Senior Associate, Program Planning and Budget

Senior Associate, Program Planning and Budget (Hybrid)

Department

Pew's Finance department is committed to serving as an excellent steward of financial resources; providing accurate, reliable, timely, and cost-effective finance and accounting related products and services; and delivering extraordinary customer service on a sustained basis.

The Finance department desires to ensure each position is fully aligned with Pew's mission, strategic priorities, and results-oriented culture; and filled by a person with the competencies, skills, experience, and adaptability necessary to deliver extraordinary results on a sustained basis. The Finance department strives to provide a great workplace for competent, highly motivated, and results-oriented people whose leadership qualities and core values align with the Pew's high-performing and mission-driven culture.

Pew's Finance department is comprised of two areas, (1) Controller and (2) Planning and Budgeting, Contracts and Procurement, and Treasury Services. Controller is comprised of (I) accounting and financial reporting and (ii) payroll and payment services. Planning and Budgeting, Contracts and Procurement, and Treasury Services is comprised of (i) planning and budgeting for program and operations; (ii) institutional reporting; (iii) contract and procurement services; (iv) grant management; and (v) investment management and banking services.

Position Overview

The Senior Associate, Program Planning and Budget reports to and supports the Manager, Program Planning and Budget in providing program units with full-service budgeting and financial services. The senior associate will be expected to analyze information, identify issues appropriately, and help develop solutions.

The Senior Associate will work directly with the program area's staff to create and monitor the program budgets and forecasts; provide accurate and timely financial reporting; ensure compliance with adopted policies and procedures and donor reporting requirements; and provide a prominent level of customer service to management and program staff.

The ideal candidate will possess relevant nonprofit accounting and finance knowledge and experience, including budgeting, program reporting, donor reporting and financial analysis; be detail oriented; have strong customer service skills; possess excellent organization and communication skills; work well in a team environment; possess strong interpersonal, problem-solving and computer skills; and enjoy learning about the business as it grows and applying this knowledge to process improvements.

The position reports to the Manager, Program Planning and Budget and will be based in Pew's Washington, DC office, and enjoy the flexibility of hybrid work (two core days in office).

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a high level of knowledge about Pew's accounting, finance, budgeting, donor, procurement, and contracting policies, procedures, and practices (e.g. commitment authority, spending authority, expense policies, foreign currency policy, month-end and year-end close processes, financial code/chart of accounts); and remain current as new policies, procedures, and practices are implemented.
• Work with program staff to create or modify revenue and expense budgets for executive review and approval.
• Support domestic and international Projects with multiple donors.
• Create and maintain budget templates; educate program staff as necessary on how to complete budget templates and interpret budget revenue and spending guidance; and ensure the timely and accurate uploading of all budget templates into the appropriate PeopleSoft modules.
• Work with program staff to monitor actual revenues and expenses against budget; explain material budget variances; highlight areas of concern and propose options to address these concerns; and perform analytics to inform timely and accurate decision-making.
• Lead the budget renewal process (prepare budget summary) with assistance from the Manager, as necessary.
• Keep a current inventory of required PeopleSoft reports, including nVision reports, pre-built queries, and tableau reports, which are necessary to perform their responsibilities to run their program area.
• Perform project accounting and costing for program areas; monitor chart field coding accuracy; and provide payment processing support as requested.
• Work with program staff and Pew's Philanthropic Partnership Group to develop donor budget proposals, track donor spending (ensuring spending is compliant with donor agreements) and provide donor financial reports.
• Deliver high quality customer service to external and internal customers and develop strong relationships with identified customers.
• Review service provider agreements for proper coding.
• Prepare presentationsand training to support the implementation/rollout of new/ongoing budget and financial management processes/process improvements.
• Apply knowledge of PeopleSoft financial management and reporting system (including chart fields) to the responsibilities of the position.
• Establish effective working relationships with staff members throughout Pew and assist in special projects as assigned.
• Support other program portfolios and operation departments as needed. Participate in Pew-wide projects as assigned.
• Develop a broad knowledge of finance-related acumen. Participate in conferences, seminars, and other professional development activities to keep expertise current.

Requirements

• Generally, requires 4 years of accounting/finance experience, a bachelor's degree, or equivalent experience
• MS-Excel expertise, including pivot tables, macros & importing/exporting data.
• Grant, contract, project, donor, or cost accounting experience a plus
• Tableau Reports experience a plus
• ERP systems experience (PeopleSoft Financials a plus).
• Business process improvement experiences a plus
• Budgeting and maintaining forecasts skills
• Strong analytical, critical thinking and customer service skills.
• ERP systems experience (PeopleSoft Financials a plus).
• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, communications and presentation skills including the ability to effectively interface with staff and management

Travel

This position does not require travel.

Salary Range

The salary range represents a reasonable estimate of the annual salary based on Pew's commitment to provide equitable and market-competitive pay. The actual salary offered will take into consideration many factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills and experience, internal pay equity, and business need.

Total Rewards

We offer a competitive salary and benefit program, including: comprehensive, affordable health care through medical, dental, and vision coverage; financial security with life and disability insurance; opportunities to save using health savings and flexible spending accounts; retirement benefits to help prepare for the future; and work/life benefits to maintain a good balance.

The Pew Charitable Trusts is an equal opportunity employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Pew considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to age, sex, ethnicity, religion, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, military/veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.