Financial Analyst

Description:

MAJOR DUTIES

• Provides financial support, including analysis and reporting: supports the financial analysis and reporting function for various Institutional funding sources, monitors expenditures, reports on budget to actual activity, provides forecasting and trend analyses, and provides other tailored reporting necessary for evaluating the organization’s financial health, including performing reconciliations for various funds.
• Participates in the federal appropriation and trust fund budget formulation process by actively contributing to developing and coordinating information during the budget submission process.
• Performs detailed budget review and expenditure monitoring of internally funded projects, including Independent Research & Development (IRD) and Bid & Proposal (B&P) applications
• Supports the accounting function, which includes performing reconciliation of accounting information, reviewing procurement requests for allowability appropriateness of expenditures, and ensuring the expenditures adhere to budgeting limitations
• Serves as a resource to Observatory staff regarding financial policy and compliance, including monitoring expenditures across various funding sources, provides interpretation and application of federal regulations for contract and grant accounting to division administrative staff, supports the preparation and dissemination of guidance material to all Observatory staff, aiming to provide support, clarity, and explanation of significant regulatory requirements, policies, procedures, and associated changes.

  Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities required:

• Advanced knowledge of the policies, precedents, goals, objectives, regulations, and guidelines of a functional area, such as financial oversight, budget formulation, and/or budget execution, sufficient to analyze and evaluate continual changes in program plans and funding and their effect on financial and budget program milestones; and analyze financial and budgetary relationships to develop recommendations for financial and/or budgetary actions.
• Working knowledge of Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OMB circular 2 CFR 200, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), GAAP, SAO, and SI policies, processes, procedures, and regulations sufficient to issue instruction or guidance on financial matters affecting sponsored projects or division/department spending or reporting.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the theories, regulations, current/revised guidance, management policies, and practices, including financial facets of SAO's sponsored projects awards, institutional (administrative and research) allotments, cost centers, federal budgets (one-year and no-year), endowments, and discretionary accounts.
• Knowledge of current requirements of financial interfaces with research sponsors. Knowledge of and skill in using enterprise financial information systems and other software tools and the ability to produce meaningful and accurate evaluations and concisely compiled financial analyses.
• Knowledge of standard business communication techniques sufficient to analyze, articulate, and understand issues or concerns related to financial matters.
• Knowledge of the SAO and SI planning- programming-budgeting information systems to advise and support a variety of budgeting functions required to conduct SAO's wide variety of scientific research programs.
• General knowledge of the operations of scientific research programs of SAO divisions and their budgetary restrictions and requirements.