Position: Senior Budget Analyst (40 hour/12 month)

Finance Department

Overview of Cambridge Public Schools:

Educating about 7,000 students JK-12, the Cambridge Public Schools includes award winning faculty, cutting edge technology, and innovative programs. While each of our public schools is unique, they are joined in a shared vision of rigorous, joyful, and culturally responsive learning plus personalized support for every student. Over 30% of CPS students speak a language other than English at home, and over 65 languages are spoken by our families. Among the most common are Spanish, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, and Portuguese. Our schools proudly embrace this diversity.

The Opportunity:

The Senior Budget Analyst is responsible for assisting in the management of the Cambridge Public School’s budget and related financial operations. The Senior Budget Analyst has a critical role in budget development and monitoring, position management, grant administration, purchasing, accounts payable, payroll, and reporting and compliance. Equally important is the Senior Budget Analyst’s role in supporting the mission of the school district through providing assistance and guidance to principals in managing school fiscal resources. This is a great opportunity for a mission-driven professional who would like to utilize their understanding of finance and accounting best practices to make a significant impact on the lives of children. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Play a leading role in the development of the district’s $200 million budget and annual budget publication, including writing and editing key sections.
• Provide analysis of departmental, program, and grant budgets to provide Finance leadership and administrators with financial modeling, trend analysis, forecasting, and projections for budget development and management.
• Manage a portfolio of schools and departments, processing all financial transactions, including budget transfers, expenditure reclassification, agreement approvals, position changes, and responding to requests for budget information.
• Enter and maintain accurate financial data and run reports from personnel and financial databases (PeopleSoft).
• Correct and edit individual payroll entries for the financial database.
• With a focus on building organizational capacity, provide assistance, guidance and training to school principals, other administrators, and clerical staff in managing their budgets and addressing fiscal issues.
• Manage grant administration, including guiding and assisting departments in the development of grant budgets, tracking grant revenue, monitoring encumbrances and expenditures, and preparing required reports.
• Contribute to the end-of-year financial report to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), keep track of, and oversee the preparation of other required reports.
• Support all CPS internal and external audits, including A133s.
• Collaborate with key internal partners including the City of Cambridge and its departments, other finance offices, and administrative departments.
• Research accounting/budget history and conduct data collection for special projects.
• Develop, review, and maintain up to date documentation of financial procedures for use by school and department administrators and by internal finance staff.
• Perform other related duties, as assigned.

Your Skill Set:

The incoming Senior Budget Analyst will possess many, though perhaps not all, of the following characteristics and qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree required. Master’s degree in public administration, business or related field preferred.
• Three to five years of related experience, including budget, grants management, accounting, and financial administration, including financial modeling, trend analysis, and forecasting.
• Refined project management and organizational skills, with the ability to multi-task and seamlessly manage various priorities and tasks simultaneously in a dynamic environment while meeting deadlines.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge required, and at least 3 years in nonprofit accounting is strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical aptitude, with an ability to see the big picture while maintaining impeccable attention to detail.
• Ability to identify and solve problems creatively.
• Strong communication skills (both written and oral), including the ability to communicate effectively across a diversity of audiences.
• Strong customer service orientation.
• Understanding of how to maintain confidential, sensitive and/or secure information and documents.
• Knowledge of budgeting for personnel and human resources practices, and experience working closely with human resources and other administrative departments.
• Advanced skill with standard computer applications, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and the ability to prepare clear and accurate reports, charts and tables for non-finance audiences.
• Experience with PeopleSoft or similar financial applications, including query writing, is highly desirable.

Cambridge Public Schools is committed to slowing and/or stopping the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, as a condition of employment with Cambridge Public Schools, all new hires onboarding after Monday, October 25th, 2021 will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 no later than their first day of work.

Terms of Employment: 40 hours per week, 12 months per year. Competitive benefits package.

Salary: $79,120.35 - $93,060.38

How to Join Our Team:

Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity. 

At the Cambridge Public Schools, we are committed to cultivating an environment where diverse perspectives and backgrounds are embraced, acknowledging that a team reflecting diversity of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and veteran status allows us to serve our communities better. To that end, we welcome and encourage applicants to bring their authentic selves when considering employment opportunities within our school district.