Finance and Accounting Professional (Open Rank: Senior - Principal)

University of Colorado; Aurora (CO); Hybrid; USD 58,000 - 78,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental benefits

Retirement plan with employer match

Paid time off and holidays

Tuition benefit for CU campuses

Job summary

University of Colorado Anschutz in Denver is seeking a Finance and Accounting Professional to guide budgets for seven core facilities. You will forecast costs, monitor budgets, and support core directors and leadership in financial reporting and compliance.

Responsibilities include managing grant expenditures, payroll funding, and standard invoicing. This role interacts with faculty, the Dean’s Office, and external partners in a dynamic research environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, accounting, or a related field with 2 years of relevant experience.
• Experience with financial forecasting and budget analysis.
• Post-award grant and contract management experience.

Responsibilities

• Forecast and reconcile complex program and project budgets for core facilities, including annual cost studies and financial projections.
• Manage construction/remodel funding processes for core facility upgrades.
• Develop and oversee a standardized invoicing system for cores and ensure timely reporting.
• Coordinate procurement support for large equipment and manage inventories and depreciation schedules.
• Analyze grant notices, manage sponsored project expenditures, and forecast laboratory budgets.
• Collaborate with Grants and Contracts to ensure compliance with policies and regulations.

Skills

Financial forecasting

Budget analysis

Post-award grant management

Contract management

Financial accounting

Payroll funding

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance or accounting

Tools

Excel

Access

Concur

InfoEd

CU Data

CU Marketplace

Job description

University of Colorado Anschutz

Department: Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics

Finance and Accounting Professional (Open Rank: Senior - Principal)

Requisition #: 41461

Job Summary

This role offers a unique opportunity for individuals passionate about financial management within a vibrant academic and research environment. As a key financial strategist for the seven core facilities, you will play a pivotal role in forecasting costs, developing, and monitoring budgets, and ensuring financial sustainability. Your work will directly impact the advancement of groundbreaking research by providing essential support to core directors and the School of Medicine’s leadership. You'll engage in diverse and impactful projects, from managing complex budget reconciliations and financial reporting to coordinating construction funding for facility upgrades and implementing standardized invoicing systems. Day-to-day, you will collaborate with core facility managers, faculty, the Dean’s Office, and external entities, ensuring accurate financial tracking and compliance with university policies. You’ll also manage grant expenditures, perform financial analyses for research laboratories, and oversee payroll funding distributions. This role not only supports the financial health of the department but also enhances the university's mission of fostering innovative research. If you’re looking for a position where your financial acumen can make a tangible difference, this is an exciting and rewarding opportunity to contribute to the university's success and growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Forecast and reconcile complex program and project budgets for core facilities, including preparing annual cost studies and financial projections.
• Manage and coordinate construction and remodel funding processes for core facility expansions and upgrades.
• Develop and oversee a standardized invoicing system for all cores, ensuring accurate reporting and timely payment collection.
• Coordinate procurement support for large equipment and manage equipment inventories and depreciation schedules.
• Analyze grant notices, manage sponsored project expenditures, and prepare financial forecasts for laboratory budgets.
• Work closely with the Office of Grants and Contracts to ensure compliance with granting agency policies and regulations.
• Provide quarterly or monthly financial reports to facility directors, including budget recommendations and potential issue assessments.

Work Location

Hybrid – this role is eligible for a hybrid schedule of # days per week on campus and as needed for in-person meetings.

Why Join Us

Our department conducts research across a wide biological scale for fundamental scientific understanding with applications to many disease contexts. The overarching goal is to reach a level of molecular insight that helps develop therapeutic approaches to disease.

As biochemists and molecular geneticists, we are amid an unprecedented time of discovery - our conception of the molecular biology of cells is going from the equivalent of grainy black-and-white to high-resolution technicolor. From deciphering the choreography of transcription complexes, chromosomes, and RNA molecules within cells to developing novel approaches to 3D molecular structure determination to understanding how viruses hijack a cell’s machinery and alter its metabolome, the researchers in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics (BMG) are at the forefronts of their fields both conceptually and technologically.

Why work for the University?

We have AMAZING benefits and offer exceptional amounts of holiday, vacation and sick leave! The University of Colorado offers an excellent benefits package including:

• Medical: Multiple plan options
• Dental: Multiple plan options
• Additional Insurance: Disability, Life, Vision
• Retirement 401(a) Plan: Employer contributes 10% of your gross pay
• Paid Time Off: Accruals over the year
• Vacation Days: 22/year (maximum accrual 352 hours)
• Sick Days: 15/year (unlimited maximum accrual)
• Holiday Days: 15/year
• Tuition Benefit: Employees have access to this benefit on all CU campuses
• ECO Pass: Reduced rate RTD Bus and light rail service

There are many additional perks & programs with the CU Advantage.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Senior Professional

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, business, finance, accounting, or a directly related field from an accredited institution and 2 years of professional experience, to include financial accounting, post-award grant and contract management. Experience with financial forecasting and budget analysis.

Principal Professional

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, business, finance, accounting, or a directly related field from an accredited institution and 3-5 years of professional experience, to include financial accounting, post-award grant and contract management. Experience with financial forecasting and budget analysis.
• Substitution: A combination of education and related technical/military/paraprofessional experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree on a year for year basis.

Applicants must meet minimum qualifications at the time of hire.

Preferred Qualifications

• One (1) or more years of professional level experience with post-award grant and contract management, including direct responsibility for managing NIH grants.
• Core service center financial experience.
• Higher education experience.
• Experience working with HCM, Finance, CU Data, Concur, CU Marketplace, and InfoEd.
• Payroll experience.
• Experience in providing professional and technical assistance to faculty, staff, and students within a higher education and/or medical education environment.
• Experience with or knowledge of University policies and procedures as well as University payroll processes and procedures.

Conditions of Employment

• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship. We are unable to provide work visa sponsorship or employment authorization for this position now or in the future.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and orally.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees at all levels throughout the institution.
• Outstanding customer service skills.
• Demonstrated commitment and leadership ability to advance diversity and inclusion.
• Ability to find reasonable solutions to complex financial and personnel related issues.
• Strong technical skills, which include the ability to work with Microsoft software, programs, and applications (primarily Excel and Access); willingness to learn new systems is essential.
• Detail oriented and conscientious in the observance of deadlines.
• Ability to interpret and implement complex layers of policy.
• Ability to understand and interpret complex guidelines and regulations for salary caps, facilities and administrative cost calculations, and funding restrictions.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

ADA Statement

The University will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the employment application process. To request an accommodation pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact the Human Resources ADA Coordinator at [e-mail] .

Background Check Statement

The University of Colorado Anschutz is dedicated to ensuring a safe and secure environment for our faculty, staff, students and visitors. To assist in achieving that goal, we conduct background investigations for all prospective employees.

Vaccination Statement

CU Anschutz strongly encourages vaccination against the COVID-19 virus and other vaccine preventable diseases. If you work, visit, or volunteer in healthcare facilities or clinics operated by our affiliated hospital or clinical partners or by CU Anschutz, you will be required to comply with the vaccination and medical surveillance policies of the facilities or clinics where you work, visit, or volunteer, respectively. In addition, if you work in certain research areas or perform certain safety sensitive job duties, you must enroll in the occupational health medical surveillance program.

University Staff

Department

U0001 -- Anschutz Med Campus or Denver

Schedule

Full-time

Posting Date

Oct 20, 2026

Unposting Date

Ongoing

Screening of Applications Begins

Applications will be accepted until finalists are identified, but preference will be given to complete applications received by 11/3/26. Those who do not apply by this date may or may not be considered.

Anticipated Pay Range

The starting salary range (or hiring range) for this position has been established as:

• Senior Professional: $58,175 - $68,064
• Principal Professional: $66,901 - $78,274

The above salary range (or hiring range) represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting. This position may be eligible for overtime compensation, depending on the level.

Your total compensation goes beyond the number on your paycheck. The University of Colorado provides generous leave, health plans and retirement contributions that add to your bottom line.

Total Compensation Calculator