mask, testing, gatherings, occupancy limits, and travel policies can be found here: https://coronavirus.rice.edu/policies