About the Center:

The Stearns Center supports over 2500 George Mason University faculty in pedagogical and curriculum development across all faculty ranks and all course modalities, from fully face-to-face to fully online. The Center coordinates events ranging in size from 300+ participants at our annual Innovations in Teaching and Learning Conference to faculty workshop series to individual consulting with faculty or local academic units. The Center also recognizes hundreds of faculty every year through its Thank-a-Teacher and Teaching Awards programs. The Center's team of eight full-time staff is faculty-facing in support of George Mason University’s goal of providing quality, high-impact learning for all students, and collaborates with other offices such as Undergraduate Education, Graduate Education, and Faculty Affairs & Development.

About the Position:

The Financial and Administrative Specialist provides office and operations management to the Stearns Center, to include financial and personnel management, scheduling and reporting to support a range of workshops, events and programming, and client communications. The position plays a critical role in ensuring the smooth operation of a rapidly-growing set of services and program offerings and is part of a small, highly collaborative team serving a large client base. This role involves prioritizing and managing multiple tasks in support of the team’s success.

Responsibilities:

Office and Personnel Management:

• Designs and implements office policies and establishes standard operating procedures to ensure efficiency and compliance with University and Commonwealth policies;
• Completes regular office management and maintenance tasks, such as purchasing needed supplies, technology, and subscriptions; coordinating travel requests; organizing and updating electronic files and records for the office; tracking inventory and supporting maintenance of office equipment and physical spaces;
• Serves as main point of contact for the Center and ensures that all internal and external stakeholders are connected appropriately to the appropriate Center staff;
• Serves as primary liaison for the Center to other departments including areas within the Provost's team, HR, telecom, and academic units;
• Works closely with the team in an effort to generate and disseminate information to various stakeholders (including faculty, directors, deans, and other administrators) to facilitate effective teaching and learning;
• Helps ensure team cohesion and connection through intra-office communication and support for team-building activities;
• Coordinates scheduling of meetings for the Executive Director, as well as internal meetings of Stearns Center staff;
• Coordinates all HR-related functions within the Center for all employees;
• Coordinates with search committees and hiring authorities during recruitment searches; generates HR packets, job ad postings, and coordinates review and interview processes;
• Responsible for onboarding and offboarding employees. Ensures employee access to systems and buildings has been established and terminated as necessary;
• Responsible for submitting EPAFs for wage employees and student workers, and may be responsible for hiring and supervising student workers and non-student wage employees. Responsibilities include screening candidates, coordinating work schedules, delegating assignments and tasks, and monitoring workflow to ensure efficiency and productivity; and
• May supervise various staff within the Center including student and non-student wage employees.

Financial Management:

• Supervises all fiscal aspects of the Stearns Center and manages budget and finance operations;
• Manages all major procurement functions, including P-Card and eVA purchases, as well as travel authorizations and reimbursement forms and processes;
• Performs monthly budget reconciliation to ensure fiscal viability of the Center’s financial records. This includes billing and processing of special payments, submitting and tracking EPAFs, preparing and tracking foundation vouchers, submitting and tracking journal voucher transfers and purchase orders, managing gift cards, and submitting invoices for payment;
• Assists the Center's Executive Director with regular budget updates as well as yearly budget planning and implementation;
• Coordinates with program leaders and the Provost Budget team to manage funding for internal grant programs. Designs and implements grants processes, with responsibility for publicity, submission processes, reviewer feedback coordination, and communication with applicants; tracks budget distribution and usage; supports annual reporting; answers questions and provides logistical support to grantees as needed; and
• In consultation with the Center's leadership, monitors activities and develops processes so that funds and facilities are appropriately resourced toward the Center's goals. The oversight of all Center resources helps ensure the Center's staff are able to effectively plan and allocate resources for all functions so they are able to communicate effectively and clearly with the Provost's leadership team as to the accomplishments of the Center in support of the University's strategic plan.

Event and Data Support:

• For all events, collaborates with event leader(s) using established protocols to provide support for scheduling, publicity, timely participant outreach, data or file management, and coordination with collaborating offices as needed;
• For on-campus events, acts as liaison and organizer, with support as designated from Campus Events Management or other partners, to ensure appropriate set-up and equipment for all events; secure rooms, determine catering needs, confirm orders; identify and support technology needs; coordinate on-site personnel; and purchase and track event-related materials;
• Serves as primary support for the Teaching Excellence Awards, including managing nominations, oversight of review processes, coordinating data for committee review, notetaking and coordination of selection committee, sending out notifications across all stages of the process, and overseeing logistics for the award ceremony;
• Provides primary support for data collection and management related to client tracking (workshop participation) and faculty recognition (Thank-A-Teacher); and
• Plans and conducts or coordinates training of team members as needed for proper preparation for all internal event-related protocols. This includes training in planning and participant tracking protocols, financial record-keeping protocols, data management protocols, and grants-distribution and monitoring protocols.

Reporting and Assessment:

• Maintains the Stearns Center client data;
• Tracks event participation, as well as event evaluations from all Stearns Center services;
• Supports mailing list development and maintenance for Stearns Center communications (announcements, newsletters, recognitions, and invitations);
• Produces reports or lists as needed by Stearns Center staff for event planning or client interactions;
• Produces annual and semi-annual reports on the composition and participation of Stearns Center clients;
• Trains and oversees student workers in maintenance and updating of the databases; and
• Recommends additional approaches to tracking and communicating with subgroups of clients as needed.

Other Duties:

• Assists with other related tasks as needed, particularly those involved with maintaining smooth operations. These may include strategic planning; resource or program development; supporting the Operations team and other staff in project and program management; assisting with personnel scheduling; and providing support to related or collaborating offices (e.g., Undergraduate Education or Faculty Affairs and Development).

Required Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent;
• Demonstrated experience managing projects, finances, and personnel in an office environment;
• Knowledge of general financial and accounting principles, and ability to handle complex financial and personnel responsibilities accurately, thoroughly, confidentially, and in a timely manner;
• Advanced knowledge and expert ability in Microsoft Office products (including Outlook and Excel) and common communications software;
• Advanced skills in office and operations management and logistics, including ability to provide courteous, effective client services;
• Advanced oral and written communication skills, interpersonal skills, and organizational skills, including the ability to produce regular reports and presentations;
• Ability to manage multiple projects and events (sometimes with conflicting timelines) under pressure;
• Ability to learn new technologies (sometimes with training; sometimes independently) and train others;
• Ability to work collaboratively with project leaders, operations team members, and office partners;
• Ability to work and make decisions independently of supervisor or team lead, based on an understanding of objectives and protocols; and
• Ability to act with integrity, confidentiality, and the highest ethical standards.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field;
• Some experience (generally at least two years) in managing an office and its budget in a higher education setting;
• Some experience (generally at least two years) in communicating with tracking professional clientele;
• Knowledge of particular expectations and needs of financial and administrative management in a higher education setting;
• Knowledge of budget forecasting and planning;
• Knowledge of approaches and/or tools for client tracking, client management, and/or program assessment;
• Knowledge of strategies for planning and managing in-person professional events;
• Skill in writing and developing promotional materials, including various print and online modalities;
• Skill in project management and/or team coordination; and
• Ability to process data through Mason technology platforms including Banner, MicroStrategy, Travel System, etc.

Other Licenses/Certifications:

• Finance planner; and
  Project management.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Financial and Administrative Specialist at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume.

Posting Open Date:  April 4, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  April 29, 2025

Open Until Filled:  Yes