Fast Facts

WGU is seeking an Associate Program Cost Analyst to assist in financial analyses and budgeting related to learning resource spending, supporting informed decision-making in a collaborative environment.

Responsibilities: Prepare budgets, track student engagement, assist with financial reports, support audits and procurement negotiations, and monitor expenditures to ensure cost-effectiveness.

Skills: Basic data analysis, financial modeling, report production, time management, strong communication skills, and problem-solving abilities.

Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in a business or quantitative field and 1-2 years of relevant experience.

Location: Salt Lake City Office, United States of America

Compensation: $54800 - $82200 / Annually

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Grade: Professional 305Pay Range: $54,800.00 - $82,200.00

Job Description

Job Profile Summary:

The Associate Program Cost Analyst (PCA) assists with analysis of learning resource spending at WGU, working with the Program Development, Procurement, and Accounting and Finance Departments. The associate PCA will partner with the senior PCA in learning knowledge of industry best practices and internal WGU goals, procedures, and constraints, synthesized with data from various internal and external sources, to assist the senior PCA in influencing spending strategies and enabling leadership to make informed decisions.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Prepares budgets and schedules for contract work and performs and/or assists in financial analyses such as funding profiles, and variance analysis.
• Tracks and provides senior program analyst student engagement in course and WGU library learning resources (LRs) to reconcile billing from partners, using various billing models and internal and/or vendor-provided data.
• Assists with preparing LR billing and usage reports to be sent to vendors, and resolves billing discrepancies in a timely manner.
• Support audits, reviews, fact-finding, and negotiation support requested by programs, customers, and company management. Support incoming invoices to ensure accuracy and monitor LR usage payments to identify trends and make recommendations to college academic leaders to reduce costs.
• Assist finance in developing the accrual for learning resource spend monthly.
• Works with the senior program cost analyst to help the vendor portfolio manager (VPM) resolve any concerns or disputes regarding billing discrepancies, contract service level agreements (SLA), and contract questions 
• Prepares information to help support procurement in contract negotiations to provide information on billing and usage. 
• Assists in  monitoring expenditures to ensure LR does not exceed budgeted amounts 
• Support a monthly report for stakeholders and senior leadership showing LR costs, projects, trends, and recommendations 
• Evaluates LR contracts and proactively looks for opportunities to lower costs. 
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Ability to perform basic data analysis and financial modeling to draw conclusions and make expert spending recommendations.
• Ability to produce and analyze high-quality, accurate reports.
• Excellent time management and reporting skills.
• Ability to work well in a combination remote and in-office team environment.
• Ability to present information to executive stakeholders in a clear and concise manner.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Basic technical and problem-solving skills.

Competencies: 

Organizational Impact: 

• Works to achieve operational targets within job areas that impact on the overall achievement of results for the job area. 
• Work is limited in scope and typically task-related or less complex. Work is closely supervised. 

Problem Solving & Decision Making: 

• Responsible for employing minor changes in systems and processes to solve problems. 
• Identifies, defines, and addresses problems that are not immediately evident but typically not complex. Issues generally are within the immediate job area and solved through prior experiences or standard procedures. 

Communication & Influence: 

• Collaborates with contacts typically within the job area to obtain information or provide explanations and interpretation. 

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a business or quantitative field
• 1-2 years’ relevant experience

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

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Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.