Director of Early Childhood Education Finance

Position Summary: The Office of the Chief Financial Officer is responsible for directing, controlling and setting policy for all financial operation activities for the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) system and managing the over $40 billion operating budget.

Within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Early Childhood Finance team manages the Early Childhood portfolio and is responsible for financial planning, budget oversight, revenue management, fiscal governance and strategic analysis. The Early Childhood Finance team is the primary Finance Office liaison with the Division of Early Childhood Education, which has a budget of over $3 billion and provides high-quality early care and education to children from birth through age five and beyond, including infant and toddler care, 2-K ,3-K and Pre-K.

The Director of Early Childhood Education Finance will be part of the team of the Executive Director of Early Childhood Finance. The position will serve as a senior financial leader responsible for overseeing strategic planning, fiscal stewardship, revenue optimization, analysis of funding requests and initiatives, and overall budget management related to the early childhood portfolio. The position performs complex analyses involving large data files, and makes recommendations on funding proposals to senior management. Performs related work.

Reports to: Executive Director of Early Childhood Finance

Direct Reports: N/A

Key Relationships: Works closely with members of the other offices under the Chief Financial Officer, the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE), the Division of Contracts and Purchasing (DCP), the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) and the City’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Externally, works with the NYS Education Department (SED) and other state and federal funding oversights.

Responsibilities

Conduct and participate in strategic planning and assist Executive Director in setting and meeting team goals.
Identify budget issues and trends and make recommendations for strategically addressing situations, as needed.
Assist in new need development and review, in coordination with the Division of Early Childhood Education.
Coordinate with, and provide responses to inquiries from, OMB and fiscal monitors. Prepare plan briefings for internal and external stakeholders.
Develop and monitor expense projections, compare to budget, and make recommendations based on findings.
Oversee funding availability for contract registration and payment activities and support registration processes as needed.
Forecast revenue and identify opportunities to maximize revenue and improve claiming practices. Coordinate with grant oversights (NYSED, OCFS) as applicable, in collaboration with the Finance Resource Management team.
In collaboration with the Division of Early Childhood Education and the Schools Finance team, develop and review School Allocations Memorandums and Details for school and center-based early childhood programs. Make recommendations as appropriate.
Ensure that business planning and budgeting processes and controls are consistent, timely, and strategically coordinated as communicated across all lines of the business unit.
Assist and monitor program and portfolio management; assess financial impacts of policy options
Lead and participate in special projects that may arise, related to the early childhood portfolio
Work in financial systems, such as FAMIS, Galaxy and FMS.

Qualification Requirements:

Minimum

A master's degree from an accredited college in economics, finance, accounting, business or public administration, human resources management, management science, operations research, organizational behavior, industrial psychology, statistics, personnel administration, labor relations, psychology, sociology, human resources development, political science, urban studies, or a closely related field, or a Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school and two years of satisfactory full-time professional experience, for educational program(s) and/or institution(s) in one or a combination of the following: working with the budget of a large public or private concern in budget administration, accounting economic or financial administration, fiscal or economic research; management or methods analysis, operations research, organizational research or program evaluation; educational, personnel or public administration, recruitment, position classification, personnel relations, labor relations, employee benefits, staff development, employment program planning/administration, labor market research, economic planning, fiscal management, or a related area, 18 months of this experience must have been in an executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must have included supervising staff performing professional work in the areas described above; or
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory full-time professional experience as described in "1" above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory experience described in "1" above; or
Education and/or experience equivalent to “1”, or “2” above. Graduate education in areas other than those mentioned above, may be substituted for the professional experience, but not for the 18 months of managerial experience described in “1” above, at the rate of 15 graduate semester credits from an accredited college or university for 6 months up to a maximum of 1 year of professional experience. However, all candidates must possess a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and 18 months executive, managerial, administrative, consultative or supervisory experience, as described in “1” above.

Preferred

Ability to present information in a clear, concise, and logical manner.
Strategic planning and problem solving skills.
Ability to develop, plan, and implement short and long-range goals, establish priorities, organize resources, interpret needs, and develop integrated, creative solutions.
Strong attention to detail.
Strong qualitative and writing skills.
Public policy background; able to read, understand and interpret legislation, non-regulatory guidance, etc.
Background in public finance and budget operations or funded programs.
Successful experience acquiring and managing federal and/or state grants based resources.
High level of personal responsibility, initiative, and motivation.
Ability to work efficiently in a fast paced and deadline driven environment.
Knowledge of City budgeting practices and NYCPS’s budget and financial systems, e.g., Galaxy, Financial Accounting and Management Information System (FAMIS).
Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel and the ability to work comfortably with other programs in Microsoft Office 365 Suite.