Senior Financial Operations Specialist

Job Role: Senior Financial Operations Specialist

Duration: 6 months

Location : Remote

Program: Benefits Conservation Program
Reports To: Benefits Conservation Supervisor

Position Summary

The Benefits Conservation Support Lead provides day-to-day technical guidance and financial operations support for the administration and conservation of benefits for children in foster care. This role is responsible for reviewing complex transactions, account reconciliations, supporting documentation, and financial exceptions to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with approved procedures.

The Lead coordinates the establishment, maintenance, transfer, and closure of approved beneficiary accounts and trusts, reviews the work of Benefits Account Specialists, investigates discrepancies, and prepares reports to support supervisory decisions, annual accounting, audits, and participant transitions. This position serves as a technical resource for the team but does not exercise formal supervisory authority or establish program policy.

Key Responsibilities

Account and Trust Administration

• Coordinate the establishment, funding, maintenance, transfer, and closure of approved ABLE accounts, special needs trusts, pooled trusts, dedicated accounts, and other authorized financial vehicles.
• Review account setup packages for completeness, beneficiary information, required authorizations, payee documentation, account instructions, and supporting records.
• Coordinate outstanding requirements with authorized agency representatives, financial institutions, trustees, legal partners, and vendors.
• Maintain accurate account inventories, access records, key dates, pending items, and external dependencies.
• Verify that account activities follow established procedures and applicable approval requirements.

Financial Reconciliation and Transaction Review

• Review monthly account reconciliations prepared by Benefits Account Specialists and verify that discrepancies are adequately documented and resolved.
• Analyze complex or unusual transactions, including deposits, disbursements, transfers, reversals, benefit reimbursements, account closures, and payee transitions.
• Investigate discrepancies involving missing or duplicate transactions, rejected deposits, stale checks, balance differences, and incomplete financial documentation.
• Prepare and review exception reports, transaction schedules, aging reports, and supporting analyses for the Benefits Conservation Supervisor.
• Identify recurring errors, reconciliation issues, and potential control weaknesses and recommend corrective actions.
• Ensure financial records are accurate, complete, traceable, and supported by appropriate documentation.

Technical Guidance and Quality Assurance

• Provide day-to-day technical guidance and coaching to Benefits Account Specialists on approved procedures and financial operations.
• Review account files, reconciliations, and transaction packages for accuracy, completeness, consistency, and required approvals.
• Identify errors, documentation gaps, and procedural inconsistencies and coordinate appropriate corrections.
• Support training, procedural checklists, job aids, and re instruction to improve team accuracy and consistency.
• Escalate unclear requirements, unusual transactions, material discrepancies, and matters requiring supervisory or policy decisions.
• Support consistent application of internal controls without assuming formal personnel-management responsibilities.

Reporting, Annual Accounting, and Program Transitions

• Review financial schedules and supporting documentation for annual accountings, program reports, audits, and management reporting.
• Coordinate operational activities related to approved savings, transition, and disbursement plans.
• Support higher-risk account transfers, authorized fund releases, benefit reimbursements, and account closeouts when participants leave the program.
• Monitor outstanding financial exceptions and follow up on unresolved items to support timely resolution.
• Escalate suspected misuse, resource-limit concerns, material control failures, and issues requiring legal, policy, or supervisory direction.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, economics, public administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of three years of progressively responsible experience in accounting support, banking operations, trust or account administration, financial transactions, reconciliations, or benefit-payment operations.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing financial reconciliations, investigating discrepancies, and maintaining accurate financial records.
• Experience applying established procedures, internal controls, authorization requirements, and documentation standards.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the ability to develop and maintain complex workbooks for financial analysis, reconciliation, and reporting.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and documentation skills.
• Ability to review financial information carefully, manage competing priorities, and identify issues requiring escalation.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills and the ability to coordinate with internal teams and external stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with public benefits, federal disability or survivor benefits, representative payee operations, child welfare, or government financial programs.
• Familiarity with ABLE accounts, special needs trusts, pooled trusts, dedicated accounts, restricted funds, or fiduciary account administration.
• Experience in a senior specialist, technical lead, quality review, peer coaching, or workflow coordination capacity.
• Experience preparing financial reports, audit schedules, exception reports, and annual accounting documentation.
• Experience coordinating account transfers, disbursements, reimbursements, and account closures.

Core Competencies

• Financial reconciliation and transaction analysis
• Account and trust administration
• Financial documentation and internal controls
• Exception investigation and resolution
• Quality assurance and technical review
• Advanced Excel and financial reporting
• Peer coaching and workflow coordination
• Stakeholder communication and follow-through
• Sound judgment and appropriate escalation

Position Outcomes

• Accurate and timely technical review of complex account activity and financial transactions.
• Complete, well-supported reconciliations and financial documentation.
• Timely resolution or escalation of material discrepancies and outstanding exceptions.
• Consistent, high-quality work products from Benefits Account Specialists.
• Reliable supporting documentation for supervisory decisions, annual accounting, audits, and participant transitions.