Financial Specialist - Facilities Services - UTK

Reporting to the department's Budget Director, the Financial Specialist performs and presents insightful analysis to inform management actions and initiatives and plays a key role in supporting the Facilities Services department's budgeting process. Duties include: developing, updating and improving financial reporting and analysis; materially assisting with developing the annual position and operating expense budget; interacting with department Directors to understand drivers that impact financial results; executing ad hoc research, analysis and reporting tasks as assigned. Reporting to the department's Budget Director, the Financial Specialist performs and presents insightful analysis to inform management actions and initiatives and plays a key role in supporting the Facilities Services department's budgeting process. Duties include: developing, updating and improving financial reporting and analysis; materially assisting with developing the annual position and operating expense budget; interacting with department Directors to understand drivers that impact financial results; executing ad hoc research, analysis and reporting tasks as assigned. ### Responsibilities - Designs, builds, implements, documents and maintains reporting packages that inform and provide insight into the financial health of the Facilities Services unit and each of its cost centers. - Extracts and assimilates financial data from the General Ledger, other components of the ERP system, and other sources for routine and ad hoc reporting needs. - Synthesizes and communicates information in a timely, proactive and quality-driven manner. - Gathers data to complete various routine annual reports requested by the University and other government agencies. - Conceives and scopes financial analyses and develops analytic models that will effectively answer questions and support decision-making. - Leveraging the analytic models, identifies and assesses trends to determine root causes and drivers. - Conducts Budget-to-Actual variance analyses, working to determine the underlying causes, future impacts of financial trends, and identify alternative courses of action when necessary. - Contributes to improving departmental analytics by researching industry resources and other external sources for “best-practice” methodology ideas. - Supports the Annual Budget Process: Under the direction of the Budget Director, gathers input in support of the department's annual budget process, following the guidelines and timeframe of the University's RCM budget process and calendar. - Analyzes trends in cost center staffing, spending and recoveries to validate budget development. - Tracks working budget versions and documents reasons for version variances. - Collects, prepares, analyzes, reviews budget adjustments and funds transfers. Inputs and maintains budgets in the EPM (budgeting) system. - Supports the department's Directors as a Finance Business Partner: Improves financial awareness and responsibility among the department's Directors by presenting variance reports and financial analyses. - Explain to Directors how their activities and decisions impact department spending and recoveries and helps them to determine ways to more efficiently manage their budget. - Works with Directors to understand activities that drive department spending and recoveries. - Assists Directors with developing position plans and annual budgets. - Improves Financial Accuracy and Integrity: Contributes materially to improving the relevance of financial reporting and analysis by assuring that expenses and recoveries are accounted for properly. - Reviews General Ledger entries to verify expenses are reflected in the correct GL accounts and cost centers and works with accounting to reclassify if needed. - Cooperating with the Manager, Financial Integrity and Controls, assists with researching, documenting and reviewing processes and recommends updates to improve the accuracy and visibility of expenses and…