Finance Analyst I/II/Senior

Description

WHAT WE OFFER

• Educational Incentive - An educational incentive of 2.5% for completion of an associate's degree, 3.5% for completion of a bachelor's degree, OR 5% for completion of a graduate's degree.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Incentive - An incentive of 5% of base pay may be paid for an active CPA Certification. An incumbent may receive the educational Incentive or the CPA Incentive whichever is higher. Both cannot be received at the same time.
• Bi-lingual Incentive - Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational needs and certification skills.
• Vacation Accrual - New regular, full-time employees shall receive advanced annual leave credit of 7 biweekly pay periods; this advancement shall be balanced upon completion of 7 biweekly pay periods of service or upon earlier separation. The first 5 years of services annual leave accrues at 8 hours per payment period; beyond 5 years of services it increases to 11.08 hours per pay period with a maximum balance of 880 hours.
• Annual Leave Redemption - The ability to "cash in" or redeem up to 100 hours of vacation accrued in the same year after using 80 hours of vacation in the preceding 12 months.
• Deferred Compensation - Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.
• Health Plans - You are afforded a flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans. Tier one for employee only is $472 per pay period, tier two for employee plus one is $572 per pay period and tier three for employee plus family is $642 per pay period.
• Flexible Spending Accounts - Choice of participation in the Flexible Spending Accounts which increase spending power through reimbursement of pre-tax dollars for IRS approved dependent care and health care expenses.
• Pension Plan - Both the County and employees contribute to the County's Retirement Plan and to Social Security. If eligible, reciprocity may be established with other public retirement systems, such as PERS.
• Holidays - 11 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.

THE COUNTY
Ventura County is located on California's "Gold Coast," approximately 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 20 miles southeast of Santa Barbara. Residents enjoy rolling hills and sweeping ocean views in a nearly perfect Mediterranean climate with an average annual temperature of 74.2 degrees. The beauty and weather combined with a wonderful quality of life are among the many reasons our residents choose to call Ventura County "home."

Ventura County is a "general law" county, governed by a five-member, elected-by-district Board of Supervisors. The Supervisors appoint a County Executive Officer (CEO) to oversee the County budget, day-to-day operations, as well as to advise, assist and act as an agent for the Board of Supervisors in all matters under the Board's jurisdiction.

County operations have an operating budget of approximately $2.3 billion with a staffing allocation of 8,900. The County has excellent financial standing with its Aaa and AAA rating, the highest possible long-term bond rating, from Moody's and Standard & Poor's respectively. The County excels in its financial and business operations which are based in continuous process improvement.

THE AUDITOR CONTROLLER'S OFFICE
By State Law, the Auditor-Controller is charged with the responsibilities normally associated with that of the Chief Financial Officer. The office is charged with the establishment and supervision of the accounting and financial operations of all activities under control of the Board of Supervisors. The Auditor-Controller provides the County with professional fiscal leadership to protect the interests of the citizens of Ventura County; promotes public oversight; and provides accountability. These services are performed in a customer oriented, efficient, economical, and effective manner.

THE POSITION
Under general supervision (I), direction (II), or under general direction (Senior), the Finance Analyst conducts studies to evaluate existing fiscal controls, accounting standards, and/or legislative impact for the Financial Management Section of the Auditor-Controller's Office; performs countywide oversight duties and coordinates multi-agency fiscal programs; develops recommendations/strategies to address structural accounting issues and options.

Each successive level in the Finance Analyst series is distinguished by the scope of independence and responsibility with the level being commensurate with the complexity of tasks, special projects and studies assigned.

Finance Analyst I
At the entry level, the emphasis is on learning the operations and processes related to Financial Reporting conducting simple to moderate fiscal studies that are limited in scope and complexity. Work typically involves a well-defined segment of a major program, or is guided by well precedented projects. As experience is gained, and over a period of time, incumbents will assume the increasingly responsible duties associated with the full journey level of the series; however, formal assignment to the journey level is at the discretion and approval of management.

Finance Analyst II
This is the fully experienced journey-level competent to independently perform the full range of duties assigned and conducts fiscal studies that are difficult in nature requiring an in-depth and practical knowledge and skill in applying this knowledge to the analysis and development of new solutions, methods, approaches or procedures.

Senior Finance Analyst
This is the advanced journey level and conducts the most complex fiscal studies that require a significant level of independent judgment requiring a specialized technical or functional expertise including performance of duties in a project management capacity. Supervisory duties over lower level staff may also be included.

The successful candidate must possess knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and financial reporting; experience with financial statement preparation; and proficiency with Microsoft Office applications such as Excel and Word.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong analytical skills, working knowledge of large automated financial systems, have experience in governmental accounting, the ability to act as team lead, and a desire to continually expand his/her knowledge in the areas of accounting.

APPROXIMATE SALARY
Finance Analyst I: $32.50 - $44.45 per hour
Finance Analyst II: $2,889.13 - $4,044.78 biweekly
Senior Finance Analyst: $3,178.04 - $4,449.26 biweekly

The Financial Analyst I is a Management non-exempt classification and eligible for overtime compensation. The Financial Analyst II and Senior are Management exempt classifications and not eligible for overtime compensation.

Examples Of Duties

Duties at the I level are limited in nature, initially under close supervision, relate to routine tasks and include assisting and/or learning about the fiscal policies, procedures, systems, operations and functions in the Financial Reporting Division. At the II and Senior levels tasks are more complex and performed with more independence. Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Assigned oversight of financial activities of agencies with complex funding streams and operations; responsibilities include, but are not limited to reviewing and monitoring of budgets, reviewing and monitoring of current financial activities based on current trends and historical data; recommends adjustments, if necessary; making sure that the financial activities are in compliance with GAAP or GASB, and in accordance with existing legislation, ordinance or any board actions;
• Assists in the preparation of CAFR including preparation of fund financial statements and corresponding reconciliations of fund balance, related trust entries, accrued liabilities, deferred revenues and other necessary adjustments;
• Reviews and make comments or suggestions on Board Letters taking into consideration the fiscal impact of any recommendation therein and verifying corresponding mandates or legislations referred thereto;
• Interprets new legislations or pronouncements released by authoritative bodies such as GASB, state and federal entities, ordinances and instructions;
• Reviews, proofreads, and reconciles draft CAFR for any discrepancies in amounts, calculations, totals, references, spellings, sources and general presentation prior to publication; reviews and reconciles Department Budget Report of Revenues and Expenditures, a report supplementary to CAFR; prepares reconciliation of County-wide inter fund transactions for consolidation to the CAFR;
• Researches and analyzes changes in legislation, Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), State Controller's Manual, Governmental Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting, Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines;
• Advises and coordinates with departments/agencies on new accounting structure, classifications, internal controls and reporting requirements;
• Performs other duties as required.

In addition to the above duties, the Senior Finance Analyst may also perform the following duties:

• Plans, leads, schedules, assigns and monitors the work of assigned professional and technical staff in assigned fiscal program area;
• Evaluates and reviews accounting policies and reporting systems for large County agencies or groups of agencies for compliance with regulations and reporting requirements;
• Reviews the work of accounting and programming staff in managing, developing or modifying procedures;
• Interprets and advises staff and management on new legislation or pronouncements released by authoritative bodies such as GASB, state and federal entities, ordinances and instructions;
• May develop and coordinate training programs for staff;
• Performs other duties as required.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the examination and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on the eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING and EXPERIENCE
Considerable education and experience which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

The required knowledge, skills, and abilities can also be obtained by a Bachelor's degree with at least eighteen (18) semester units of accounting coursework including:
1) Two (2) upper-division courses of Intermediate Accounting or similar coursework, and
2) Six (6) units of upper-division coursework in the business administration field which may include accounting, business law, economics or other business coursework.
AND
Finance Analyst I
Four years (4) of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for financial reporting.

Finance Analyst II
Five years (5) of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for financial reporting;
OR
One (1) year as a Finance Analyst I for the County of Ventura.

Senior Finance Analyst
Six years (6) of progressively responsible professional experience as an accountant, auditor, or analyst which included responsibilities for financial reporting with one (1) year of which must be at the Project Leader level.
OR
Two (2) years as a Finance Analyst II for the County of Ventura.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Must possess and maintain a valid California driver license.

For this recruitment, the following experience is required:

• Preparing financial statements;
• Performing variance analysis;
• Financial Accounting in a government or business-sector environment;
• Reconciling financial data from multiple sources.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications such as Excel and Word;

Verification of the required college degree and 18 semester units of accounting coursework including: (1) two courses of upper-division Intermediate Accounting or similar coursework, and (2) six units of upper-division coursework in the business administration field.

• Submit your college transcripts/grade reports from an accredited college or university which shows your name, the conferred date of your degree and the major area of study; submit within 3 days of the closing date of this recruitment.
• Unofficial transcripts are acceptable.
• If you need additional time to submit transcripts, contact the analyst conducting the recruitment for an extension.
• Degree(s) from a foreign institution require an academic credential evaluation to determine the U.S. equivalency.
• If the name on this documentation is different from the name on your application, include documents that show the name change (e.g., a marriage certificate).

NOTE: For this recruitment you must show that you have completed two (2) courses of upper-division Intermediate Accounting course-work or similar coursework covering the same material even if you otherwise qualify on County of Ventura work experience.

DESIRED
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.
Experience with:

• Reviewing, analyzing and interpreting changes in legislation affecting governmental financial operations;
• Project management;
• Leading, building, training and coaching teams;
• Time management, setting priorities, planning and organizing work and delegating when necessary.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Knowledge (I/II) to thorough (Sr.) knowledge of: operations, services and activities in assigned fiscal program area; Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) ; laws and regulations affecting governmental financial operations; application of automated systems for financial reporting and accounting purposes; fiscal monitoring and control methods; budgeting methods, techniques and processes; Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) guidelines and processes; project management methods and processes.

Skill in: applying financial principles and regulations to assigned fiscal program area; reconciling financial statements; developing clear and concise fiscal reports, financial statements and related documents; use of computers and related technology including software applications specific to work performed, such as Microsoft Office applications including Word and Excel; time management, setting priorities, planning and organizing work and delegating when necessary.

Ability to: perform complex analytical and critical examination of fiscal operations and activities; train users in the operation of financial systems; exercise sound judgment; understand interrelationships among financial records and documents; analyze financial/accounting data and draw logical conclusions; analyze and evaluate administrative and abstract accounting concepts and procedures; review, analyze and interpret changes in legislation; understand, interpret and apply professional principles, standards and procedural requirements; evaluate and reconcile financial data from multiple financial accounting systems; communicate effectively, both orally and in writing; conduct meetings to obtain agreement; resolve issues and transfer knowledge in areas of responsibility; and establish and maintain effective working relationships with a diverse group of people and work effectively with accounting staff Countywide.

At the Sr. level:
Thorough knowledge of: principles of lead supervision and training; methods of effective team building; different instructional and coaching techniques.

Ability to: plan, organize and direct the work of professional and technical staff.

Recruitment Process

This recruitment will close at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Your application must be received before it closes.

(Previously: This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested in it. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.)

The first review of applications is anticipated to take place on or around March 15, 2021 and will continue until the pool is sufficient to meet business needs.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/jobs . A paper application can be obtained by calling (805) 654-5129. Our address is County of Ventura Human Resources Division, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

Note to Applicants: Sufficient information must be provided under the Education/Work Experience portions of the application and supplemental questionnaire to thoroughly and accurately demonstrate your qualifications to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above sections; however, it may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here for additional information.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying
All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this exam at the time of filing. This questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in removal of the application from further consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying
All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the recruitment process.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION - 100%
A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, with special emphasis on the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.

NOTE: In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence. Applicants must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

ELIGIBLE LIST
Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill present and future Regular (including Temporary, and Fixed-term), Extra Help and Intermittent vacancies for this position and similar positions only. There is currently one (1) Regular vacancy within the Auditor-Controller's Office.

NOTE: If appointed at the lower level, incumbents may be promoted to the higher level without further examination upon meeting the minimum requirements, demonstrating satisfactory performance, and in accordance with the business needs of the department.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION
The selected candidate may be subjected to a thorough post-offer, pre-employment background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Katie Reynolds by e-mail at katie.reynolds@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 654-2563.