Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking a detail-oriented Activity-Based Costing and Financial Analytics Analyst to support a federal client’s activity-based costing, financial analytics, cost modeling, reporting, and workforce cost analysis needs. This role is aligned to Ascension’s Operations Research / Management Analyst II labor category and is intended for a mid-level analyst with experience supporting cost estimation, performance metrics, data validation, financial reporting, and business process analysis.

This position is important because the client needs support maintaining and improving its current Activity-Based Costing structure and related financial tools. The work includes updating cost models, supporting ABC coding and cost-allocation processes, improving dashboards and reports, helping staff use ABC-related tools, reviewing code usage, and assisting with workforce and position-costing analysis. The RFI specifically identifies activity-based costing, cost modeling and financial analysis, CostPerform, Tableau or similar reporting tools, federal financial or timekeeping systems, and training development/delivery as areas of needed expertise.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable working with financial, workforce, timekeeping, and operational datasets; translating business questions into analytic outputs; validating cost drivers and allocation logic; and preparing reports, dashboards, and recommendations that help federal leaders make better resourcing and financial management decisions.

Summary of the Contractor Role

The Activity-Based Costing and Financial Analytics Analyst will provide analytical, operational, and financial support to help the client maintain, validate, and improve its ABC structure and related reporting environment. The analyst will support cost model updates, data validation, ABC code review, cost-driver analysis, workforce and position-costing analysis, reporting, dashboard development, process documentation, and user support.

This role requires a professional who is analytical, organized, self-driven, and comfortable working in a client-facing federal environment. The candidate should be able to work with limited supervision, ask the right questions, identify data issues, document assumptions, reconcile discrepancies, and explain findings in plain language to both financial and non-financial stakeholders.

The candidate will be expected to support tools and processes that may include CostPerform, Tableau, Microsoft Excel, Power BI, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, federal financial/accounting systems, timekeeping systems, data validation trackers, cost model documentation, ABC code review logs, issue/risk trackers, and recurring status reports. Ascension’s GSA labor category for Operations Research / Management Analyst II includes operational advisory support, analysis and reporting, performance metrics, cost estimation, risk identification, stakeholder facilitation, and production of cost models, metric trackers, data tables, meeting summaries, and risk matrices.

Expected Day-to-Day Activities

• Analyze financial, workforce, timekeeping, and operational datasets to support ABC cost modeling, cost allocation, and reporting requirements.
• Build, update, and maintain workforce cost models, position-costing models, and related analytical workbooks.
• Validate financial datasets, cost drivers, ABC codes, and allocation assumptions for accuracy, completeness, and consistency.
• Review ABC code usage and recommend coding improvements to strengthen cost allocation, reporting accuracy, and management visibility.
• Support updates to CostPerform or similar cost modeling tools, including data inputs, model assumptions, outputs, and documentation.
• Develop and maintain Tableau, Power BI, Excel, or similar dashboards and reports to communicate cost trends, workforce costs, activity costs, and variance drivers.
• Conduct variance analysis to identify changes in cost patterns, workforce costs, allocation results, and financial reporting outputs.
• Document data sources, business rules, cost drivers, assumptions, calculations, and recurring reporting procedures.
• Support client staff by responding to ABC-related questions, troubleshooting data or reporting issues, and explaining model outputs.
• Prepare briefing materials, analytical summaries, dashboards, data tables, and recommendations for federal stakeholders.
• Facilitate working sessions with finance, budget, program, workforce, and system users to clarify requirements and validate findings.
• Identify process gaps, data quality issues, and reporting risks; recommend practical corrective actions.
• Maintain issue logs, action item trackers, meeting notes, data validation trackers, and model update records.
• Support optional training material development, user guides, job aids, and demonstrations for ABC tools and reporting processes.
• Assist with process improvement recommendations related to ABC structure, coding practices, data governance, and financial analytics workflows.