Company Description
This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.
The Controller is the City’s chief financial officer. Our team includes financial, technology, analytical and other professionals who work hard to secure the City’s financial integrity and promote efficient, effective and accountable government. We hold ourselves to high standards and strive to be a model for good government. We value the diverse backgrounds, perspectives and lived experiences of our teams and clients in everything we do. We work in a collaborative and inclusive environment, promote equal opportunity, and invest in the professional development and wellbeing of our team members. You can expect to work alongside colleagues who are committed to serving the public with integrity and want to see positive impacts from their work. We are looking for smart, motivated individuals who want to make a difference and use government to play a role in solving our City’s problems, including addressing long-standing and harmful disparities in our communities. For a career with purpose and professional growth, join us in the Controller’s Office.
This 1825 Principal Policy Analyst will work on the Controller’s Office’s Accounting Operations and Suppliers Division (AOSD).
AOSD’s primary mission is to control the financial activities of the City. The division certifies contracts, pays vendors, approves personnel requisitions and reviews, monitors, controls, and projects departmental expenditures on a continuous basis to assess overall fiscal condition. The division assists departments to achieve fiscal compliance, accuracy, timeliness and meaningfulness for the resulting financial information. The division is also responsible for the producing the City’s annual audited financial statements including the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the Single Audit Report, and other reports required by federal, state, and local regulations, as well as the Countywide Cost Allocation Plan (COWCAP). Other functions include developing and maintaining citywide financial systems, system policies, procedures, training, security, and documentation.
AOSD is responsible for monitoring, tracking, approving and establishing guidelines, policies and procedures for central accounting across all City departments, including all City funds and grants. The City’s online accounting system, PeopleSoft, is used extensively in this work. The City’s data warehouse and analytical tool, Oracle Business Intelligence (BI), and Excel are also heavily used. The Asset Management team of AOSD manages the City’s fixed assets recording and reporting.
- Application Opening: June 30.2023
- Application Filing Deadline: July 17, 2023
- Annual Salary: $140,218 to $183,638 annually
Job Description
Under general direction of the AOSD Director and Accounting Manager, this position independently supervises, leads, and develops complex and difficult works in the areas of Citywide financial & accounting policy analysis, financial systems analysis and support, procurement card (P-Card) program monitoring and control, emergency & disaster preparedness and responses as well as ACFR reporting. This position supervises the design, composition and updating of the Controller’s Office Accounting Policies & Procedures in accordance with Federal, State and City rules, regulations, and standards as well as governmental accounting principles. The complex policy analysis this position conducts include all aspects of the City’s accounting and financial operations. The documentation and support this position provides on the City’s financial system encompass all 17 modules of the PeopleSoft Financials & Procurement system.
Essential duties include but are not limited to:
- Supervises, researches, reviews, updates, and performs very complex analysis for the Controller’s Office Accounting Policies & Procedures on all financial and accounting subjects including Allocations & Abatements, Banking Services, Budgeting & Appropriation, Cash Receipts & Revenue, Contracts & Encumbrances, Debt, Emergency Procedures, Expenditures, Financial Reporting & Record Retention, Fixed Assets, Grants & Gifts, Interdepartmental Services, Inventory, Procurement Card, and Project Costing
- Works closely with CFOs, finance managers and subject matter experts (SME) from all 55 City departments as well as various divisions within the Controller’s Office to identify complex operational/systems issues and advice on solutions to streamline business processes and enhance government efficiency
- Works closely with AOSD Managers and other City managers to ensure that the financial systems, processes and procedures meet government accounting and taxation standards as well as social economic compliance requirements
- Represents AOSD for fiscal year-end planning and preparation; proposes and finalizes year-end calendars that accommodate system availability, accounting operations and budgeting deadlines, financial reporting and auditing deadlines, cash disbursement and deposit cutoff dates, and needs of the departments that operate 24/7
- Collaborates with the SMEs from AOSD, other CON divisions, Office of Contract Administration (OCA), Office of Treasurer & Tax Collector (TTX) and the City’s external auditors to present year-end workshops to Citywide accounting and financial staff; responds to Q&As and publishes year-end resources
- Develops training programs and materials on Governmental Accounting Principles and Standards, consistent with General Accounting Standards Board (GASB) pronouncements; develops and updates training programs to meet various needs of the PeopleSoft Financials & Procurement users including accountants, analysts, managers, purchasing staff and suppliers
- Supervises, develops, and conducts training for the City’s 1649 Accountant Intern Program
- Implements, manages, maintains and monitors the Citywide P-Card program; supervises initial training to all participating City departments; conducts complex analysis to monitor P-Card activities for internal control and audit purposes
- Represents AOSD for disaster and emergency preparedness, responses, and recovery. Researches, analyzes and establishes disaster and emergency procedures including related data structure (e.g., ChartFields, Trees, etc.) setup, reporting, record retention, purchasing & payments, cost tracking, and cost recovery
- Reviews, analyzes and updates the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), including updating Notes to Basic Financial Statements, change tracking, version control, accuracy review, and other quality check tasks delegated by the ACFR Manager
- Plays a leading role in AOSD’s other complex accounting, budgeting and auditing functions including year-end close, financial system enhancement/modification testing, Interdepartmental Services budgeting and billing, Post Audit and Continuous Monitoring, and financial reconciliation
Employees must be willing to work a 40-hour week as determined by the department. Overtime work may be required. Occasional weekend and weeknight work is required.
Qualifications
Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and seven(7) years of full-time equivalent experience performing professional level analytical work. Qualifying professional-level analytical work includes analysis, development, administration, and reporting in major programs and functions of an organization in the areas of budgets, contracts, grants, policy, or other functional areas related to the duties of positions in the 182X Class series.
Substitution:
Possession of a graduate degree (Master’s degree or higher) from an accredited college or university with major coursework in specialized subject matter areas such as public or business administration, management, business law, contract law, public policy, urban studies, economics, statistical analysis, finance, accounting or other fields of study closely related to the essential functions of positions in the Class series may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience.
Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of 2 years). Thirty (30) semester units or forty-five (45) quarter units equal one year.
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”
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.
Additional Information
Selection Procedure
Supplemental Questionnaire Exam (Weight – 100%)
The purpose of the Supplemental Questionnaire Exam (SQE) 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: Ability to perform complex financial and business analysis; produce reports based on financial data and make appropriate and constructive recommendations; Ability to research, analyze, interpret and incorporate Federal, State and City rules, regulations, policies, and concepts related to accounting operations and reporting; Ability to collaborate with all stakeholders with various background, both internal and external ; Outstanding communication skills, both written and oral; ability to interpret and communicate complex information to stake holders of various backgrounds; Supervisory skills that can be applied to managing a diversified accounting/finance/analytical staff; Strong knowledge of PeopleSoft Financials and Supply Chain Management Systems 9.2 or higher
Qualified candidates will be contacted via email to complete the Supplemental Examination. The supplemental examination must be completed and returned by the indicated deadline in order to be ranked on the eligible list.
A passing score must be achieved on the exam to be placed on the eligible list and continue in the selection process. Additional selection processes, like interviews, may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.
Score Report/Eligible List
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.
Eligible List Duration: 6 months
The duration of the eligible list 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-2022-23.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
- Right to Work
- Copies of Application Documents
- Diversity Statement
Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst at Karena.Phung@sfgov.org
CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT: All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.
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.