Analyst, Finance Operations

About the job
OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE

UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 41,000 members across five universities and fourteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities.

Together, we’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact. Our culture is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace.

As a pension plan, UPP approaches investing through a long-term lens to generate and safeguard value. Our commitment to investing responsibly accounts for material risks that impact our investment portfolio to generate sufficient risk-adjusted returns to meet the pension needs of our members.

Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other.

THE ROLE

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a team of high performing professionals and make a significant impact. Reporting to the Associate Director, Finance, the Analyst will be responsible for delivering support across various areas of Finance Operations. You will play a crucial role in providing analytical and operational support, driving continuous process improvement, and innovating new Pension Finance processes within our dynamic Finance Operations team. This role requires collaboration with members of UPP’s Investment Operations, and Pension Services teams, and the individual will be expected to establish close working relationships with key stakeholders.

This role is based in downtown Toronto under a hybrid work policy, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (approximately two days per week in-office).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Analyst, Finance will have the responsibility for but not limited to the following:

Procurement and Vendor Management

Assist in the management of procurement requests and tracking of procurement status to ensure efficient and timely processing.Assist in maintaining and monitoring vendor arrangement repository to reflect relevant information,Assist in system implementation and data migration.Support ad-hoc tasks.

Pension Finance

Prepare reconciliation of pension contribution and benefit payments by Employer ensuring that the records of pension contributions, payments, and balances are accurate and consistent across different systems and reports.Investigate discrepancies and make necessary corrections and timely adjustments to rectify by working closely with the Pension Operations team.Ensure contributions are received on time by maintaining accurate remittance schedules and closely monitoring incoming funds by working closely with the Cash Operations team.Perform bank reconciliation for pension bank account.Prepare schedules for external audits and financial statements, ensuring that all pension records are accurate and up to date.Assist with the implementation and testing of new pension finance processes.

Accounts Payable Analytics

Serve as the back-up for processing vendor bills and investment invoices as well as data analysis.Assist in the automation within accounts payable and expense reimbursement processes.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Commerce, Business, Supply Chain Management or related field.Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint and familiarity with using these tools to build dashboards and presentation packagesWorking towards to a professional accounting designation, e.g. CPA, would be an asset.At least 2 years of experience, including professional and/or relevant internship experience.Previous experience working in supply chain management or pension plan, would be an asset.Strong analytical skills and the ability to the think through problems, assess a variety of factors.

ATTRIBUTES

Excellent interpersonal and communication skillsThorough with strong attention to detail.Self-motivated, flexible, and adaptable to changing priorities and new challengesStrong commitment to innovation and continuous improvementAbility to work independently and collaborate in a team environmentProactive to take a hands-on approach to learn about current processes to automate, and formulate recommendations to improve efficiency and shape future stateExcellent time management and organizational skills and prioritize to effectively manage tasks to completion within required timeframesExcellent analytical, reasoning, and problem-solving skillsStrong organizational and planning skillsPersuasive and confident communicator, both oral and writtenAble to work in a multi-faceted stakeholder environment with political awareness and diplomacy

LIFE AT UPP

Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come.

Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win.

Grow every day. You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career.

Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including:

Defined benefit pension planFlexible hybrid work modelWork from abroad up to eight weeks/yearComprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision etc.Extended paramedical and mental health service coverageHealth care and lifestyle spending accountsFertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverageEducation Assistance program

UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process, so if you require accommodation at any point during the process, please let us know so that we can make the appropriate arrangements. It would be our honor to work with you to adapt our processes to ensure that you can meaningfully participate.

UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.

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