Accounts Payable Specialist III

Accounts Payable Specialist III

Posting Number
req25509

Department
Procure to Pay Operations

Department Website Link
https://finance.arizona.edu/purchasing

Location
Tucson Campus

Address
Tucson, AZ USA

Position Highlights

This position on the Disbursement Control team within Procure to Pay serves as a lead on the team overseeing all University payment operations, ensuring accuracy, security, and compliance of checks, ACH transactions, wire transfers, and related disbursement activities. This role provides day-to-day assistance with guiding the team, helping manage complex or high-risk transactions, and strengthens internal controls through proactive monitoring, reconciliation, and fraud-prevention measures. The position partners with campus and Finance & Budget stakeholders to resolve issues, streamline processes, and enhance the integrity of Procure to Pay operations. As a key contributor to the organization's mission, the Accounts Payable Specialist III helps advance operational excellence and continuous improvement across financial systems and practices.

When you join the Finance & Budget organization, you become part of a smart, driven team that thrives on solving complex challenges. We align our business practices with the university's priorities and cultivate talented teams who find purpose in creating simpler, more effective systems that drive institutional success. Our focus is clear: developing our people, transforming our work, and elevating our role.

Outstanding U of A benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; U of A/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; retirement plans; access to U of A recreation and cultural activities; and more!

The University of Arizona has been recognized for our innovative work-life programs. For more information about working at the University of Arizona and relocations services, please click here.

Duties & Responsibilities

Disbursement Processing:

• Assists in coordinating work and monitoring of disbursement activities, including ACH, checks, wires, and electronic payments, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
• Ensure all payments are issued within required timelines and in compliance with internal policies and controls.
• Maintain complete and accurate payment records, ensuring proper audit trails and documentation integrity.
• Research and provide detailed remittance information to suppliers, customers, and internal stakeholders.

Reconciliation and Reporting:

• Extensive knowledge and ability to take the lead role for reconciliation of disbursement activity, resolution of payment exceptions, and maintenance of complete audit-ready documentation.
• Monitor and track outstanding checks, returned payments, and other payment exceptions, escalating issues as needed.
• Prepare periodic reports on disbursements, exceptions, and compliance findings as needed
• Support month-end and year-end close activities related to accounts payable and disbursement functions.

Internal Controls and Compliance:

• Enforce internal control procedures governing disbursements, including segregation of duties, approval hierarchies, and adherence to established workflows.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with policies, regulatory requirements, and audit standards related to payment activity.
• Applies an in depth understanding of institutional policies, as well as federal and state regulations, to ensure all financial transactions and documentation are compliant and audit-ready.
• Support audits by ensuring and providing required documentation, explanations, and transaction details.
• Recommend and help implement enhancements to strengthen controls, improve efficiency, and reduce financial and operational risk.

Leadership:

• Assists with providing direction, training, and support to staff involved in payment processing and reconciliation.
• Works on complex problems, using judgment and initiative to independently propose solutions for manager review
• Contribute with refining internal workflows and documentation to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and accountability within Accounts Payable operations.
• Identify control gaps, recommend enhancements, and support implementation of process improvements to reduce financial and operational risk.

Vendor and Department Relations:

• Act as an escalation point for complex payment inquiries from vendors, departments, and financial partners.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for vendors and campus departments regarding payment inquiries and issue resolution.
• Use financial systems and reporting tools to research, analyze, and address payment concerns efficiently.
• Maintain clear and organized communication records, including inquiries and resolutions, to support audit requirements and ongoing process improvements.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers.
• Ability to maintain security sensitive data required for financial payment distribution.
• Knowledge of fraud prevention practices, including stop payments, voids, and positive pay exception handling.
• Ability to maintain attention to detail in a fast pace environment with repetitive work assignments.
• Strong understanding of payment methods, including ACH rules, wire protocols, check processing, and positive pay.
• Ability to perform bank reconciliations, research discrepancies, and resolve payment issues.

This job posting reflects the general nature and level of work expected of the selected candidate(s). It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The institution reserves the right to amend or update this description as organizational priorities and institutional needs evolve.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or high school diploma equivalency is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-volume disbursements (checks, ACH, wires) and related reconciliation work.

FLSA
Non-Exempt

Full Time/Part Time
Full Time

Number of Hours Worked per Week
40

Job FTE
1.0

Work Calendar
Fiscal

Job Category
Finance

Benefits Eligible
Yes - Full Benefits

Rate of Pay
$22.77 - $28.46

Compensation Type
hourly rate

Grade
6

Compensation Guidance
The Rate of Pay Field represents the University of Arizona's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting. The University considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, and internal equity.

The Grade Range represent a full range of career compensation growth over time. The university offers compensation growth opportunities within its career architecture. To learn more about compensation, please review our Applicant Compensation Guide and our Total Rewards Calculator.

Career Stream and Level
OC3

Job Family
Accounts Payable

Job Function
Finance

Type of criminal background check required:
Name-based criminal background check (non-security sensitive)

Number of Vacancies
1

Target Hire Date
4/7/2026

Expected End Date

Contact Information for Candidates
Juanita Sanchez,
[email protected]

Open Date
3/31/2026

Open Until Filled
Yes

Documents Needed to Apply
Resume and Cover Letter

Special Instructions to Applicant

Notice of Availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act), each year the University of Arizona releases an Annual Security Report (ASR) for each of the University's campuses.Thesereports disclose information including Clery crime statistics for the previous three calendar years and policies, procedures, and programs the University uses to keep students and employees safe, including how to report crimes or other emergencies and resources for crime victims. As a campus with residential housing facilities, the Main Campus ASR also includes a combined Annual Fire Safety report with information on fire statistics and fire safety systems, policies, and procedures.
Paper copies of the Reports can be obtained by contacting the University Compliance Office at [email protected].