Career Opportunity

Operating Budget Manager-SFPUC 0931-151240

Recruitment: REF45817U

Published: October 17, 2024

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal Learn More

About:

• Application Opening: 10/17/24
• Application Filing Deadline: 10/25/24
• Annual Salary: $150,540 and $192,140
• Recruitment ID: PBT- 0923 - 151240 and RTF0151238-01091343
• Hours: Full-time

WHO WE ARE?

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at www.sfwater.org

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality. 

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.org/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Role description

Under general direction of the Budget Director, the Operating Budget Manager will assist in the day-to-day operations of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Financial Strategy Division, (part of the Business Services Bureau) with responsibility for the SFPUC’s Operating Budget. This position supports the Budget Director in the development and management of the SFPUC’s $2 Billion annual operating budget.

The Operating Budget Manager leads and supervises a team of two professionals in complex financial work. This critical role is a core member of the SFPUC’s Budget team and a key advisor to leaders throughout the agency. The role requires technical proficiency, excellent communication and management skills to succeed.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Manages the SFPUC’s biennial operating budget development process (and mid cycle amendments/supplementals).
  • Responsible for ensuring the final operating budget is balanced, complete, correct and accurately reflects the decisions made during the budget process.
  • Leads complex analysis and provides recommendations to support budget planning and decision making throughout the process.
  • Leads the operating budget team in ensuring the operating budget is accurately inputted in the SFPUC’s internal budget system and in the City’s budget system.
  • Develops analysis and materials to assist the Budget Director and SFPUC’s Executive Leadership Team in decision making during the budget process, this may include power point slides, tables, memos etc.
  • Reviews budget proposals to discern their reasonableness and accuracy. Works closely with enterprise and bureau staff to amend and finesse budget proposals, explains tradeoffs, helps to prioritize and constrain budget requests.
  • Supports Budget Director in the Commission process, assisting with development of presentation materials, staff reports, resolutions etc.
  • Supports the Mayor and Board process, including providing information and an analysis when negotiating budget cuts.
  • May represent SFPUC with the Mayor’s Budget Office, Controller’s Office, Board of Supervisors and Board’s Budget and Legislative Analyst during the budget adoption process.
  • Manages the development of the Budget Book and Budget Detail Reports and any other communications materials.
• Oversight of the SFPUC operating budgets throughout the year:
  • Monitors Budget vs. Actual spending
  • Proactively resolves budget problems that arise, develops and implements solutions
  • Keeps Budget Director informed of any issues that arise
  • Preparation, review, and distribution of detailed and complex financial analyses and management reports that provide information on status of budget/expenditures, appropriations, fund source/availability, and projected revenues and expenditures. For example, this includes oversight and development of quarterly budget variance reports.
  • Prepares and provides oversight of indirect cost plans or other overhead allocation plans.
• Manages all operating budget processes including surplus transfers, reallocations, manual carry-forwards and other budget adjustments, working with requestors, accounting staff, the Controller’s office and Mayor’s Office as needed to get these done while building and maintaining excellent working relationships with these stakeholders.
• Supervises a team of 2 professional staff in complex analytical work, ensuring accuracy and quality of work, while coaching and providing career development with a focus on a good team culture, performance, and staff retention.
• Responds to questions and requests for information and assistance from departments on matters related to their budget development, implementation and management. Provides excellent service and maintains good relationships with department contacts.
• Leads and manages special budget-related projects as assigned by the Budget Director which may include new system implementation, process enhancements, development of recommendations, research, reporting.
• Leads proactive process improvement which may include developing and implementing changes to policies and procedures. 
• Works cross-functionally with other staff in finance including the Financial Planning teams and the Capital Finance (Debt) teams to ensure open communication and collaboration.

How to qualify

How to qualify

Education:  Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university; AND

Experience: Five (5) years of progressively responsible financial experience coordinating, preparing, and managing large and complex budgets, of which at least three (3) years include supervising professional staff.

Substitution: Additional qualifying experience may fully substitute the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis. (One (1) year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units/forty-five (45) quarter units.)

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• A master’s degree in business administration, finance, public administration, economics or related field
• Experience with both developing and managing budgets within the public sector.

The stated desirable qualifications may be considered at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

Competencies 

• Budget Development and Management – develop and manage a large and complex budget, knowledge of public sector budgeting processes, relevant rules, and regulations.
• Budget Technical Skills – using financial and budgetary systems for data entry, extraction, and reporting; analyzing and communicating complex financial data using computer software programs such as PeopleSoft, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Managing a Team – leadership, managing performance, coaching and developing others, creating a good team culture
• Managing Self – Manages tasks and assigned duties in a highly organized fashion, and approaches the role as a self-starter, prioritizing work in a self-directed manner. Proactive approach to problem solving and process improvement.
• Communication – Effectively communicates complex financial information and policies in a clear and straightforward manner to a variety of audiences including senior management. Ability to effectively push back and explain trade-offs.

Verification:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process.

NOTE:

Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures:

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ): Candidates will be required to complete a Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ) as part of the employment application at a later time. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire Examination (Weight: 100%): Candidates who meet minimum qualifications will be invited via a separate link to complete the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. The purpose of the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination is to evaluate the experience, knowledge, skills and abilities that candidates possess in job-related areas, which have been identified as critical for this position and include, but are not limited to:   

• Knowledge of budget development and management
• Knowledge of budget technical skills
• Managing Self
• Ability to communicate and write in a clear, concise, and professional manner.

Applicants will be given a deadline to return the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination. Those who do not respond by the established deadline will not be eligible to continue in the examination process and will not be added to the eligibility list resulting from this process. All applicants’ responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination are subject to verification.

A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire Examination in order to continue in the selection process and be placed on the eligible list.

Candidates will be placed on the eligible list in rank order according to their final score. Candidate scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make final hiring decisions.

What else should I know?

Eligible List/Score Report:

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 12 months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf.

Certification: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ .

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About The Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Victor Mena, at vmena@sfwater.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.