Oriental Institute: Administrative Staff
The Oriental Institute (OI) of the University of Chicago is a leading interdisciplinary research center for the ancient Middle East. Since its founding in 1919 – a time when the Middle East was called the Orient – the work of the OI has assumed an extraordinary array of forms. We conduct definitive fieldwork projects that shape archaeology, and we discover ancient settlements and their landscapes through state-of-the-art satellite and digital imaging methods. Our linguistic research furthers the decipherment of ancient languages, and we produce dictionaries that serve as cultural encyclopedias for understanding ancient civilizations. We record, document and preserve imperiled cultural heritage. The OI Museum (OIM), which opened to the public in 1931, houses the largest collections of artifacts from the ancient Middle East in the United States, with more than 350,000 artifacts excavated primarily by OI archaeologists. The OIM collections also include a comprehensive archive that documents our fieldwork and other research. Together, these collections comprise one of the best resources in the work for the ancient Middle East, allowing us to understand, reveal, and protect the past.
As part of the three-member Finance and Administration team, reporting to the Associate Director of Finance & Administration, and working collaboratively with a range of OI staff and faculty, the Business Administrator provides essential support to the overall OI administrative and financial operations. Primary responsibilities include: managing daily operations in the areas of financial, staffing, research, and facilities support services; developing and implementing office procedures and policies and ensuring compliance; and creating and maintaining a robust financial and administrative record keeping protocol.

• Manages the daily financial processes, payment of invoices, procurement of goods and services, and the processing of reimbursements. Facilitates the selection and onboarding of vendors.
• Initiates and supports the hiring process of students and staff, which includes the processing of payroll and Workday business processes related to position management.
• Responsible for orienting faculty and staff on office and financial procedures and compliance protocols.
• Serves as unit lead for the GEMS procurement and expense reconciliation system used by all faculty and staff. Reviews, approves, and processes all GEMS report submissions.
• Is the lead expert in processing all OI accounts payable and accounts receivable activities, being the resident expert on systems used by the University, including: BuySite, GEMS, ePayment, ACCTS, PETS, and others as may come online through the ongoing Financial Systems Transformation (FST) project.
• Oversees and maintains the physical office space, ordering equipment repairs and upgrades, and ensuring functional continuity of operations for postage, fax, printers, and other business machines.
• Researches, compiles, and analyzes data to create reports, proposals, and other documents including but not limited to financial and monthly reports.
• Supports the preparation and monitoring of the OI operating budget.
• Researches and analyzes data to create reports and may create other reports for grants and contracts.
• Assists in the monitoring of the various financial and budgetary activities, including vendors contracts. Preparing and monitoring the budget for a unit.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field. Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

• Familiarity with general business practices.
• Ability to manage confidential information with utmost discretion and tact.
• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the technology tools used by the OI and University, including the human resources management system (Workday), the current FAS and the new Oracle financial systems, procurement systems (BuySite, ePay, GEMS) and the Microsoft Office suite of applications.

• Excellent organizational and task-management skills.
• Strong verbal and writing skills, high attention to detail and follow-up.
• An exceptional work ethic and track record of personal initiative.
• Strong customer service, interpersonal, and communications skills.
• Prior experience in nonprofit, development, alumni relations, marketing, public relations, or similar work.
• Ability to work in a busy and diverse setting and manage multiple activities and priorities.

• Work environment: onsite work required during first 30 days, with option of adopting a hybrid work schedule with approval of supervisor and in alignment with OI’s policy which currently allows for up to 2 days remote work per week and is subject to change.

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• Three professional references (required)

Administration & Management
Individual Contributor
Exempt
Monthly
37.5
Yes
No
No
No