Budget Director

Salary\: $114,114 - $171,158

Position Grade\: 226M

Department\: Budget Division

Job Type\: Full-Time (Permanent)

Examination Number\: EX1824

Location\: Downtown, St. Louis, MO

The Budget Division serves under the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and is responsible for the development and monitoring of the City of St. Louis’ annual budget and operating plan. The Budget Division provides estimates of available City revenues and works closely with operating departments in reviewing budgetary requirements for supporting City services. Over the course of a year, this office may conduct a variety of fiscal analyses related to special projects such as bond issues, revenue and expenditure trend analyses and potential impact statements on proposed legislation.

The Budget Director is responsible for leading the City’s annual budget process, including the development of revenue forecasts, financial models, expenditure projections, and systems for monitoring budget performance.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities\:

● Leads the planning, development and execution of the City’s operating and capital budgets, evaluating departmental requests, advising elected officials and ensuring compliance with best practices in budgeting and municipal finance.

● Leads and develops a team of professional budget staff and analysts, with responsibility for recruitment, coaching, professional development, performance management, and organizational effectiveness.

● Demonstrates proficiency with standard office technology and financial software, including advanced spreadsheet, database, budgeting, and financial analysis applications.

● Communicates complex financial, budgetary, regulatory, and policy matters clearly and effectively through written reports, presentations, briefings, and discussions with internal and external stakeholders.

● Plans, coordinates, and directs complex, interrelated initiatives involving multiple City departments and stakeholders, while identifying issues, evaluating alternatives, and developing practical solutions.

● Builds effective working relationships and navigates a complex political and organizational environment involving elected officials, department leaders, employees, community stakeholders, and external partners.

● Exercises sound judgment, decisiveness, creativity, and strategic thinking in leading major programs, addressing complex financial challenges, and managing multiple priorities and initiatives.

● Coordinates funding for complex public-private projects.

● Participates in the Mayor’s cabinet meetings and serves as senior advisor to the mayor and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.

Successful Candidates will have\:

● Proven success managing complex departmental negotiations.

● Familiarity with the concepts of outcome-based budgeting.

● Mastery over St. Louis’s specific revenue composition, balancing the vital municipal earnings tax alongside shifting property and sales tax pools.

● Skills in projecting and forecasting in a complex environment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities\:

● Data Utilization\: Requires the ability to perform high-level analysis, including predicting, inferring, envisioning and conceiving. Requires the ability to initiate discussion for planning for future events impacting the organization. Requires the ability to use executive discretion in deciding tactics and/or strategies at the highest organizational level.

● Human Interaction\: Requires the ability to direct a major organizational unit requiring significant internal and external interaction.

● Equipment, Machinery, Tools and Materials Use\: Requires the ability to operate, maneuver and/or provide simple but continuous adjustment on equipment, machinery and tools such as personal computer, calculator, word processing, spreadsheet and database software, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.

● Verbal Aptitude\: Requires the ability to utilize a variety of reference, descriptive and advisory data and information such as revenue and expense reports, financial statements, funding requests, time sheets, annual budgets, manuals, statutes and ordinances, and non-routine correspondence.

● Mathematical Aptitude\: Requires the ability to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; calculate percentages and decimals; may require the ability to utilize principles of basic algebra and interpret graphs. Requires the ability to interpret descriptive statistics and utilize principles of statistical inference and linear programming for forecasting.

● Functional Reasoning\: Requires the ability to apply principles of logical or synthesis functions involving planning and directing of interrelated activities or multiple departments. Ability to deal with several concrete and abstract variables in working out approaches to major problems.

● Situational Reasoning\: Requires the ability to exercise the judgment, decisiveness and creativity required in critical and/or unexpected situations involving moderate risk to the organization.

● Environmental Factors\: Work is normally performed in an office environment under generally safe and comfortable conditions where exposure to irate individuals poses a very limited risk of injury.

● Physical Requirements\: Tasks involve the ability to exert light physical effort in sedentary to light work, but which may involve some lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling of objects weighing five to ten pounds such as office supplies. Tasks may involve extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation.

● Sensory Requirements\: Requires the ability to recognize and identify degrees of similarities or differences between characteristics of colors and shapes associated with job-related objects, materials and tasks, such as graphs. Requires the ability to distinguish objects clearly at close-range, such as budget line item detail.