Finance Officer

This position develops, implements, and manages finance operations, policies, and procedures for PIMS. It oversees financial, registration fee and tracking systems, ensuring integration, accuracy, and compliance with institutional guidelines. The role leads budgeting, prepares financial reports, audits transactions, and enhances workflows while ensuring adherence to GAAP and tax regulations. It provides training to staff, collaborates with IT staff on system integrations, and manages year-end financial processes.

This role plays a critical part in driving financial efficiency and supporting data-informed decision-making across the institute.

The Finance Officer, in conjunction with the Director and Manager of Operations, develops and implements financial strategies and organizational policies at all PIMS sites.

This position is in-person at UBC – Point Grey campus.

Organizational Status
The Finance Officer works independently in consultation with the Manager of Operations (to whom the position reports) and the PIMS Director (an academic director who is also a tenured professor in the Mathematics Department). This position will train and supervise a CUPE Financial Processing Specialist and provides managerial direction to staff members at the UBC Institutional Programs Office who are assigned to PIMS.

Work Performed
Develops, implements and manages finance operations policies and procedures within PIMS ensuring alignment with institutional guidelines. In managing PIMS budget, the Finance Officer considers PIMS’ distributed structure, its priorities and activities, as well as the needs and priorities of all PIMS stakeholders.

• Oversees and ensures the effective operation of key systems including Workday, Quickbooks and Touchnet (payment gateway) and ensures seamless integrations between systems.

• Responsible for fiscal management, planning, forecasting and resolving of funds including grants, contribution agreements and contracts according to agreed strategic priorities (strategic budgeting of $5M in annual funding). Liaise with federal and provincial granting agencies and PIMS member universities with regards to all grant funds. Revise budgets according to available funding, restrictions, and changes in programming. This position manages implementation of budget at all sites, transfers funds between member universities to support program operations in accordance with requirements from funding partners.
  
  Identifies budget recovery and cost sharing opportunities and ensures financial efficiencies.

• Manages multiple diverse and substantive budget areas including Tri-Council grants, corporate donations, support from various universities, NSF funds and operating funds; PIMS Collaborative Research Group budgets which are multiyear projects involving several universities; and budgets for individual PIMS sites (10)-both research funding and operating funds.

• Leads and facilitates the short-term and long-term budget development process, including establishing fiscal management policies for all areas of PIMS.

• Manages financial and accounting procedures critical to accounting decisions, budget development and year-end processes, ensuring adherence to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and compliance with tax regulations.

• Prepares and provides accurate, timely, and complex financial reports to support decision-making across PIMS and reporting to granting agencies.

• Oversees quarterly reconciliation of financials for all PIMS sites, matching actual financials to budget, identifying variances, and suggesting controlling actions to address discrepancies.

• Advises PIMS Site Administrators on local budgets and expense parameters. Provides training on Quickbooks and general reporting as required.

• Analyzes and evaluates existing financial workflows, recommending and implementing process improvements to enhance efficiency and…