Finance and Administration Business Analyst

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How to Apply

All applicants must submit a cover letter and resume to be considered for this position. In order for the Career Portal System to accept a cover letter, please include a cover letter as the first page of your resume.

Summary

Merit Network, Inc., a non-profit corporation governed by Michigan's public universities, operates America's longest-running regional research and education network. Since 1966, Merit has been providing performance-driven networking solutions to Michigan's educational communities, including universities, colleges, K-12 schools, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations. Merit advances member success, research, economic development, collaboration, and professional development by leveraging its network infrastructure, expertise and the value of its member communities.

Reporting to the Vice President for Finance and Administration/CFO at Merit Network, Inc., supporting the executive by working within the department and across the organization providing assistance with projects, financial analysis, and administration. This position will work directly with the CFO and other management team members to participate in the development, review and negotiation of contracts. In addition, this position will support the daily general function of the Finance and Administration Department.

Responsibilities*

Essential Functions for this position are followed by an (E).

As the Finance and Administration Business Analyst, this position's key responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Contract Management (40%)

• Report directly to the CFO and work with other executives and staff across the organization as needed for new contracts, renewals and termination communications and documentation (E)
• Coordinate internal resources for discussions concerning third parties/vendors (E)
• Develop, review, and assist with negotiating variations to contracts, follow up on inquiries and resolve contract issues (E)
• Review and highlight contract points for discussion and action (E)
• Liaise with third parties and legal professionals to ensure contract terms are understood and appropriate (E)
• Assist with the development of Merit's service agreements, in coordination with the appropriate Merit department
• Oversee contract deadlines, routing, adjustments, finalize documentation and prepare contract termination letters (E)
• Input contract information and payment schedules into Merit's Contract Database and, if applicable, lease accounting software (E)
• Assist in the development, implementation and updating of department policies, procedures, and internal controls relating to contracts and similar documents (E)

Grant Administration (30%)

• Maintain complete post-award records for grants on which Merit is either the recipient, subcontractor or otherwise owes deliverables (E)
• Input and maintain project management software for the deliverables of each grant for management reference and planning (E)
• Work with Merit's Director of Research to ensure staff and other post-award resources are available and correctly allocated to each grant (E)
• Work with the CFO and Director of Research to interpret regulations and guidelines of program funding for each grant and prepare periodic reports for grant agencies (E)
• Work with the CFO to apply for indirect cost allocations
• Work with the Controller to ensure complete financial information and invoicing
• Participate in contract closeouts
  

Financial Processing (20%)

• Assist CFO and Controller with budgeting, forecasting, audit preparation, and corporate tax filings as needed (E)
• Backup Finance and Administration positions to provide administrative support and confirm vendor invoices correspond to a current contract as needed (E)
• Assist the Finance and Administration department in the preparation of grant documents and reports (E)
• Conduct research and analysis by obtaining information from NetSuite, Oracle and other database resources (E)
• Review the analysis of others for accuracy and context (E)
• Work with the Controller and Business Systems Department on projects with financial impact (E)
  

Administration (10%)

• Monitor deadlines and submit federal, state and other regulatory agency forms and registrations (E)
• Assist with procuring bonds and accords, obtaining certificates of insured for third parties when requested (E)
• Work with the CFO to identify, track and maintain communications regarding subrogation cases with the vendor (E)
• Monitor holding periods and purge or archive data annually
• Report problems to the CFO that cannot be appropriately resolved
• Ensure corporate information is maintained in a confidential manner
• Establish and maintain effective relationships with department leaders across Merit
• Perform other duties as requested by the CFO
  

Other Duties

This job description is not designated to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree in a business field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum of 3 years of work in a financial or project environment
• Excellent communication skills to interact with all levels of company personnel and numerous people in a professional manner
• Possess solid organizational skills in order to meet deadlines and anticipate the needs of a busy executive and coordinate resources
• Have an analytical aptitude and comfortable with general financial equations
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, ability to compose and edit correspondence and basic reports, knowledge of proper English grammar and punctuation
• Work effectively under pressure and to plan, initiate and complete work assignments with a minimum of direction
• Ability to determine when to act independently and when to refer problems to the CFO
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and recommend effective solutions
• An intuitive ability to recognize and appropriately convey the sensitive nature of any situation and the ability to keep all matters appropriately confidential
• Proficient in MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Gmail
• Perform filtering and sorting of data, V-lookup, and other functions within Excel

Desired Qualifications*

• Experience working with contracts
• Experience managing or administering grants or other deliverable-based projects
• Experience in a networking or telecommunications organization
• Proficiency with the NetSuite ERP system
• Experience with vendor management and associated contracts
• Experience with Adaptive Insights (Workday) financial reporting software

Additional Information

Supervisory Responsibility

No direct supervision of staff required of this position.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee (with or without accommodations) to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Employee must frequently work at computer stations, answer telephone calls, emails, and/or other forms of customer/client communications. Employee may on occasion be required to move items of various sizes and weights throughout the office or building.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, work schedule will be determined by the supervisor and may change if necessary. There may be some occasional work required outside of established schedule, which may include weekends and holidays. Typical work schedule is 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday for most staff.

This position may work onsite, remote, or hybrid (both onsite and remotely) based on the business needs of the unit.  Remote work agreements are reviewed on an annual basis and are subject to change throughout the course of employment.

Travel

Travel may be required.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.