Senior Accountant

Heralded as a hub of undergraduate innovation, the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) creates and sustains meaningful interactions between students and faculty both within and outside the classroom. As a collaborative team member of VPUE, you have a unique opportunity to advance and support programs that touch and enhance the lives of every undergraduate student at Stanford.

About the Haas Center for Public Service

Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service serves as the hub of Cardinal Service, a campus-wide initiative to make service a distinctive feature of a Stanford education. The Haas Center inspires and prepares students to create a more just and sustainable world through service, scholarship, and community partnerships.

Guided by the Center’s Principles of Ethical and Effective Service, students engage in local, national, and global service across diverse pathways—community-engaged learning and research, community organizing and activism, direct service, philanthropy, policy and governance, and social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility.

The Haas Center for Public Service seeks a detail-oriented Senior Accountant to join its finance and administration team. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills. In this role, you will prepare budgets, monitor expenditures, reconcile financial statements, and analyze financial data for more than 200 awards, including 110 endowment funds with varying restrictions.

To be considered, please submit a cover letter and resume along with your online application. Your cover letter should briefly describe your interest in the position and how you feel your background and experience would make you a successful candidate.

Core Duties

• Analyze accounting transactions and information to summarize current financial position at the unit or organization-wide level. Construct and assemble data for decision making; develop conclusions, and present high level summary of recommendations.
• Capture, track, and report revenue and expenses; determine appropriate procedures for accounting record preparation, research of transactions and reporting. Oversee, reconcile, and resolve problems relative to complicated accounts.
• Collect data and perform research on details of transactions. Generate, review, analyze and communicate financial data that reflects actual financial performance against approved budgets. Prepare and present quantitative and qualitative analyses focusing on variances from budget and prior data.
• Maintain and review accounting process controls; recommend and implement any approved modifications; perform preliminary analysis and recommend solutions. Develop and maintain desktop procedures and process documentation for area of responsibility.
• Run and analyze financial reports, often from multiple systems; prepare management information reports.
• Execute internal control programs established by management, research new regulations, and recommend and implement approved changes. May manage compliance program for area of responsibility, and create complex compliance reports.
• Contribute to unit and organization strategy; assist in the development of change management plans and materials as needed. Participate as a member of a project team; support new initiatives. Make decisions determining approach to managing and completing processes.
• Participate in critical analysis of existing systems and processes, and identify opportunities for process improvement. Define requirements, develop and implement complex test cases, perform system testing and analyze results.
• Serve as a resource to local units and other departments to resolve accounting-related issues.
• May act as a lead, train, coach, and review the work of other staff, as needed. Contribute primarily through applying individual expertise.

Minimum Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree plus four years of applicable experience, or combination of education and relevant work experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Intermediate proficiency in business applications, such as Microsoft Office; intermediate Excel skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience with accounting systems and the internet; computer literacy.
• Understanding of and ability to apply accounting skills and concepts.
• Knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
• Demonstrated communication skills, including the ability to clearly and effectively communicate information to internal audiences and client groups.
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to contribute as part of a project team.