Business Administrative Associate

University of Illinois Springfield; Springfield (IL); On-site; USD 46,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Illinois Springfield is seeking a CHST Business Administrative Associate to support fiscal planning, budgeting, and financial reporting. The role acts as a key financial resource for the CHST Dean’s Office and academic units, coordinating travel, monitoring budgets, and assisting with grant and contract expenditures.

The position requires strong attention to detail, communication skills, and experience with enterprise financial systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s may substitute for 1 year of experience.
• Experience with fiscal planning, budget monitoring, and financial reporting.
• Experience in higher education, public sector, or complex administrative environments.
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate college-level fiscal planning across funds and prepare budget projections.
• Review transactions, support purchasing, reimbursements, and journal entries.
• Help develop internal procedures for budget tracking and reporting calendars.
• Arrange faculty and staff travel and create expense reports.
• Provide limited grant and contract fiscal coordination and reporting support.

Skills

Fiscal planning

Budget monitoring

Financial reporting

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in business administration, management, or a field related to the position.

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Posting Category

About UIS: Located in the state capital, the University of Illinois Springfield is one of three members of the University of Illinois system. The University serves more than 4,000 students in 44 graduate and 56 undergraduate programs. You are encouraged to visit the university web page at http://www.uis.edu .

Application deadline

11/15/2026

Minimum Starting Salary

$51,500

Job Summary

The CHST Business Administrative Associate provides college-level support for fiscal planning, budget tracking, financial reporting, business operations, and fund management. This position supports the Dean's Office, academic units, faculty, and staff by arranging faculty and staff travel, monitoring budgets, tracking expenditures, preparing projections, supporting purchasing and transaction workflows, and producing timely financial analyses. This position serves as a key fiscal and business resource for CHST, helping ensure that college funds are planned, monitored, and used effectively. The role also provides limited grant and contract fiscal coordination, including tracking sponsored-project expenditures, assisting with grant budget monitoring, supporting financial reporting needs, and coordinating with campus sponsored-program, grants-accounting, purchasing, and business offices. This position requires strong attention to detail, sound fiscal judgment, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to communicate financial information clearly to faculty, administrators, and staff.

Duties & Responsibilities

Fiscal Planning, Budget Monitoring, and Financial Reporting: Coordinate and support college-level fiscal planning across operating, personnel, gift, grant, contract, and other fund sources; prepare, maintain, and update budget tracking tools, financial reports, fund summaries, and projections for the Dean's Office and CHST units; monitor spending activity, fund balances, commitments, encumbrances, and projected year-end balances; analyze budget trends, identify potential fiscal concerns, and provide information to support college-level planning and decision-making; prepare routine and ad hoc financial reports for the Dean, associate deans, chairs/directors, program leads, and other college administrators; assist with annual budget planning, mid-year reviews, fiscal year-end activities, and other recurring college budget processes; and support planning for salary, operating, equipment, travel, strategic initiative, and other college-level expenditures.

Budget Execution, Reconciliation, and Transaction Support: Review and track financial transactions to ensure accuracy, proper fund use, and timely resolution of discrepancies; support purchasing, reimbursements, transfers, journal vouchers, procurement-card activity, travel-related transactions, and other business processes; monitor and approve transactions and expenditures for compliance with university, campus, college, and fund-source requirements; coordinate with campus business, finance, purchasing, HR/payroll, and accounting offices to resolve fiscal and transaction-related issues; maintain accurate and organized fiscal documentation to support internal review, audit needs, and continuity of operations; track pending transactions, commitments, and approvals to ensure timely budget execution; and assist CHST units with routine fiscal questions, account information, transaction status, and budget availability.

College Business Operations and Administrative Fiscal Support: Serve as a fiscal and business operations resource for the CHST Dean's Office and academic units; help develop, document, and improve internal procedures for budget tracking, reconciliations, purchasing workflows, reporting calendars, and financial documentation; support consistent college-level business practices across departments, programs, and administrative units; assist with on-boarding or guiding faculty and staff on fiscal processes, purchasing procedures, reimbursement expectations, and budget tracking practices; coordinate business operations activities that intersect with finance, personnel budgeting, procurement, contracts, grants, and college administration; and support special projects, internal reviews, data requests, and fiscal analyses as assigned.

Faculty College Business Operations and Administrative Fiscal Support: Serve as travel arranger for all faculty, administrators, and staff in the college; arrange and ensure all such business travel follows the travel policies and procedures set by both the university and the U of I system; and create and process expense reports for any such travel purchases.

Grant and Contract Fiscal Coordination: Provide limited fiscal coordination for CHST grants and contracts, with emphasis on budget tracking, expenditure monitoring, reporting support, and communication with faculty and central offices; assist principal investigators and college leadership by monitoring sponsored-project spending, available balances, budget categories, and projected expenditures; help track grant and contract deadlines related to financial reporting, budget periods, closeout, renewals, and other fiscal milestones; assist with gathering and organizing financial information needed for sponsored-project reports, budget revisions, no-cost extension requests, or closeout preparation; coordinate with sponsored programs, grants accounting, contracts, purchasing, and other campus offices on routine grant and contract fiscal matters; maintain internal tracking tools for active CHST grants and contracts to help the college monitor award status, spending trends, and upcoming fiscal deadlines; and elevate complex compliance, sponsor-specific, proposal, contract, or financial-management questions to the appropriate campus office.

Process Improvement, Documentation, and Special Projects: Identify opportunities to improve fiscal tracking, reporting, communication, and workflow efficiency within CHST; develop or maintain dashboards, spreadsheets, templates, checklists, and other tools to support budget monitoring and decision-making; support documentation of standard operating procedures for college fiscal and business processes; participate in special projects related to fiscal planning, resource allocation, budget analysis, process improvement, or college operations; and perform other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, management, or a field related to the position.
• Two (2) years of professional business, financial, and/or managerial work experience.

(NOTE: A Master’s Degree in an area consistent with the duties of the position may be substituted for one (1) year (12 months) of work experience.)

• Based on position requirements, additional education, training, and/or work experience in an area of specialization inherent to the position may be required.
• Experience with fiscal planning, budget monitoring, reconciliations, purchasing, financial reporting, or business operations in higher education, public-sector, nonprofit, healthcare, or other complex administrative environments.
• Experience preparing budget projections, variance reports, fund-balance summaries, or other financial analyses.
• Experience working with enterprise financial systems, procurement systems, HR/payroll-related fiscal data, or similar administrative platforms.
• Experience supporting multiple fund types, such as operating funds, personnel budgets, gift funds, grants, contracts, restricted funds, or project-based funds.
• Experience providing fiscal support to faculty, academic administrators, program directors, or unit leaders.
• Experience with grant, contract, or sponsored-project fiscal tracking.
• Strong spreadsheet skills, including formulas, reconciliations, projections, pivot tables, and recurring financial reports.
• Experience developing internal procedures, tracking tools, dashboards, checklists, or process documentation.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Strong fiscal, analytical, and organizational skills.

Ability to monitor budgets, identify discrepancies, track spending trends, and prepare accurate financial reports.

Ability to manage multiple deadlines, recurring processes, and competing priorities with accuracy and discretion.

Strong attention to detail and commitment to timely follow-through.

Ability to interpret and apply university, campus, college, and fund-source policies and procedures.

Ability to communicate financial information clearly to individuals who may not have finance or budget backgrounds.

Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, administrators, and central campus offices.

Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when working with budget, personnel, and financial information.

Ability to improve processes, organize complex information, and create practical tools for tracking and reporting.

Proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet software.

Employment Policies and other information

Failure to accurately describe work experience, or failure to submit college transcripts may result in an applicant not being admitted to the exam.

The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer dedicated to building a community of excellence, equity, and diversity. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment and we welcome applications from qualified individuals of all backgrounds and identities. The University of Illinois System does not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their real or perceived race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, genetic information, marital status, disability, sexual orientation including gender identity, unfavorable discharge from the military or status as a protected veteran and will comply with all federal and state nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, orders and regulations. Visit University of Illinois Non-Discrimination Statement

The University of Illinois System conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer of employment. Convictions are not a bar to employment. Background checks will be performed in compliance with state and federal law.

The University of Illinois System requires candidates selected for hire to disclose any documented finding of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment and to authorize inquiries to current and former employers regarding findings of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment. For more information, visit Policy on Consideration of Sexual Misconduct in Prior Employment .

As a qualifying federal contractor, the University of Illinois System uses E-Verify to verify employment eligibility .

This position is intended to be eligible for benefits . This includes Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used in some portions of the candidate review process for this position, however, all employment decisions will be made by a person.

UIS employment in this role is not covered by Social Security, and instead, is covered by the State University Retirement System.

• You will not pay Social Security taxes and your earning will not be on your Social Security Record. (Your record will, however, show your Medicare wages.
• Your pension from the State Universities Retirement System may affect the amount of your:
• Social Security benefit and
• Social Security benefit as a spouse

Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply and may request a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (2008) to complete the application and/or interview process. Requests may be submitted by contacting UIS HR at [e-mail] or call 217-206-6652.

• Please Note: All postings close at 5:00pm CST on the posting close date.***