Associate Staff Accountant

The University of Notre Dame is seeking an Associate Staff Accountant to support financial operations within University Relations, including NDAA Finance and Development Finance. The role manages accounting workflows, reconciliations, vendor and contract processes, event budgets, financial compliance audits, and access governance to ensure accurate, compliant, and audit-ready reporting.

What you'll do:

• Contract Administration & Vendor Management: Oversee the contract request process, track milestones, and manage purchase order and requisition workflows. Lead vendor onboarding (W-9, PaymentWorks), determine appropriate payment channels, and coordinate IT/software security reviews prior to procurement
• Operational & Administrative Processing: Process complex Journal Vouchers and Financial Transfers. Input payroll entries for temporary staff and student workers, manage check deposits, and handle financial transfer allocations for Advancement Services
• Financial Analysis & Event Budget Management: Establish and evaluate quality-control tracking systems for complex event budgets across Development and NDAA
• Revenue Account Management & Oversight: Reconcile event underwriting, direct monthly reconciliations for NDAA merchant platforms (Bluefin, Braintree/Hivebrite), manage inter-unit fund transfers, and govern check deposit oversight workflows
• Internal Controls, Compliance & Access Governance: Design and execute independent financial compliance audits. Authorize and audit user access across financial platforms, configure approval workflow routing, and create automation templates for budget/forecast inputs

What they're looking for:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field (or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant work experience)
• 1-2 years of progressive experience in accounting, financial analysis, or financial operations
• Must be authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship
• Demonstrated ability to pick up new software tools, financial platforms, and processes quickly
• High level of accuracy when managing numerical data, reconciliations, and documentation
• A genuine desire to dig into processes, fix inefficiencies, and organize workflows
• Working knowledge of Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel (e.g., standard formulas, basic lookups, pivot tables)
• Foundational understanding of general ledger accounting principles and basic internal controls
• Specialized financial analysis and audit experience within a higher education environment or complex non-profit organizational structure
• Proven track record in process automation, financial template design, and workflow optimization
• Strong familiarity with higher education advancement, university development finance, and alumni association revenue models