Fiscal Specialist 2

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The position coordinates budget development, financial monitoring, reconciliation, allocation management, and reporting; analyzes budget proposals and expenditures; and advises program administrators on fiscal requirements. Working under general supervision, the position applies university and Services & Activities (S&A) Fee requirements, resolves fiscal discrepancies, and prepares financial information to support DRAC and S&A Fee Committee decisions.

This is a half-time, nine-month cyclic project position with an initial one-year appointment that may be extended, contingent upon continued funding. The position is 100% in-person and reports to the Director of Academic Budget and Administration.

Budget Development, Analysis, and Financial Reporting 

• Coordinate the annual budget-development process for seven DRAC constituent programs, including establishing timelines, communicating requirements, collecting submissions, and monitoring completion.
• Design, develop, and maintain detailed budget spreadsheets, financial models, templates, and tracking tools used by constituent programs and committee members.
• Review budget proposals for completeness, mathematical accuracy, appropriate account coding, historical spending patterns, available resources, and compliance with applicable S&A Fee and university requirements.
• Analyze proposed revenues, expenditures, fund balances, reserve requests, and prior-year financial activity to identify inconsistencies, unsupported assumptions, potential shortfalls, or other issues requiring clarification.
• Reconcile budget-development documents with university financial records and independently research and resolve discrepancies.
• Consolidate individual constituent requests into comprehensive DRAC budget reports and supporting documentation for review by the DRAC and S&A Fee Committee.
• Prepare budget summaries, projections, expenditure reports, and other fiscal information to support committee deliberations and funding recommendations.
• Monitor budgets and expenditures throughout the fiscal year and communicate identified variances, emerging concerns, or corrective actions to the appropriate budget authority.
• Provide technical fiscal guidance to program administrators regarding budget preparation, expenditure planning, allowable use of funds, documentation requirements, and management of available resources.
• Maintain organized fiscal records and supporting documentation sufficient to demonstrate the basis for budget requests, allocations, adjustments, and expenditures

DRAC Fund Allocation and Fiscal Management

• Administer and track the allocation of DRAC funding to constituent programs following committee approval.
• Verify approved allocations and coordinate the accurate distribution, transfer, and recording of funds within university financial systems.
• Monitor allocated funds, expenditures, commitments, reserve balances, reimbursements, and available resources across DRAC programs.
• Independently review reserve requests, reimbursements, and other fiscal transactions for completeness, accuracy, appropriate authorization, available funding, and compliance with applicable requirements.
• Reconcile internal tracking records with university financial reports and research and correct discrepancies in coordination with program administrators and other university fiscal offices.
• Participate in DRAC funding deliberations by presenting financial information, answering technical fiscal questions, and explaining the budgetary effect of proposed allocations.
• Interpret and apply university fiscal procedures, S&A Fee requirements, committee decisions, and established funding guidelines to individual transactions and program circumstances.
• Identify questionable, inconsistent, or potentially noncompliant fiscal activity; work with the responsible program to obtain clarification or corrective documentation; and elevate significant concerns to the DRAC Advisor or appropriate university office.
• Advise constituent programs regarding budget status, fund availability, allowable expenditures, reserve procedures, reimbursement requirements, and year-end financial activity.
• Develop and recommend improvements to fiscal processes, tracking tools, documentation practices, and internal controls supporting DRAC funds.
• Respond to fiscal inquiries from students, faculty, staff, budget authorities, committee members, and university administrative offices.
• Provide technical and administrative support to the DRAC Advisor related to financial management, committee operations, and constituent program needs.

Other Duties

• Participate in fiscal year-end activities, special projects, process improvements, records review, and other fiscal assignments supporting DRAC operations.
• Maintain current knowledge of applicable university fiscal procedures and S&A Fee requirements.
• Perform related duties consistent with the responsibilities of a Fiscal Specialist 2.

This is a part-time (.50 FTE) project-employment position ending no later than September 16, 2027.

• Two years of professional fiscal experience creating and/or reconciling budgets
• A high school diploma or GED certificate. College credits in business and accounting can often substitute for some required experience.
• Familiarity with MS Office Suite with intermediate experience in Word, Excel, and MS Outlook required.
• Experience providing training on fiscal topics
• Customer service experience with a focus on problem solving and communication
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively both independently and with others
• Ability to establish and maintain a collegial and collaborative work environment with a variety of staff, faculty and students

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Three years of progressively responsible experience in budget, analysis and financial tasks.
• Experience working in higher education
• Demonstrated ability to understand and interpret complex policies and procedures.

HR@wwu.edu

Application materials should address your experience related to the position responsibilities and the required and preferred qualifications.

Position open to current permanent (no longer on probation) WFSE employees only; position closes 09/10/2026 at 11:55 pm.

Western Washington University (WWU) is an equal opportunity employer. In compliance with applicable laws, WWU does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, citizenship or immigration status, pregnancy, use of protective leave, genetic status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, creed, religion, veteran or military status, disability or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal (including a service animal in training) by a person with a disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law, in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions, and educational programs. See WWU’s Policies on Prohibiting Discrimination Based on A Protected Class and Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Sex. Inquiries may be directed to the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, Title IX and ADA Coordinator, Western Washington University, Old Main 126 (MS 9021), 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225; 360.650.3307 (voice) or 711 (Washington Relay);

crtc@wwu.edu

WWU is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to request an accommodation, please contact Human Resources Disability Services, 360.650.3751 or 711 (Washington Relay).

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student.life@wwu.edu

All new employees must comply with the immunization policy and show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service before beginning work at WWU. A thorough background check will be conducted on all new hires which includes a sexual misconduct background check.