Operating Budget Analyst

The successful candidate will play a key role in helping leaders understand financial performance, manage resources effectively, and leverage budgeting technology to drive accountability and transparency across the institution. This is a highly visible role that partners with leadership across the organization to support strategic financial planning, annual budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and decision support.

FP&A Sr. Budget Analyst
Direct Hire | Full-TimeGreater Omaha Area, NebraskaHybrid Work Environment

Our client, a well-established and mission-driven higher education institution, is seeking an experienced Operating Budget Analyst to join its Financial Planning & Analysis team. This is a highly visible role that partners with leadership across the organization to support strategic financial planning, annual budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and decision support.

This position is ideal for a finance professional who enjoys combining analytical expertise with business partnership, financial systems optimization, and process improvement. The successful candidate will play a key role in helping leaders understand financial performance, manage resources effectively, and leverage budgeting technology to drive accountability and transparency across the institution.
What You'll Do
As a trusted member of the FP&A team, you will:

• Support development, implementation, and management of the annual operating budget across multiple funding sources.
• Partner with department leaders to analyze spending trends, staffing costs, budget requests, and strategic initiatives.
• Prepare financial forecasts, multi-year planning models, variance analyses, and scenario-based recommendations.
• Monitor departmental budgets and provide guidance regarding fiscal responsibility, policy compliance, and resource allocation.
• Analyze monthly budget-to-actual results and identify key trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Develop recurring and ad hoc financial reports for executive leadership and other stakeholders.
• Support position budgeting activities, including vacancy analysis, salary planning, and benefits forecasting.
• Serve as a primary financial liaison to assigned departments, building collaborative relationships across the organization.
• Participate in annual budget book preparation and board-level financial reporting support.
• Coordinate budget amendments, transfers, and year-end budget closing activities.
• Maintain budget procedures, user documentation, and training materials.
• Deliver end-user support, workshops, and office hours to strengthen budgeting knowledge and system utilization.

Financial Systems & Technology
A significant component of this role involves supporting and enhancing the organization's budgeting and planning systems. Responsibilities include:

• Supporting ongoing adoption and optimization of Workday Adaptive Planning.
• Assisting users with budgeting system functionality, reporting, and troubleshooting.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to improve system configuration, data integrity, and workflow efficiency.
• Contributing to testing, implementation, and enhancement initiatives related to Workday and budgeting technologies.
• Developing dashboards, analytical tools, and reporting solutions using budgeting platforms and advanced Excel capabilities.

What We're Looking For Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Data Analytics, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of three years of progressive experience in:
  • Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
  • Budgeting
  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Financial reporting and analysis
• Strong analytical and financial modeling capabilities.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including:
  • PivotTables
  • Power Query
  • Power Pivot
  • Financial modeling
• Ability to translate complex financial information into actionable business insights.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or related graduate degree.
• Experience in higher education, government, healthcare, or other complex institutional environments.
• Experience supporting annual budget development and enterprise financial reporting.
• Experience with:
  • Workday Financials
  • Workday Adaptive Planning
  • Comparable ERP and budgeting systems
• Experience presenting financial information to senior leaders and business partners.

Keys to Success
We're seeking a professional who is:

• Naturally curious and analytical.
• Comfortable working directly with operational leaders.
• Customer-service oriented and collaborative.
• Proactive in identifying process improvements.
• Adaptable in a changing environment.
• Passionate about helping organizations make informed financial decisions.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

• Strategic, high-impact FP&A role with significant visibility across the organization.
• Opportunity to influence financial planning and resource allocation decisions.
• Hands-on involvement with Workday Adaptive Planning and financial systems optimization.
• Collaborative team culture focused on continuous improvement and professional growth.
• Stable, mission-driven organization with long-term career potential.

Interested candidates should apply directly through our recruiting team for confidential consideration.