Details
Posted: 11-May-22
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Type: Full Time
Preferred Education: 4 Year Degree
Salary: $60,000 - $70,000 per year; DO
Categories:
Finance
Additional Information:
2 openings available.
The Office of Planning and Budget (OPB) is seeking a dynamic individual to join our team. OPB serves as a steward of resources and trusted advisor to University leadership to support decision-making and enable strategy.
Reporting to the Senior Director or Director, Budget Planning & Analysis, the Budget Planning Analyst will assist in the development and execution of policies, processes, and practices in the areas of budgeting, planning, and analysis. The Budget Planning Analyst uses a collaborative and consultative approach to working effectively across stakeholder groups to address financial opportunities and challenges for the University.
Essential Duties
- Under administrative direction, serves a primary role in facilitating the development and implementation of annual all-funds budgets for assigned administrative and academic units.
- Performs work related to budget variance analysis, commitment analysis, revenue and expense forecasting, what-if scenario analysis, program evaluation, and other efforts that support administration decision-making.
- Evaluates critical cost pools and works with assigned units to identify cost saving measures, including utilities, employee benefits, debt service, and other general operating expenses.
- Builds, maintains, and updates financial models and associated financial analysis. Performs financial account reconciliations, statement analysis, and transaction research. Participates in the development of less complex mid and long-range predictive enrollment, space, staffing, and financial models that support strategic planning efforts and executive decision-making.
- Supports analysis of complex proposals led by senior departmental staff.
- Develops data-driven solutions and technical guidance to solve financial, operational, or strategic issues facing assigned units.
- Develops a strong understanding of the core functionality of Adaptive Planning, the University’s enterprise-wide budget and planning software; capable of providing technical guidance to assigned units to enhance their use of the software for budgeting, forecasting, and reporting needs.
- Ensures financial compliance with University/Board policies and procedures and applicable legal rules and regulations.
- Compares data from a variety of sources to ensure accuracy using judgment, and relying on knowledge of subject material.
- Gathers information; identifies analysis methodologies; and prepares, develops, and submits written and graphic results of the evaluation of data under the supervision of senior staff.
- Performs other duties upon request.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as Business Administration, Public Policy/Administration, Finance, Economics, or Higher Education Administration and one year of experience in budgeting, financial analysis, or strategic planning; OR, any equivalent combination of experience and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.
Desired Qualifications
- Evidence of a Master's degree in related field, such as Business Administration, Public Policy/Administration, Finance, Economics, or Higher Education Administration.
- Relevant work experience, in budgeting, financial analysis, or strategic planning, preferably in higher education.(2 years)
- Experience in using effective interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including the ability to speak and write with clarity and precision to obtain and convey information related to job responsibilities; comfortable in regular interactions with mid and senior- level administrators of the university.
- Ability to work independently on routine tasks and with limited, but appropriate, direction on more complex matters.
- Demonstrated knowledge of strategic and financial planning/modeling principles, methods, and practices.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the principles, concepts, and practices in government and university governance involving fiscal control, budgeting, strategic planning, information analysis, forecasting, reporting, and assessment.
- Demonstrated knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
- Demonstrated knowledge with Workday Financial Management System and/or Workday Adaptive Planning.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Cultural competency skills to effectively engage with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
- Experience in promoting innovative thinking by bringing different perspectives and approaches together, combining them in creative ways to solve problems.
- Ability to offer customer service by actively listening, and validating others’ viewpoints.
- Ability to respect the confidentiality of others.
- Ability to develop forecast and tracking models that integrate disparate statistical and financial information.
- Ability to perform analysis of financial forecasts, budgets, and econometric trends and of the factors/items therein.
- Ability to effectively synthesize large amounts of complex detailed materials for presentation and review to varying audiences.
- Ability to identify appropriate data sources, extract and manipulate data from multiple and diverse database sources by designing, refining, and running complex data queries.
- Intermediate to advanced planning and organizational skills, including the ability to successfully manage multiple, complex projects on deadline, often working with interruptions, a changing workflow, and potentially competing priorities.
- Knowledge of decision tools for budgetary analysis, such as weighted score tables, decision trees, cost-benefit analysis, activity-based costing, and sensitivity analysis.
- Ability to research, analyze, interpret, explain, and apply policies, rules, and procedures appropriately; ability to determine compliance with existing policies and established guidelines.
- Ability to take initiative, demonstrate resourcefulness, and display a sense of urgency in fulfilling commitments.
- Experience in delivering a high-quality work product, free of material error, by showing concern for all aspects of the job with a high attention to detail.
- Ability to build effective working relationships and build trust by communicating in an open manner, and following through on commitments.
- Experience in handling conflict and difficult situations in a professional way, working toward consensus.
