Senior Finance Project Manager

Description

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third largest school district in the United States, serving over 360,000 students in more than 600 schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership and

continuous learning.

Chicago Public Schools is seeking a Senior Finance Project responsible for overseeing a wide variety of projects designed to improve the efficiency and effectives of financial business processes and operations managed by the Controller. In addition, this position helps to develop the Office of the Controller operating and capital budgets, assist with strategic planning, aligning operations with organizational mission, and serving as a liaison to CPS Information Technology Services.

The Senior Finance Project Manager will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Manage the departmental budget and spending requests for the Office of the Controller for all personnel and non-personnel Operating funds, Capital project funding and requests.
• Manage intern staff daily functions and assign duties as needed to meet project requirements and deadlines.
• Provide project management tasks for Controller's Office units, including information technology projects for Accounting, Disbursements, Financial Reporting, Accounts Receivable, etc. Develop, maintain and report on the status of ongoing and future projects, serve as the liaison to internal CPS partners and external parties to ensure timely and successful project completion.
• Provide general technical support to Revenue and Accounts Receivable, Disbursements and Business Services, Corporate Accounting and Financial Reporting and Compliance.
• Serve as the primary contact for all Board, CEO and Senior VP of Finance initiatives. Manage the development, routing and tracking of all department board and senior leadership reporting.
• Manage the departmental webpages by coordinating with all reporting units and managers to ensure more timely and accurate data is presented for the department, in addition to all performance and financial dashboards and other departmental reporting submitted on behalf of the Controller's Office.
• Manage timely and accurate completion of annual financial and single audit including compilation, typesetting and printing of financial statements and schedules for the CAFR, AFR and PAFR.
• General ledger maintenance and management.
• Collaborate with key departments such as Budget, Payroll and HRIT as financial subject matter expert for interfaces between PeopleSoft HR/Payroll.
• Evaluate existing business processes and/or departmental procedures for optimal efficiency and maximization of CPS resources, as well as to ensure compliance with all Federal, State and Local requirements. In addition, develop new business processes to ensure the most effective and efficient operations for the department.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Senior Finance Project Manager must possess the following qualifications:

Type of Education Required :

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, or equivalent field; Master's degree a plus.

Type of Experience and Number of Years :

• 6+ Years in a large decentralized organization;
• 3-5 Years of project management, business process reengineering, budgetary, contract management and financial analysis experience; Oracle GL, Hyperion and Subledger experience;
• IT implementations.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities :

• Ability to apply in-depth analysis, issue resolution, interpret complex business issues, statutes and policies, as well as possess excellent written and communication skills.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint;
• Oracle Financials, SQL programming language is a plus.
• Advanced Oracle or similar ERP experience in a large decentralized organization.

Residency Requirement:

As a condition of employment with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.