Financial Analyst

Stony Brook; Stony Brook (NY); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Location pay

Job summary

Stony Brook University’s Office of the Provost seeks a Senior Staff Assistant to provide analytical, operational, and financial reporting support. You will work with the Academic Budget and Finance team to manage budget tracking, forecasting, and analytics.

The role involves dashboards, data validation, and collaboration with academic units to ensure fiscal accountability. The position requires a Bachelor's degree and 3+ years of finance-related experience, strong Excel skills, and the ability

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Information Systems, Public Administration, or related analytical field.
• Three (3) years of full-time professional experience in financial analysis, accounting, financial operations, data analysis, or related admin functions.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel incl. complex formulas, lookup, pivot, macros, data validation, and financial modeling.
• Experience analyzing large data sets and compiling summary reports for management.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to convey financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Support monthly, quarterly, and rolling forecast updates by gathering unit inputs and verifying data integrity.
• Perform monthly budget-to-actual and variance analysis; identify cost drivers and draft explanations for material discrepancies.
• Maintain and update financial models; verify formulas and data linkages across multi-department feeds.
• Assist in developing driver-based financial models and scenario analyses for unit initiatives.
• Design and maintain dashboards and templates (Power BI, Tableau, Excel) to track KPIs across Academic Affairs.
• Monitor spending trends to flag potential overruns and cost-containment opportunities.
• Assist in preparing executive briefing decks and narrative summaries for leadership.
• Serve as a primary contact for routine ad-hoc financial reporting requests.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Financial analysis

Budgeting

Data visualization

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in accounting/finance/business

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

SQL

Job description

Who We Are
The Office of the Provost Academic Budget and Finance Team is a collaborative, high-performing group dedicated to supporting the university’s academic mission through strategic financial management, planning and analysis. We foster a positive, fast-paced work environment where innovation, teamwork, and continuous learning are encouraged. Team members benefit from meaningful project ownership, exposure to university leadership and strategic initiatives, and a strong commitment to professional development. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals seeking to expand their expertise, build cross-campus relationships, and grow their careers while contributing to impactful institutional decisions.

Required Qualifications (as evidenced by an attached resume):
Bachelor's degree (foreign equivalent or higher) in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Information Systems, Public Administration, or a related analytical field. Three (3) years of full-time professional experience in financial analysis, accounting, financial operations, data analysis, or related administrative functions. Experience working with financial systems, relational databases, and enterprise reporting tools. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including complex formulas, lookup functions, pivot tables, macros, data validation, and financial modeling. Demonstrated experience analyzing large, complex data sets and compiling summary reports for management. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:
Four (4) or more years of full time experience in higher education finance, fund accounting, or a large, complex public institution. Experience utilizing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (e.g., Oracle, PeopleSoft, Banner, Workday). Familiarity with SUNY financial systems, state finance structures, or Research Foundation processes. Hands‑on experience with business intelligence software (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) or querying tools (SQL). Experience with business process analysis, workflow optimization, or financial system implementations.

Brief Description of Duties:
The Financial Analyst provides analytical, operational, and financial reporting support within the Office of the Provost. Reporting to the Senior Analyst on the Academic Budget and Finance team, the incumbent serves as a key liaison for academic unit financial operations, budget tracking, and analytics. The Financial Analyst collects, validates, analyzes, and interprets complex financial and operational data to support data-driven decision-making across Academic Affairs. Working under general supervision, the incumbent assists with budget forecasting, variance analysis, executive reporting, dashboard maintenance, and system testing. Additionally, this position serves as operational continuity support for the Senior Analyst, maintaining reliable reporting workflows while ensuring compliance with University, SUNY, State, Stony Brook and Research Foundation policies and procedures.

This position requires rigorous attention to detail, commitment to data integrity, sound judgment in managing confidential information, and strong interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively across all organizational levels. The incumbent must demonstrate the ability to independently evaluate operational issues, propose strategic solutions, and ensure fiscal accountability.

Financial Planning, Analysis & Executive Reporting

• Support monthly, quarterly, and rolling forecast updates by gathering unit inputs, verifying data integrity, and running baseline projections under the direction of the Senior Analyst.
• Perform monthly budget-to-actual (BvA) and period-over-period variance analysis; investigate underlying cost drivers and draft explanations for material discrepancies across operating and personnel budgets.
• Maintain and update existing financial models, verifying formulas, operational assumptions, and data linkages across multi-departmental feeds.
• Assist in developing driver-based financial models and scenario/sensitivity analyses to evaluate proposed unit initiatives, trade-offs, or funding requests.
• Design, refine, and maintain operational dashboards and reporting templates (Power BI, Tableau, Excel) to track key performance metrics across Academic Affairs.
• Monitor departmental spending trends to identify potential budget overruns or cost-containment opportunities early in the fiscal cycle.
• Assist the Senior Analysts in preparing executive presentation decks, briefing materials, and narrative summaries for institutional leadership.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for routine ad-hoc financial reporting and analysis requests across academic units.

Financial Systems and Initiative Implementation Support

• Assist with Chart of Accounts (COA) governance, account maintenance, and institutional reporting alignment.
• Support financial system enhancement initiatives (such as the New Economic Framework and WolfieOne), assisting with system updates that impact academic reporting structures.
• Validate COA mapping accuracy and ensure transactional consistency across core reporting platforms.
• Participate in user acceptance testing (UAT), data validation, and post-implementation reviews for new reporting tools or ERP upgrades.
• Support data governance standards to maintain financial data integrity and consistency across all published reports.

Stakeholder Support & Business Process Improvement

• Provide routine financial and analytical support to unit administrators, department managers, and unit finance staff.
• Collaborate with academic units to understand operational reporting requirements and translate them into functional dashboards or recurring reports.
• Identify and recommend process improvements to streamline data collection, reduce report generation timelines, and strengthen internal controls.
• Assist in creating user documentation, job aids, and reference materials related to financial reporting tools and processes.

Other duties or projects as assigned as appropriate to rank and departmental mission

Special Notes:
This is a full-time appointment. FLSA Exempt position, not eligible for the overtime provisions of the FLSA. Minimum salary threshold must be met to maintain FLSA exemption.

This position will report to campus in Stony Brook, NY.
In addition to the employee's base salary, this position is eligible for $4,150 UUP annual location pay, paid biweekly.
For this position, we are unable to sponsor candidates for work visas.
Resume/CV and cover letter should be included with the online application.
Stony Brook University is committed to excellence in diversity and the creation of an inclusive learning and working environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status and all other protected classes under federal or state laws.
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Job Number:

Job Number:

2603769

Official Job Title : Senior Staff Assistant

Job Field

Job Field

: Administrative & Professional (non-Clinical)

Primary Location

Department/Hiring Area : Office of the Provost