Academic Affairs Budget Analyst

About the position Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) seeks an Academic Affairs Budget Analyst to join Academic Affairs. The Academic Affairs Budget Analyst projects, analyzes, and summarizes data for financial planning, budgeting, and reporting purposes for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs. Responsible for maintaining and providing input to and recommendations for informational databases and tools including position control, capital planning, and operating budgets. Maintain and improve detailed financial and analytical models. Provide financial reports to various departments and serve as the primary point of contact to these departments for budget inquiries and training. Organize and maintain planning information for academic facilities and equipment and related communication between Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, OIT, and Facilities. Supports the budget and planning process across the Strategic Partnerships portfolio and fiscal monitoring, reporting, research, analysis, and financial management of grants and contract activity and faculty development programs. The successful candidate will thrive in a campus environment that is committed to advancing the principles of social equity and inclusion, environmental and climate justice, and equal access to resources and opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Proactively engage offices in Academic and Student Affairs to understand budget needs and requests, and collect applicable data.
• Contribute to the budget development process by handling requests and adjustments, as well as oversee allocations of financial resources when needed.
• Support budget development for strategic partnership and research project activity, including pre-award and post-award analysis on grants and contracts.
• Fiscal monitoring, reporting, research, analysis, and financial management of grants and contract activity.
• Ensure that grants, contracts, gifts, and designated funds are properly accounted for and that resources are managed in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and / or restrictions in collaboration with the Controller’s Office.
• Proactively engage with the Controller’s Office and Academic Affairs to reconcile and close out external funding activities in order to meet Fiscal Year accounting deadlines and external reporting requirements.
• Prepare accurate end-of-year / end-of-project reports, internal funding distributions, and financial account closeouts.
• Support fiscal management of faculty development grant programs.
• Oversee project budgets.
• Monitor and adjust payroll costing allocations as necessary among various unrestricted and designated funds in order to maintain accurate budgets and ensure compliance with grant and project budgets.
• Oversee capital project spending, including facilities and equipment, and engage various departments in consistent communication, advance planning, and project tracking.
• Support development of Workday systems for contracted activity, external funding, and report development.
• Build ad-hoc queries and generate reports.
• Maintain and improve financial models to forecast trends, outline concerns, and highlight opportunities.
• Create summaries and presentations.
• Evaluate new and existing tools, systems, and modules, as requested, and make recommendations to align system solutions with operational needs and requirements.
• Payroll reconciliation against budget.
• Report, analyze, and communicate related data with appropriate academic leadership.
• Monitor revenue and expenditure budget performance and provide reporting and analysis of variances.
• Identify areas of concern and recommend appropriate actions.
• Advise on resource allocation for Strategic Partnerships initiatives.
• Provide input on budget model proposals and/or 5-year budget models for revenue development.
• Ensure compliance with the college’s operating and capital budget policies.
• Partner with and educate departments regarding correct procedures and compliance.
• Serve as the primary point of contact with other Academic Affairs and Student Affairs offices to provide budget training and respond to budget inquiries.
• Engage and consult with departments regarding available options, budgetary solutions, and implications.
• Collaborate with Institutional Advancement staff to manage new funding, account setup, communication to relevant parties, and compliance with usage restrictions.
• Review contracts, leases, and other agreements for budget impact and payable/receivable scheduling, and assist with the review and approval process.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a Business Administration, Finance, or business-related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of three years of professional experience in finance, and/or budgeting, preferably in a non-profit environment.
• Requires a detailed understanding of budget development and strong analytical and financial acumen.
• Knowledge of grants or sponsored project management related to project budgets.
• Experience with facilities and/or equipment management.
• Ability to interact with all levels of the organization and work with a diverse group of individuals.
• Ability to liaise and network with various departments in order to leverage systems, tools, and relationships.
• Demonstrated project management and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated computing and quantitative skills including experience with MS Excel and Google suite.
• Excellent attention to detail and oral and written communication skills.
• Experience reporting to external funders or stakeholders and/or working with corporate partner finance offices.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Workday, grant management, and position control systems preferred.

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