DescriptionThe Senior Financial Associate manages a wide range of finance, human resources, and administrative activities that support daily departmental operations. The position validates financial transactions, assists with sponsored research activity, coordinates personnel documents, supports payroll and HR processes, and provides data analysis related to financial, academic, and HR activities. The role contributes to accuracy, compliance, and efficiency across financial processes and supports faculty, staff, and students while ensuring alignment with university fiscal and human resource policies.
ResponsibilitiesThe Senior Financial Associate performs essential financial duties by validating cash management prepared by other staff, ensuring accurate and timely submission of receipts, guiding internal transfer transactions, and preparing or reviewing journal entries for cost allocations and corrections. The position assists with effort certification, prepares reports for faculty review, and supports processes related to nine-month payroll deferrals, NIH salary cap considerations, and NSF restrictions for sponsored projects. The Senior Financial Associate provides budget and funding support for externally sponsored projects, assists with monitoring expenditures, reconciles monthly activity, reviews budget projections, and manages close out tasks and contract modification needs. The position works directly with OSP and FMC for pre-award and post-award activity, helps manage internal funding sources such as seed awards and technology fees, and supports processing of cost share and internal funding transactions. Responsibilities include managing labor distribution schedules, performing analysis and validation, preparing data reports, and assisting with accounts receivable through invoice creation, customer setup, collections, and reconciliation of aged receivables including bad debt write off preparation.
Human resource responsibilities include coordinating all personnel documents such as hiring packets, terminations, retirement forms, leave requests, faculty development leave materials, and final paycheck checklists. The Senior Financial Associate ensures I-9 E-verification compliance, serves as hiring manager for research related positions, manages job postings, distributes candidate files, processes job offer transactions, and coordinates onboarding schedules. The position supports international scholar processes including OPT, visiting researcher activity, and J one requirements, and works closely with CIE, CGE, College HR, and Campus HR to maintain compliance. The role facilitates new and renewal H one B and J one cases, prepares visiting researcher packages, reviews HR documents for accuracy, evaluates departmental position titles for Actual Wage Certification, confirms departmental financial commitments, generates HR compliance reports, manages payroll costs and projections for sponsored projects, ensures payroll record retention compliance, and processes additional pay transactions related to research and faculty programs. The Senior Financial Associate also manages Interfolio activity for faculty searches, tenure and promotion cases, and faculty development leave files.
Administrative responsibilities include assisting with timetable entry and report generation, coordinating departmental events through preparation of name tags, venue reservations, decor, contracts, and logistics, organizing guest speaker arrangements, supporting student organization activities, and coordinating seminar related tasks. The Senior Financial Associate performs additional administrative duties as needed to support effective departmental operations.
QualificationsRequired Qualifications
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.
Preferred Qualifications
Work Location
Location: Knoxville, TN
Onsite
Compensation and Benefits
UT market range: MR07
Anticipated hiring range: $45,000 - $55,000 based on experience
Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
Find more information on UT Benefits here
Application Instructions
To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments.
