Assistant Director of Transportation Finance (SY25-26)(Anticipated Vacancy)

This position is an anticipated vacancy. It is expected to be vacant by07/11/ the current incumbent has a right to rescind their retirement leave or resignation up until the day of the expected vacancy date. Your hire will not be confirmed until the position is vacated.

Reports To: Executive Director of Transportation

General Description of Position:

The Boston Public Schools is the largest school district in Massachusetts with approximately 57000 students and a $1.2B budget. The Office of Transportation within BPS is one of the largest departments in the district overseeing a $120M annual budget (10% of total spending). On a daily basis our 650 buses drive 45K miles bringing over 30K students to 200 schools across the Boston area - not just Boston Public Schools but local parochial private and charter schools as well.

In 2016 BPS released a Long Term Financial Plan outlining ways that the district could improve its financial sustainability and produce savings that could be invested back into our classrooms. As part of that initiative transportation has been tasked with finding significant cost savings. This position will lead the effort to reduce costs and improve efficiencies within the department of transportation.

Responsibilities:

This person will have a number of critical responsibilities including but not limited to:

• Financial analysis and budgeting including:
• Developing annual budget projections based on historical spending patterns;
• Creating spending models to develop a better understanding of cost drivers within the department;
• Developing and implementing strategies to contain and reduce cost growth;
• Prepare and present a monthly operational efficacy and spending report to the Executive Director of TransportationChief of Operations and the Chief Financial Officer;
• Work with Operations and Finance to estimate the financial impact of potential policy changes explored by School Committee District Leadership or the City of Boston;
• Overseeing our Head Account Clerks and other auditors as needed
• Manage our $100M contract with our transportation vendor by:
• Auditing and verifying the accuracy of business transactions between Transportation Contractors and Boston Public Schools - both at the macro level and at the line item level as needed;
• Working to lead the three-to-five year procurement process to ensure that BPS is receiving the best possible transportation contract;
• Negotiating the contract between the vendor and BPS.

Managing our collective bargaining agreements:

• Support efforts to negotiate the various collective bargaining agreements that Transportation is involved in;
• Prepare the district for future CBA negotiations.
• Oversee financial and administrative functions:
• Provide oversight for accounts payable accounts receivable and payroll functions
• Oversees Head Account clerks and other auditors as needed

Given the large and rapidly growing costs associated with BPS Transportation this position will be critical for ensuring the long term financial sustainability of the department of transportation and by extension Boston Public Schools.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelors degree.
• 3-5 years experience in auditing general business or other related field.
• Extensive experience managing complex projects in a fast-paced environment with a demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with contractors and community
• Extreme proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word Excel and PowerPoint) and Google Suite (Gmail Google Sheets/Docs etc.).
• Knowledge of basic aspects of financial management.
• Willingness to learn and adapt we are looking for someone who is driven to consistently make improvements.
• Ability to design and execute sophisticated financial analyses.
• An ability to have a strong understanding of the details but also an ability to explain things at a high level to senior district or city leadership
• This position is subject to the City of Boston residency requirement.
• Current authorization to work in the United States - Candidates must have such authorization by their first day of employment
  
  

Preferred Skills and Attributes

• Masters Degree - primarily in accounting finance or management with a secondary priority in a public policy education or urban-planning-relevant field.
• Deep understanding of Collective Bargaining Agreements between BPS and Steelworkers Teamsters and United Auto Workers
• Multiple years of auditing budgeting accounting or other financial management preferably in a public/government setting.
• Excellent public speaking ability including an ability to communicate in public forums answer questions clearly and calmly and demonstrate sensitivity to an ethnically and culturally diverse student family and employee population.

Terms: Managerial Tier D62 Evening & Weekend availability required

Required Experience:

Director