Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Timeline
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Julie John

LONDON

Summary

Personal Profile Postgraduate in Business Administration and Finance with extensive knowledge and experience of Higher Education and within the public and sector. Ability to relate to others, enabling me to build and maintain strong professional relationships. Excellent IT, verbal and written communication skills. An ambitious, versatile and adaptable team player, as well as working effectively on own objectives. Able to grasp new ideas and concepts and provide creative solutions to problems .

Overview

13
13
years of professional experience

Work history

Senior Research Finance Officer

UCL - EAR Institute
03.2021
  • UCL is one of the largest multi-disciplinary universities in the world specialising in offering quality higher education and research facilities to students
  • Preparing the Annual budget proposals and forecast of over £6 Million in collaboration with the Ear Institute Management Accountant, Head of Department, and Institute Manager
  • Ensuring that the Departmental Budgets are monitored and ensure that all expenditure and incomes are recorded accurately
  • Providing management information to the Head of Department, Institute Manager and the Institute Board on grant submissions and success rates
  • Cost applications on Worktribe for research funding in accordance with UCL and funder requirements, ensuring that applications are well costed, and overhead recovery is maximised
  • Support academics through the grant application process, co-ordinate bids to a variety of research funding schemes
  • Supporting Academics on the submission of Research Outputs on Research Fish Annually
  • Support the negotiation of Research Collaboration Contracts, MTA's for research funding and related projects, working with Research Services and other UCL departments to ensure that they have the information they need to finalise contracts
  • Working with the Institute's Education Team to support the processing of studentships which are internally or externally funded
  • Management and monitoring expenditure against grant/project budgets and advising PI's of potential under /or over-spends and providing salary costings for Research funded staff contract extensions
  • Reconciling and Preparing Interim and Final Financial Grant Reports
  • Providing advice to staff on UCL Financial regulations, relevant legislation such as VAT and policies and procedures (e.g., Travel and Subsistence Policy, Insurance Policy, and Self Employment Guidelines, etc.)
  • Use MyHR system to initiate and/or authorise new appointments, extensions to contracts and/or changes to funding and authorise payroll payments to student demonstrators and external lecturers
  • Assisting in the Advertising and Recruitment process via Talent link in the absence of the HR Officer
  • Training colleagues and new starters on use of MY Finance/MY HR, AXIOM, PORTICO, Talentlink.

Research Finance Coordinator

UCL, Institute of Global Health, IGH
08.2019 - 02.2019
  • UCL - Physics and Astronomy (P&A, First point of contact for all enquiries relating to research pre- and post-award activities in the department
  • Initiate research costings prior to submission and ensure that they are appropriately costed, to maximise overhead recovery (EC, UKRI, NIHR and other Overseas funding applications); whilst ensuring all grant proposals (including the technical and financial components) are submitted for checking and internal approval to the relevant departments in advance and with the correct paperwork
  • Coordinate submission of Ethics applications and ensure Due Diligence matters are considered along with project insurance for all projects
  • Ensure that awarded projects and budgets are set up quickly and efficiently
  • Initiate Research sub-awardee contracts and do necessary follow ups till the contract is fully executed
  • Train and advise administrative academic staff in using the Worktribe system
  • Also, provide training and advice on MyFinance (Finance system) and Axiom (Reporting Tool) across the department
  • Checking and approving Fees and Studentships on PORTICO
  • Circulate Research funding opportunities to staff and students for potential new projects
  • Research potential funding sources for posts across the Institute portfolio to fill gaps in funding and transfer existing staff between projects
  • Monitor and manage research staff funding and contract extensions
  • Preparation of support documentation for Funder Audits
  • Raising Purchase Orders and Sales Orders in the absence of relevant administrative staff
  • Checking and processing Expenses Claims on Research and Departmental Ledgers, ensuring claims are submitted in line with UCL's Expenses Policy and Funder Guidelines
  • Review income received through different funding channels
  • Monitor expenditure against grant budget, alerting PIs and the Institute Manager of potential under or over-spends
  • Report on financial data in accordance with the requirements of different funders
  • Reconcile accounts on both the Research Ledger and General Ledger
  • Supporting the Head of Department and Institute Manager in compiling and monitoring the Departmental Budget of over £7 Million - both Staff and Operating Expenses
  • Forecasting Research Income and Expenditure for Budget review for the Faculty Finance Team
  • Monitoring and ensuring that the Departments Salary Suspense Account is cleared on a monthly basis
  • Line Management, Training and Mentoring of the Research Coordinator.

Research Finance Officer

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LSHTM
London
03.2019 - 07.2019
  • LSHTM is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health
  • The School is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK and the world for collaborative research
  • Responsible for the post-award management of a portfolio of research awards for a wide range of funding bodies like Dept of Health, Charities, Overseas Funding Bodies and UKRI; ensuring they are administered in accordance with the funder's terms and conditions, LSHTM's financial regulations, policies and procedures and financial budgets
  • Responsible for setting up and activating awarded grants, authorising budget expenditure in accordance with School procedures, review and authorise Staff and Student appointments on research grants, producing research grant claims and financial statements for funders and reconciliation and closure of completed projects
  • Provide expertise, guidance and support to Principal Investigators, project managers and research finance staff to assist them with the post-award administration and project management of their research grants and contracts and ensured compliance with funder's terms and conditions, University financial requirements, analysis of costs for accuracy and eligibility, the reporting criteria [financial and scientific] and deadlines are met
  • Ensure the accurate and timely preparation, reconciliation and submission of expenditure statements and invoices to funding bodies in accordance with their terms and conditions [eligibility of costs, treatment of VAT, procurement] and within the funder's stated deadlines to maximise LSHTM's cash flow
  • Regularly reviewed projects to monitor budgets, income and expenditure and ensure early identification of significant variances [budget under/overspends, ineligible costs, overhead recovery]
  • Liaised with the Principal Investigator and research finance staff over any variances and potential financial problems and provide advice on how to resolve
  • Liaised with collaborators / partners on research projects, where LSHTM was the lead institution
  • Ensured deliverables had been met
  • Approved and prepared the financial documentation for contractual payment schedules and claims submitted, in sterling and foreign currency and processed prompt payments
  • Performed a variety of analytical and quality assurance activities to ensure compliance with accounting principles, funder and University requirements
  • Worked with Principal Investigators and research finance staff to promote the importance of assurance and compliance
  • To ensure that eligibility and audit criteria are adhered to with the correct audit documentation being completed
  • Identified problems and resolved issues on Research Grants, especially on Non-GBP funded grants
  • Coordinated Key Funder Specific Requirements like NIHR ASTOX and UKRI start certificate submissions and Completion of Wellcome Trust quarterly report submissions and WELLCOME start certificate submissions.

Enterprise Officer

University College London, UCL, Institute of Education
London
11.2018 - 02.2019
  • Ensuring the effective and efficient administrative support to academic staff for delivery of enterprise activity at the IOE and provide excellent customer service to external stakeholders
  • Ensure accurate preparation of proposal costings and pricing in line with UCL costing on Worktribe
  • Support academic colleagues with the preparation of bids and proposals, including checking and formatting documentation as appropriate
  • Established and maintained accurate and accessible project records, documentation and files
  • Monitor project finances on a regular basis, ensuring income and expenditure is correctly accounted for against budget codes as part of project tracking, and resolving operational issues, taking corrective action where necessary in discussion with the lead academic and finance staff
  • Supporting the lead academic in dealing with administration requests made by the funding organisation, including progress, final evaluation reports and financial statements
  • Where required processed invoices, raised purchase orders, recharges, journal transfers, brought-forward and closing balances and assisted in the forecast and year-end accounts
  • Process payments and expense claims on funded projects
  • Ran transaction reports for monitoring projects and reconciled and resolved various queries as required using the appropriate finance system (AXIOM).

Expenses Administrator

Imperial College
09.2016 - 08.2018
  • London - Finance Division
  • Imperial College London is one of the leading institutions globally which primarily focuses entirely on research and teaching life sciences, engineering, medicine and business
  • Line Management of the Team members
  • Had a comprehensive understanding of external funders (Ex: UKRI, EC, Charities) terms and conditions to provide effective guidance and advice to claimants when submitting expense claims
  • Managed the resolution of questions and queries related to expenses in accordance with the expenses policy and agreed SLA's
  • Managed and performed checks on expense reports flagged by the Oracle iExpenses system to ensure that expense claims comply with the College's expenses policy, funding requirements of the institutions major sponsors and HMRC regulations
  • Ensured that all non-employee expense claims were set up and processed for payments promptly
  • Managed incoming and external correspondence and telephone calls related to expenses, whilst ensuring that effective lines of communication are maintained
  • Provided advice and assistance to all employees regarding ICL's policies, in line with HMRC guidelines, pertaining to travel and subsistence claims
  • Ensured all expense claims were set-up, processed, filed, stored and archived in accordance with the College's policies
  • Provided expense management reports on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to ensure compliance with the expenses policy
  • Raised Purchase Orders as and when necessary for departmental purchases
  • Assisted in developing new procedures for effective team working and provide guidance for revising the institutions Expenses Policy
  • Assisted in the tendering process for the procurement of a new Expense submission system
  • Updating the expenses and departmental procedures manual on a regular basis
  • Coordinating with the Tax Office to resolve questions or queries that are related to expense claims.

Research and Enterprise

School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, University of London
London
05.2013 - 08.2016
  • Research and Enterprise Directorate, SOAS, is one of the leading institutions in the world that concentrates mainly in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East
  • Checked expense claims for PI's, research staff and external claimants on research grants and forwarded them to the Finance for payment processing, after ensuring costs were put through as per funder guidelines, budget available and the institutions expenses policy
  • Processed invoices, invoice requests, credit card claims and liaised with the Finance Department when appropriate
  • Logging, investigating and resolving supplier invoices under query
  • Dealt with queries and provided advice to members of academic and administrative staff concerning expenditure reports, expense claims, invoice and other payments
  • Advised staff and external claimants on processing expenditure claims and advance reconciliations submitted to the Research Office
  • Set up new grants files and budgets both on the finance system (Agresso) and as paper-based files and general administrative support
  • Assisted in developing and implementing policies and procedures for the Post-award team
  • Setting up initial kick-off meetings with PI's to discuss their grant terms and conditions and educating them on SOAS' finance policies
  • Monitored budgets, income and expenditure on research projects and identified any significant variances
  • Met with and advised Principal Investigators (PI) on a regular basis to help resolved variances
  • Prepared budget forecasts for PI's and assisted them in budgetary revisions to funders
  • Prepared staff contract request forms for grants and liaised with HR on generating staff contracts for researchers and casual staff
  • Processed the monthly payroll for the REO including collating eligibility documentation, liaising with Payroll to confirm if payments have been made and forwarding all the paperwork to Payroll for processing to comply with monthly deadlines
  • Collating information and assisting for periodic audits from the European Commission and DFID
  • Prepared interim and final financial expenditure statements as per funder regulations
  • Assisted in the timely closure of accounts after project termination, as well as undertaking the archiving of project records whilst ensuring full compliance for audit record keeping.

Finance and Donations Assistant

University College London, Relations Office
Euston
09.2011 - 04.2013
  • London
  • UCL is one of the largest multi-disciplinary universities in the world specialising in offering quality higher education and research facilities to students
  • Preparing batches for donations received on a day-to-day basis
  • Processing the disbursement of donations, as and when required to various UCL Departments on a weekly basis
  • Reconciling donation income against bank line reports generated on a weekly basis
  • Reconciling DARO operational budgets monthly, as per reports received from Central Finance
  • Ensured all donations received by cash and cheques (foreign and domestic) were properly recorded on the gift register and banked all donations and income received on a regular basis
  • Ensured all expenses and invoices submitted were in line with the UCL's Finance Policy
  • Reconciled departmental operational budgets against monthly reports received from UCL's Finance Division and flagged any discrepancies to the Finance Division
  • Developed and maintained financial spread sheets and inputted large amounts of financial data with speed and high level of accuracy
  • Updated and maintained the finance policies and procedures manual, as well as the office procedures manual on a regular basis
  • Conducted regular checks on budget datasheets and amended any discrepancies by the means of creation of journals in time to finance
  • Creating invoices, processing purchase orders, expense claims, Inter-Departmental Transfers (IDT's) and Inter-Departmental Journals (IDJ's) and assisted the finance manager in planning, monitoring and reconciling budgets
  • Set-up of a new suppliers (Self-Employed and other companies) as and when required
  • Developed a good knowledge of UCL's financial policies and procedures and answered finance queries
  • Administrator for all aspects of the department including arranging travel and general office management duties, including reporting all office maintenance issues and updating the Office Manager with results
  • Assisted in Shortlisting of job applications and arranging candidate interviews
  • Archiving of files on a yearly basis and forwarding them to them to the Records Office.

HR & Recruitment Administrator

Amazon UK
Slough
05.2011 - 08.2011
  • Amazon is one of the largest global e-retail companies, who serve their consumer customers through their retail websites
  • Provided a high standard of administrative assistance and support to the HR Manager in connection with the merge and acquisition of 2 companies
  • Prepared staff files, generated staff contracts, collated starter packs and induction materials for new members of staff
  • Updating the HR database, making amendments and processing documents relating to members leaving employment
  • Assisted in updating the HR manual with new policies and procedures implemented
  • Maintained the personnel filing system and archived staff files
  • Undertook basic finance duties such as checking staff expenses and forwarding them to central finance for payment processing and raising Purchase Orders as and when requested to pay supplier invoices
  • Assisted in the recruitment and shortlist of candidates for various roles and assisted the HR manager to set up interviews
  • Successfully completed general administrative tasks as and when required.

Administration Officer

Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, MHRA
London
03.2010 - 04.2011
  • The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health responsible for safeguarding the health of the public by ensuring that medicines and medical devices are safe
  • (I was employed at the Information Management Division), Provided office support and assisted in the general administration of the division
  • Arrange catering for department meetings as and when required
  • Ordering stationery and other office supplies and monitoring stock
  • Checked and classified the accuracy of the applications for drug licenses received from various pharmaceutical companies
  • Verifying, correcting, deleting any unnecessary data or combining data from several sources before entering into the database to minimise duplicated information and ensure the accuracy of data
  • Entered information with accuracy and detail into specific case folders or spread sheets received from the portal system and CD's onto the database
  • Maintained records of files and financial information to ensure the receipt of payments prior to issuing licences
  • Dealt with internal and applicant queries via e-mails/phone and resolving it within the agreed SLA of 2 days.

Executive Assistant & Office Manager

Gateway Educational Services (UK) Ltd
London
11.2006 - 03.2010
  • Gateway Educational Services is one of the largest groups of educational institutions established in Sri Lanka, which expanded its geographical boundaries by further expanding to the UK
  • With the head office in London, currently they have 6 centres offering quality childcare and early learning to children up to age 5.

PA

  • To 3 Directors, including diary and meeting management, pre-meeting preparation and general correspondences
  • Assisted in taking minutes at monthly Board meetings, typed notes in the required format and distributed to all involved through e-mail and telephone
  • Arranged complex air travel and hotel bookings for the Directors
  • Maintained the Bank and Property Accounts for the Company Directors
  • Managed the input of all data for the nursery Database and prepared spreadsheets for the analysis and reports required by Ofsted and auditors as and when required
  • Undertook background checks and research regarding several international projects in accordance with operational requirements
  • Arranged events and managed the allocated budget accordingly to ensure there is no overspend and suppliers are sourced accordingly
  • Reconciliation of financial data monthly, as per reports generated from the database (SAGE)
  • Raised Purchase orders, paid supplier invoices and flagged any outstanding debt owed to the company
  • Banked cheques and cash income generated from fee income on a weekly basis and maintained petty cash
  • Assisted in filing quarterly VAT with HMRC and Annual Returns with the Companies House
  • Devised and maintained office systems to deal efficiently with paper flow, organising and storing paperwork, documents and computer-based information
  • Assisted in the day-to-day smooth running of the office, ordering consumables and stationery
  • Accountable for managing and monitoring day to day maintenance of the tenanted properties and ensuring the rents were paid in time by the tenants
  • Dealing with utility contractors regarding day-to-day issues on general faults and ensure the repairs are done in a timely manner.

Education

Master of Business Administration (MBA) - Finance

Charles Sturt University
2004

Bachelor - Business Administration

University of Pondicherry
2001

BBA - General Administration

1995

Diploma - Hotel Management

Bishop Moore College
1997

Skills

  • Additional Skills and Information
  • Computer Skills -
  • Intermediate proficiency of Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel and many other in-house database and accounting systems like Worktribe Research Management System, Oracle Financials, Discoverer, Agresso (The first cloud Enterprise Resource Planning solution), Advance, SAGE Line 50 (Accounting Software), PORTICO, ROME & People Soft (HR Software), First Steps Software (Childcare Database Software) and working knowledge of software's like Sentinel and Documentum Knowledge of Access, PowerPoint and SharePoint and possess a good typing speed (45-50 wpm)
  • Finance and Credit Control - Experience in expenditure reconciliations (Research Funding and Departmental), banking, allocating cash, raising requisitions, processing invoices and credit notes, processing orders, cheque refunds Debt collection via phone, letter, fax and email for a range of customers
  • Administration - Over 12 years' experience of working with databases, implementing office processes, faxing, photocopying, filing, minute taking, call logging, project support, sending emails and diary management
  • Communication Skills - Ability to draft own correspondences and good telephone manner
  • Supervisory experience - Training and inducting new staff
  • Financial reporting
  • Accounts payable
  • Data protection policies

Timeline

Senior Research Finance Officer

UCL - EAR Institute
03.2021

Research Finance Coordinator

UCL, Institute of Global Health, IGH
08.2019 - 02.2019

Research Finance Officer

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LSHTM
03.2019 - 07.2019

Enterprise Officer

University College London, UCL, Institute of Education
11.2018 - 02.2019

Expenses Administrator

Imperial College
09.2016 - 08.2018

Research and Enterprise

School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS, University of London
05.2013 - 08.2016

Finance and Donations Assistant

University College London, Relations Office
09.2011 - 04.2013

HR & Recruitment Administrator

Amazon UK
05.2011 - 08.2011

Administration Officer

Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, MHRA
03.2010 - 04.2011

Executive Assistant & Office Manager

Gateway Educational Services (UK) Ltd
11.2006 - 03.2010

PA

Master of Business Administration (MBA) - Finance

Charles Sturt University

Bachelor - Business Administration

University of Pondicherry

BBA - General Administration

Diploma - Hotel Management

Bishop Moore College

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Julie John