Finance & Accounting

Overview

Our Finance department helps set the strategic direction of the company. With responsibility for $13 billion in annual revenue, this department offers careers managing and making the most of UP's $36 billion in assets.

We're looking for college graduates with quantitative degrees in accounting, economics, finance, math or statistics.  We need people with strong statistical and analytical skills, who have experience with the latest decision support systems and analytical tools.  We need strong communicators with leadership potential.

The Finance department is made up of six major areas; Accounting, Corporate Audit, Corporate Treasury, Planning and Analysis, Real Estate and Tax.  Most new employee start in one of these three:

Accounting, where we safeguard and manage the company's day-to-day financial assets and process more than $100 million each working day, all while complying with changing government regulations.  Or financial analysis, where we do long-rang financial planning, develop the company's annual operating expense budget, and work daily with other departments to improve spending, productivity and operations throughout the company.

Corporate Audit keeps it on the straight and narrow by keeping things efficient, effective and legal.  The team has been internationally recognized for its excellence in internal auditing.

Planning and Analysis, where we manage more than $3 billion in capital expenditures each year, evaluate merger and acquisition, and analyze the profitability of more than 10 million freight car shipments each year. 

We're looking for college graduates with quantitative degrees in accounting, finance, economics, math or statistics.  We need people with strong statistical and analytical skills, who have experience with the latest decision support systems and analytical tools.  We need strong communicators with leadership potential.

 

Corporate Audit

Our corporate auditors work in project-based teams all over our company – and all over the country. We evaluate whether each department is working as efficiently, ethically and accurately as possible. We examine procedures, routines and controls, as well as the validity of records and accounts. We review whether Union Pacific employees are following certain company policies, laws and regulations.

Your training will come primarily on the job. Audit teams and supervisors change after each four-month project. So you'll get to work with a variety of people, not to mention the people you'll meet from other departments. You’ll be based in Omaha, but may spend as much as 40 percent of your time traveling to the western and southern parts of the United States.

 

Accounting (Operations, Financial Reporting & Process Analysis & Improvement)

Accounting Operations is made up of five groups:

• The Revenue Accounting and Reporting Group is responsible for reporting daily revenue and carloads by business teams; the pricing, billing and collection of all freight movements and settling all revenue with other railroads involved in the shipments.  Customer relationship management with Union Pacific's Marketing Department and customers is a key responsibility for this group.  This group has significant impact on cash flow for Union Pacific.
• The Financial Systems Group is responsible for the development of productivity improvement systems and internal control management tools for the entire Accounting Group.  This group is offered the opportunity to use state of the art technology, some of which include SQL server, VB.Net, Microsoft Reporting Services.  This group is heavily involved in all of the process groups in Accounting through the design, development and implementation of various projects while developing project management skills.
• The Disbursements Group is responsible for all accounts payable and payroll functions including accounting for and processing payments to employees, vendors, and benefit and service providers.  This group also manages the various credit card programs for Union Pacific employees.
• The Contract Billing Group is responsible for the billing, collection and accounting for all non-freight receivables.
• The Car Accounting Group is responsible for the payment and collection for use of freight cars.
  

Financial Reporting consists of two sections.

• The General Ledger and Financial Reporting Groups are responsible for establishing the Company’s accounting policies, maintain our general ledger system, preparing consolidated financial statements, and submitting required financial reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission and Surface Transportation Board of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
  • The Property Accounting Group accounts for the acquisition, depreciation, and retirement/disposal of the Company’s fixed assets.

Process Analysis and Improvement area is made up of two divisions.

• The Facilities and Operations, Revenue Audit and Engineering Accounting Groups perform audits of revenue and payment processes, and operating routines to ensure the integrity of financial reporting and to identify cash recovery opportunities.
• The Internal Controls Group coordinates the company’s Sarbanes Oxley internal control program

 

Planning & Analysis

• The Capital Planning and Financing Group is responsible encompassing economic and operational justification of all capital expenditures proposals, evaluation of financing alternatives, and participation in the development and management of the annual capital budget. 
• The Cost & Profit Planning Group is responsible for providing cost and profitability data at the railcar level to be used by all levels of the organization. 
• The Budgeting & Analysis Group directly supports all Administrative Departments as well as the Operating Department to ensure good financial decision making and effective cost control.

 

Requirements

We're looking for people who graduated from college with grade point averages of 3.0 or above, with quantitative degrees in accounting, finance, economics, transportation, math, statistics or management information systems. We need people with strong statistical and analytical skills, who have experience with the latest decision support systems and analytical tools. We need strong communicators with leadership potential.

If You Are Offered a Job

We will conduct a thorough background investigation. This will include your Social Security number, criminal and drug history, past employment, education, professional licenses and certifications, military history, driving record, credit history and any other information relevant to the job.

You must complete a medical history questionnaire, a urine drug test and a medical screening to judge whether you are able to perform the essential tasks of the position.

You must also be able to prove that you are a U.S. citizen or that you are authorized to work in the United States.

Pay

For an entry-level position, such as Analyst, a typical salary falls between $40,000 and $45,000 per year.

Benefits

You'll receive a competitive benefits package designed to complement your lifestyle. Generally, the management benefits package includes health and wellness, retirement and work/life-related benefits.

 

Health and wellness benefits include:

• Medical, prescription drug, vision and dental insurance
• Health Savings Accounts 
• Flexible work schedule (where applicable)
• Free wellness programs
• Disability and life insurance

Retirement benefits include:

• Union Pacific pension
• 401(k) thrift plan with partial company match
• Railroad Retirement, a program similar to Social Security (Union Pacific Railroad employees only) 

Work/life benefits include:

• Paid vacation and holidays
• Tuition reimbursement
• Tax-reducing Transportation Spending Account
• Employee discounts
• Child care, in some locations

Potential Career Path

Click here to view the entry level job description.

Training

As a new employee, you'll work on a team, with a manager who will mentor your personal and professional progress. Your skills will continue to grow with ongoing professional development and training.

Our employees are constantly challenged to learn new technology and new ways of thinking. Our Educational Assistance Program encourages full-time regular staff employees to take job-related courses during their non-work hours at accredited schools, colleges and universities. The program reimburses employees for 85 percent of tuition up to $3,500 a year.

Union Pacific also provides internal training programs and encourages employees to take advantage of these programs.

 

Application Process

To apply for a position at Union Pacific, select View Open Positions from any page on this site. You will then be able to view a list of open positions by location or by the type of career you're looking for.

If you select "See Open Positions" from a specific job description page – Apprentice Diesel Mechanic, for example – you will see locations where the job is available. Click on the position that you would like to apply for to see the official job description. When you select "Apply online" from this page, your application has officially begun.

Be prepared to spend 20 to 30 minutes completing your application. Have the following information ready:

• Social Security number.
• Employment history, including employer addresses, supervisor names and titles, and salary history.
• Education and training history, including school names and addresses, years completed, and degrees, certificates and licenses received.
• Military history.
• Three professional references.

You will be asked general questions about your background and qualifications for the job. And, if you have a resume in a word processing document, you will have a chance to cut and paste the text of your resume into your application.

After you apply

You can check the status of your application at any time by selecting Application Status on the Career site homepage. Enter your user ID and password, and you will see the status of any applications you have submitted. If your status is "Currently Being Reviewed," you can click on those words to see more details.

When your status is "Currently Being Reviewed," it means that your application has been successfully submitted and now is in consideration with other people who have applied for the same position. Depending on how many applications we receive and the scheduling of hiring sessions, applications could remain at this status for 60 to 90 days, so please be patient and check back often.

If your status immediately says "Thank You," this means that you are not currently eligible for employment at Union Pacific, based on the information you have provided. Several situations can disqualify you from working at Union Pacific:

• You are not 18 years old.
• You have a disqualifying condition.
• You have not met a requirement specific to the job or location.

Changing your application

Once an online application is submitted, the only information that can be changed or updated is your contact information (name, address, phone number). If you need to update your contact information please click here and enter your user name and password.  If you are invited to a hiring session, you will be given an opportunity to make other updates to your application before your interview.

Interviewing with Union Pacific

If you have applied for a union position, there are two ways you will be contacted for an interview. First, your web status will be updated to "Invited to Hiring Session." When you click on those words, you will receive the time and location of your interview. Second, you will receive a phone call informing you of the update. When we call you, we use the phone number you supplied on your application. So please make sure it’s a number where you can readily be reached.

If you have applied for a non-union position, you will receive a phone call.

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