Unit/Project Description:
Health Research Services (HRS) provides leadership, counsel, and operational support to the health research community within McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). HRS supports the Faculty’s research enterprise through research administration, compliance oversight, operational coordination, and institutional support activities that help maintain eligibility for funding from federal and provincial agencies, industry partners, and other sponsors.
HRS also supports the Director and Vice Dean, Research (VDR) in the operational and financial stewardship of the Faculty’s research infrastructure portfolio, including multiple core research facilities that provide specialized scientific instrumentation, technical services, and expertise to academic, hospital, and industry users. These core facilities operate within cost-recovery models and require coordinated financial administration directly informed by facility operations, equipment utilization, and service delivery structures.
In support of the Faculty’s broader research infrastructure portfolio, HRS coordinates operational, administrative, and financial activities related to shared research infrastructure resources and Faculty-supported initiatives, including infrastructure funding competitions, VDR priorities, sustainability initiatives, and ongoing planning across shared platforms.
Reporting to the Associate Director, Research Administration and Infrastructure, this position provides centralized operational and financial coordination support across multiple Faculty core research facilities and related infrastructure initiatives. The role works collaboratively with core facility managers, researchers, leadership, and central administrative units to support systems coordination, infrastructure tracking, process standardization, budgeting, forecasting, billing operations, and financial reporting.
The incumbent develops operational and financial analyses to support decision-making and infrastructure sustainability planning, contributes to implementation and ongoing administration of financial and billing systems (including LIMS/Infinity X), and supports the development of standardized operational and financial processes across core facilities.
The role serves as a central operational resource to core facility managers and ensures consistent operational and financial practices across the Faculty’s research infrastructure portfolio. It supports alignment of systems-based processes, including billing workflows, across multiple core facilities and infrastructure initiatives and financial reporting, all of which are dependent on specialized instrumentation and shared research platforms.
Job Summary:
Responsible for managing the financial activities within a unit or department including tracking revenue, authorizing expenditures, developing and implementing budgets, and reconciling and reporting year end financials. Ensures financial activities are performed effectively and all relevant policies, procedures, contracts and legislations are adhered to. Provides supervision to other staff.
Purpose and Key Functions:
- Develop financial policies and procedures.
- Analyze financial information to aid in the development and implementation of short-term and long-term financial planning.
- Develop multi-year budgets for review and approval.
- Project revenues and prepare detailed calculations of projected compensation costs and other expenditures.
- Prepare budget appropriation adjustments required after the approval of the original budget.
- Prepare working papers and consolidate information in accordance with financial auditor requirements.
- Develop estimates of time, resources, and budgets for various program activities and events.
- Plan and coordinate timetables and budget processes for budget review with various departments.
- Meet with departments to review resource plans in order to prepare financial projections.
- Coordinate and schedule data flow and financial information required for the preparation and development of detailed financial statements.
- Scrutinize, analyze, and reconcile detailed financial reports and records.
- Monitor and investigate error and exception reports.
- Analyze business processes to ensure efficiency and proper controls for accurate financial reporting and the safeguarding of assets. Recommend changes to improve processes.
- Act as a resource to staff, departments, and external agencies, and respond to inquiries, questions and concerns pertaining to financial issues.
- Provide advice on the restructuring of accounts for proper management control and streamlined reporting.
- Coordinate the collection, verification, analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Interpret and communicate applicable financial policies, procedures and guidelines to others.
- Assist with internal and external audits by preparing audit files and responding to auditor inquiries.
- Develop and deliver training and information sessions.
- Analyze data and assess for reasonableness.
- Develop budgets for review and approval.
- Implement and maintain budgets. Create financial projections and make adjustments to budgets throughout the fiscal year.
- Exercise appropriate controls, monitor, and reconcile accounts.
- Write a variety of document and reports such as procedure manuals, accounting reports, and financial statements.
- Perform various analyses and reconciliations of accounts.
- Generate reports and account statements and review for accuracy.
- Provide training and guidance to others on relevant accounting procedures and the use of financial systems.
- Calculate, prepare and issue invoices, cheques, account statements and other financial statements according to established procedures.
- Receive, send, sort, verify, process and prepare various documents such as purchase orders, invoices, cheque requisitions, receivables, and payables.
- Process, verify, and balance financial records and business transactions, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll.
- Investigate discrepancies using established procedures.
- Monitor and reconcile statements and participate in the reconciliation of accounts.
- Prepare and generate a variety of scheduled and ad hoc reports.
- Update, maintain, and verify information in a variety of spreadsheets and databases.
- Balance and control cash receipts, including floats, petty cash and cheques.
- Apply standard mathematical skills such as calculations, formulas, and equations to perform a variety of calculations.
- Create spreadsheets including complex formulas and equations.
- Answer complex inquiries via telephone, email, and in person that are specific in nature and require a specialized knowledge of policies and procedures.
- Maintain filing systems, both electronic and hard copy.
Supervision:
Supervise and direct the activities of up to 4 continuing employees.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or relevant field of study.
- Requires 5 years of relevant experience, including one year of supervisory experience.
Assets:
- Experience supporting research infrastructure, core facilities, shared scientific platforms, or cost-recovery environments involving specialized instrumentation
- Experience in a university, hospital, or research-intensive environment
- Demonstrated expertise in financial administration within research or operational infrastructure settings, including budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, billing operations, and financial reporting
- Experience with institutional financial and research systems (e.g., Mosaic, MacBuy, MacBill, and/or laboratory information management systems such as LIMS)
- Strong understanding of internal controls, compliance requirements, and cost-recovery model
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (large datasets, reconciliations, forecasting, financial analysis)
- Strong communication, analytical, and organizational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities in a complex environment
- Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively across multidisciplinary stakeholder groups
- Demonstrated initiative, professionalism, discretion, and strong service orientation
Experience with transactional financial processes (journal entries, reconciliations, invoicing, P-card administration) considered an asset
-
