Capital Projects Finance Specialist

Occidental College; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 28,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Occidental College is seeking a Financial Support Specialist in Facilities Management to provide primary financial and administrative support for the department. The role manages capital projects and operating expenses from contract initiation through closeout, develops dashboards, monitors variances, and ensures compliance with institutional policies.

You will coordinate budget tracking, invoicing, vendor onboarding, and audit readiness, while supporting asset capitalization and tax compliance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting or related field to position duties or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Two years of experience in business operations, financial analysis, or project accounting.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), including advanced Excel functions such as pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, and conditional formatting; Google Workspace (Drive, Folders, Forms); Adobe Acrobat; and other productivity tools applicable to position responsibilities.
• Familiarity with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and ability to learn College-specific procurement, contracting, bidding, and invoicing systems.
• Demonstrated ability to be detail-oriented and thorough; skilled at anticipating, identifying, and preventing potential problems, including auditing invoices against contracts to ensure accuracy and payment only for verified work completed.
• Strong commitment to producing high-quality, precise work in a high-volume, high-accountability environment.
• Basic understanding of construction financial concepts including Schedule of Values, retainage, lien waivers, and the distinction between hard and soft construction costs.
• Familiarity with professional service agreements and AIA contract documents, as well as basic GAAP principles as they apply to capital projects and asset capitalization.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize raw financial data into clear, concise reports, dashboards, and short summaries for executive leadership.

Responsibilities

• Maintain real-time "Actual vs. Budget" logs for all active capital projects and operations expenses; report variances or burn rate concerns to Project Managers.
• Facilitate routing and execution of professional service agreements and construction contracts; ensure all legal and insurance requirements are met before work commences.
• Serve as the primary contact for vendor onboarding and procurement inquiries within the College's ERP system; assist in RFPs and bid tabulations.
• Review, audit, and validate "Applications for Payment" from contractors to ensure alignment with schedules, terms, and project progress, and maintain audit trails.

Skills

Budget forecasting

Financial analysis

Contract administration

Vendor onboarding

Invoicing

Stakeholder communication

Audit readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting

Tools

Excel

Pivot tables

VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP

Google Workspace

ERP systems

Adobe Acrobat

Job description

Occidental College is seeking a Financial Support Specialist in Facilities Management to provide primary financial and administrative support for the department. The role manages capital projects and operating expenses from contract initiation through closeout, develops dashboards, monitors variances, and ensures compliance with institutional policies.

You will coordinate budget tracking, invoicing, vendor onboarding, and audit readiness, while supporting asset capitalization and tax compliance.