Director Administration - Utility Finance

City of Chattanooga•Chattanooga, TN

7h•Onsite

About The Position

Join the City of Chattanooga Team. Chattanooga is a vibrant and growing community known as the "Scenic City" for its natural beauty and innovation. The City of Chattanooga's workforce is committed to excellence in public service, ensuring the city thrives through a wide range of municipal services. We offer careers with purpose, competitive compensation, work-life balance, exceptional wellness programs, and opportunities for growth. This position is part of the Wastewater - Administration department and is a stand-alone role focused on directing and leading the day-to-day activities and operations of utility work areas, including sewer billing, contracts, procurement, payroll, warehouse services, budget management, and work order management. The role involves fiscal oversight, financial planning, leading financial planning, and serving as staff lead for engagement with state and federal officials regarding loan programs. It also includes managing and overseeing accounting, invoicing, revenue collection, and fund disbursement activities, as well as analyzing financial data, overseeing purchasing and warehousing, and monitoring contracts. The Director will direct staff, including prioritizing work, conducting performance evaluations, ensuring training, and maintaining a safe working environment. This role also involves leading division work groups, overseeing personnel activities in conjunction with HR, and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders. The Director will represent the City and/or the Regional Wastewater System at various meetings and events, manage the division’s agenda items for the City Council, and prepare various documentation. The position requires interpreting rules, policies, and procedures, and may support continuous improvement activities and represent the City's interests towards suppliers and contractors.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration or a related field and six (6) years of progressively responsible management experience involving planning, directing, or coordinating the operations of companies, public sector, or private sector organizations, to include managing daily operations, budgeting, staffing functions, and human resources; or any combination of equivalent experience and education.
Valid Driver’s License
Knowledge of managerial and leadership principles and practices; public administration principles and practices; property management principles and practices; public relations principles; budgeting principles; contract development, administration and management principles; strategic planning principles; sustainability principles; environmental and natural resources management; conservation; human consumption management; research methods; financial management principles; program development and administration principles and practices; procurement principles and practices; project management principles and practices; construction principles and practices; negotiation principles; mathematical concepts; customer service principles and practices; applicable federal, state and local laws, ordinances, codes, rules, regulations, policies and/or procedures; policy and procedure development practices.
Skill in monitoring and evaluating the work of subordinate staff; prioritizing and assigning work; setting and monitoring performance standards; analyzing issues and problems related to operations, services, and management information to direct the development of project plans, develop complex programs, present and obtain consensus on recommendations, processes, goals, and solutions; directing the completion of projects; performing mathematical calculations; in using spreadsheet, word processing and database software to review, analyze, and compile data and reports; implementing public relations; preparing and analyzing reports; reading, comprehending, and reviewing financial information; making program decisions based on financial considerations; adapting to rapidly changing administrative and operational requirements; interpreting and applying applicable laws, ordinances, codes, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures; analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, projecting consequences of proposed actions, and making recommendations in support of organizational goals; conducting negotiations; handling multiple tasks simultaneously; directing the development and management of; collaborating with external agencies; and, communication and interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with subordinate employees, coworkers, supervisor, community groups, and the general public, sufficient to exchange or convey information and to receive work direction.
Responding to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, and the business community; presentations to administrators, the public, and boards.
background check

Nice To Haves

Positions in this class typically require fingering, grasping, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions.
Sedentary Work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Responsibilities

Direct and lead the day-to-day activities and operations of the following utility work areas: Sewer billing; Blanket contracts, procurement, invoicing, and requisitioning; Capital contracts, procurement, invoicing, and requisitioning; Division payroll functions; Warehouse services, including asset management, procurement, and storage of equipment, parts, and other supplies; Budget, both operating and capital; Work order management.
Develop and administer the division budget; provides overall fiscal oversight to the division-wide budget, including procurement and budget policies and procedures, approvals of requisitions and change orders.
Approves expenditures; reviews financial statements.
Maintains the utility financial model.
Proposes an annual budget ordinance that includes (when required) annual rate and fee increases.
Leads financial planning to ensure the short and long-term fiscal health of the utility and enterprise fund.
Serves as staff lead for engagement with state and federal officials regarding state and federal utility loan programs, including SRF and WIFIA.
May work with consultants, develop and oversee the annual capital budget and program.
Manages and oversees accounting, invoicing, revenue collection, and fund disbursement activities.
Analyzes, compiles, and communicates financial data to assist in decision-making.
Oversees purchasing and warehousing functions.
Monitors contracts for compliance with guidelines and specifications.
Directs staff, to include prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff are trained appropriately; ensuring employees follow policies and procedures as required by the City Employee Instruction Guide; maintaining a healthy and safe working environment; and making hiring, termination, and disciplinary recommendations.
Leads the day-to-day activities of applicable division work groups, which include planning, coordinating, administering, and evaluating programs, projects, processes, procedures, systems, and standards.
Oversight of department's personnel activities, including staffing, hiring process, employee actions, employee evaluations, discipline, salary administration, and employee relations in conjunction with the City's Human Resource Department.
Communicates and collaborates with internal departments, external consultants, vendors, external agencies, regulatory officials, and/or other interested parties to coordinate work activities, exchange information, and resolve problems.
Facilitates collaborative and innovative problem-solving and decision-making processes to address operational circumstances or operational issues.
Serve on the Wastewater Leadership Team to ensure the execution of the division's mission and strategic plans and may act on behalf of the Deputy Administrator as requested.
Represents the City and/or the Regional Wastewater System at a variety of internal and/or external meetings, public events, training sessions, on committees, and/or other related events or groups in order to receive and/or convey information pertaining to City policy, projects, or programs.
This includes managing the division’s items on the City Council agenda and working with City and departmental staff on external communications with citizens and the news media.
May prepare, review, interpret, and analyze a variety of information, data, and reports; make recommendations based on findings; communicate pertinent information to internal and external parties.
May prepare resolutions and ordinances, requests for proposal, MOUs, and other documentation
Directs and manages subordinate wastewater utility staff, to include: prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff is trained; ensuring that employees follow policies and procedures; maintaining a healthy and safe working environment; and making hiring, termination, and disciplinary recommendations.
Approves leave requests.
Performs departmental leadership duties, including developing policies, operating procedures, rules, regulations, and work methods, and makes recommendations for their improvement.
Formulates long- and short-range goals and objectives for better operating efficiency.
Evaluates staff procedures on a continuous basis; recommends and implements improvements where necessary.
Interprets rules, policies, and procedures for staff members.
May drive and support continuous improvement activities related to safety, quality, and cost.
May represent the City of Chattanooga’s interests towards suppliers and contractors.
May compile and provide reports related to the area of responsibility.
May cooperate and collaborate with groups and individuals across all departments and divisions, operations, engineering, and other service units, with a focus on achieving optimal results/solutions.
May perform all tasks and assignments in accordance with The City of Chattanooga’s policies and procedures.
Must meet regular attendance requirements.
Must be able to maintain good interpersonal relationships with staff, co-workers, managers, and citizens.
Must accomplish the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations, in a timely manner.
Performs other duties as assigned.