Research Financial Analyst 4

UCSF Health; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

UCSF Health Fresno is seeking a Research Finance Analyst to support contract and grant proposal development, awards, and post‑award management. You will review financial requirements, ensure compliance, and provide high‑level analysis across multiple sponsors.

The role requires independent assessment of complex grant transactions, budgeting, and forecasting. Travel to Fresno for quarterly faculty meetings is expected, with collaboration across departments and central units.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business, or related area with 4+ years of related experience.
• Experience with federal and non-federal sponsors in research administration.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills using spreadsheets and databases.

Responsibilities

• Provide high‑level management, planning, and monitoring of fiscal budgets for contracts and grants.
• Ensure compliance with sponsors and university requirements.
• Serve as primary contact for sponsoring agencies and adjust budgets as needed.
• Review portfolio and coordinate re‑budgeting with central units.
• Monitor donor intents and administer complex awarded projects.
• Provide projections and recommendations including long‑range financial health.
• Advise PIs on lab effort, purchasing needs, and external contracting.
• Support audit activities and educate staff on grant administration.

Skills

Financial analysis

Data analysis

Budget forecasting

Contract administration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business, or related area

Master’s degree in business, finance, or higher education

Tools

Excel

Databases

Job description

Job Description

Involves providing analytical, financial and training activities in support of contract and grant proposal development, grant‑writing, funding, administration, and budget development. Activities may include management of funds post‑award, closeout activities for federal, state, local and private sponsors, analysis of research funding trends, forecasting, planning, and managing research portfolios by reviewing proposals to ensure institutional compliance and program success; negotiating, administering and monitoring contract and grant awards, including compliance with regulations, terms and conditions; financial management and reporting; and subaward/subcontract issuance and administration.

The Research Finance Analyst (RFA) uses advanced contracts and grants concepts in the timely management of high‑volume and high‑complexity transactions. They review and guide others in the review of financial and administrative management requirements of research contract and grant proposals, awards, and/or transactions to ensure compliance with institutional and sponsor policies. They work independently to assess complex grant, contract and subcontract transactions where analysis requires an in‑depth evaluation of variable factors while managing many competing priorities. The RFA provides high‑level analysis and recommendations for financial management and sustainability for individual faculty and non‑faculty academic portfolios, including sponsored and non‑sponsored funds through standard accounting practices and thorough data analysis, including the use of a variety of data sets. The RFA is expected to review, reconcile and maintain records and ledgers in compliance with university policy.

The RFA will serve as the faculty’s single point of contact for post‑award financial management of research/public‑service grants and contracts for faculty at UCSF Fresno and will ensure Fresno faculty are provided with a high quality, efficient, responsive, and responsible post‑award research administration services. The RFA will be responsible for the entire scope of post‑award management services for a variety of award mechanisms, including federal government and non‑profit grants, and state and industry‑sponsored contracts. There are also departmental grants and School of Medicine internally funded grants held by Fresno faculty to administer. The RFA will work with departments at UCSF: several in the Office of Sponsored Research and the UCSF Controller’s Office. The RFA will handle grants and contracts from eight residency programs and three special programs at UCSF Fresno. This position will be required to travel to Fresno for quarterly meetings with faculty.

Collaborates with colleagues both internal and external to the department to meet the required financial management of sponsored funds. Manages payroll for half of the faculty in the department. May assist the Finance Manager and Chief Administrative Officers with specific assigned projects related to required financial reporting to central units, School of Medicine Dean’s Office or other agencies, as requested. May assist with training new financial team members, as requested. The RFA must be an expert on University, federal, state and nonprofit accounting policies and extramural fund management, audit compliance, and strictly adheres to grant and UCSF policies. The RFA will be responsible for monitoring the award budget, revenue and cost allocation by working with the various UCSF and other required applications.

Responsibilities

• Provide high‑level management, planning, and monitoring of fiscal budget control of contracts and grants administration, submissions, budgets, support documents, gifts, endowments, and privately funded projects for faculty research programs.
• Ensure compliance with all sponsors and university requirements.
• Address issues with members and serve as the primary contact for sponsoring agencies.
• Review the entire portfolio and determine how to accommodate requests; work with central units to request re‑budgeting of the grant by the sponsoring agency.
• Ensure spending remains in compliance with donor intents.
• Administer, in coordination with central and departmental administrators, the administrative and financial aspects of complex, awarded projects with broad impact.
• Provide highly complex projections, analysis, and recommendations, including financial forecasting on the long‑range health of a faculty portfolio, assistance with the analysis and distribution of ICR‑related funding, management of state and discretionary resources, and analysis of the overall financial health of the department’s research portfolio.
• Advise the PI on available effort of the lab for new projects and on purchasing or contracting needs to outside agencies associated with our projects.
• Assist in support of audit as directed by senior staff.
• Provide guidance and counsel on highly complex research administration matters to principal investigators, senior departmental administrators and less experienced department staff. Lead education and outreach activities to facilitate connections between faculty and relevant programs/funding opportunities and promote research to external entities.
• Ensure complete and accurate collection of research management administration data at all stages of the contract and grant life cycle. Oversee award reporting and closeout working closely with central grant teams and controller’s office to ensure compliance, regulatory, and fiscal accounting reporting details are met in a timely manner.
• Review budget allocations for policy exceptions, maintain chart of accounts or other data management tools, and related business processes. Review and reconcile ledger accounts. Gather data from the general ledger for UBIT, prepare summary schedules, answer questions from departments, and coordinate responses.
• Keep PI appraised of funding mechanism utilization and burn rate during the project via regularly scheduled meetings; make appropriate adjustments to prevent overspending or deficits.
• Prepare, review and/or approve financial transactions and independently gather information as needed to perform financial analysis.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business, or related area and 4+ years of related experience or equivalent experience/training.
• Extensive knowledge of program administration guidelines of federal and non‑federal sponsors supporting research and educational activities, preferably in a university environment.
• Advanced knowledge of applicable compliance requirements related to the use of human or animal subjects in research, financial conflict of interest, biosafety, etc.
• Ability to manage high volume and complex transactions.
• Ability to perform highly complex financial analysis and customized reporting.
• Demonstrated advanced competence in the use of spreadsheet and database software in financial analysis, fiscal management and financial reports.
• Ability to maintain independent judgment and a customer‑service focus across broad and diverse subject areas; ability to provide clear and accurate explanations to faculty using data‑derived reporting mechanisms.
• Maintains knowledge of and ability to interpret and apply sponsor, institutional and departmental policies; knowledge of current compliance regulations in all areas of research administration.
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge of generally accepted accounting, fiscal and reporting principles.
• Full knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation, Code of Federal Regulations, sponsor‑specific policies, intellectual property policy, conflict of interest requirements, publication rights, application of indirect cost rates and other complex concepts in research administration.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in business, finance, or higher education.
• Ability to interpret policy for others.
• Advanced knowledge of effective grant funding processes, procedures and techniques.
• Experience with all types of award mechanisms, including grants, contracts, subcontracts, and cooperative agreements.
• Ability to facilitate difficult conversations and seek appropriate guidance (department leadership, compliance, or legal) with faculty members.