Financial Specialist III

Financial Specialist III

Working for Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Disaster Assessment and Recovery, the CHARM team provides education, outreach, and planning support for communities around the state of Texas, focusing on approaches that foster collaboration and holistic solutions to reduce risks from floods and other hazards.

Role Summary

The Financial Specialist III provides essential financial support to project leadership by ensuring accuracy in financial records, reliable cost forecasting, and regulatory compliance. The role requires strong attention to detail, a solid understanding of financial tracking systems, and the ability to collaborate effectively with project managers, vendors, and finance offices to maintain transparent, audit-ready financial records.

Responsibilities

• Retrieves, records, verifies, and reconciles financial transactions to assist the project management team.
• Researches and resolves discrepancies for expenses, encumbrances, program income, and invoices.
• Maintains accurate, auditable records of project financial activity.
• Reconciles vendor and subaward invoices against contracts and budgets; maintains support documentation.
• Flags invoice discrepancies or compliance issues for leadership review.
• Tracks expenditures against project budgets at the scope task and contract levels.
• Monitors burn rates and prepares monthly summaries.
• Provides updated cost and budget data to support project leadership decision-making.
• Updates financial tables, charts, and cost summaries for leadership and project sponsors.
• Manages library of cost tracking records and past reports for consistency and reference.
• Tracks and implements financial action items and follow-up tasks.
• Assists project leadership in assembling financial sections of project management plans and project budget gates.
• Ensures adherence of costs to university and federal regulations to transactions and reporting.
• Maintains compliance documentation and audit-ready records.
• Tracks financial budget gates for sponsor reporting and compliance deliverables.

Education and Experience (Required)

High School diploma or equivalent combination of education and experience. Six years of related experience.

Education and Experience (Preferred)

Bachelor's degree or equivalent.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (Required)

Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Ability to multitask and work cooperatively with others.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (Preferred)

Skill in reconciling transactions, invoices, and budgets; ability to identify and resolve discrepancies. Familiarity with federal grant regulations and institutional financial policies. Prepare and maintain spreadsheets to track expenditures, burn rates, and cost summaries for use by leadership and sponsors. Ability to communicate effectively with finance offices, vendors, and project staff; skilled in formatting financial data for sponsored project reports. Ability to manage multiple deadlines, track financial action items, and maintain consistency across recurring reports.

Other Requirements

May require extended bending, reaching, stooping, kneeling, squatting, and sitting. May require lifting workshop and outreach equipment, up to 30 pounds. May require extended communication with visitors and employees in person, telephonically or electronically. May require infrequent travel in State vehicles with overnight stays. May require operating computers with high-definition screens for extended periods of time.

Applicant Information

This is a grant funded position. All applicants should submit a cover letter and resume with their application. All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution's verification of credentials and / or other information required by the institution's procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check. Equal Opportunity / Veterans / Disability Employer.