School Bus Ops Administrator

Chicago Public Schools • Chicago, IL

2d

About The Position

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 350,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments -- student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.
Job Summary Under the direction of the principal, the School Bus Ops Administrator establishes and maintains the financial internal reporting system and oversees the general management of all financial and business matters for a local school unit or a cluster of schools. This role is crucial for ensuring the financial stability and integrity of school operations, supporting academic progress through efficient resource allocation, and maintaining compliance with financial regulations.

Requirements

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in accounting, business administration, business management, public administration, or a related field of study.
• Minimum of at least four years of directly related financial/business management experience, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Thorough knowledge of the basic principles and practices of accounting.
• Knowledge of the functions and activities of various government funded programs in the CPS.
• Ability to analyze financial transactions and records.
• Ability to understand complex accounting procedures.
• Ability to use sound judgment in evaluating situations and making decisions.
• Ability to operate personal computers using spreadsheet, word processing, and database applications.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Thorough interpersonal and organizational skills.
• Good presentation skills.
• Ability to articulate a vision, set high standards, and effectively guide schools and principals in the realization of expectations set.
• Expertise in leadership development and instructional leadership. Ability to coach directors and managers toward excellence, build capacity of content area teams and develop meaningful and high impact professional communities for teachers and school leaders.
• Strong communication skills (speaking - including presentations - listening, and writing).
• Demonstrate high levels of instructional expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions.
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment.
• Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success.
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals.
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps.

Nice To Haves

• A master's degree in accounting, business administration, business management, public administration, or a related field of study, is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Manages the schools' budget, petty cash fund, and internal accounts.
• Oversees the issuance of checks and verifies the deposit of the schools and students' monies.
• Manages the school's use of discretionary and categorical funds and prepares fund transfers for the Department of Management and Budget as needed.
• Reviews and expedites the processing of all school purchase requisitions, purchase orders, and purchasing contracts.
• Directs the preparation of position opening and closing forms to expedite requests to increase or decrease the number of positions needed at the school.
• Assists the principal in training and monitoring of school personnel assisting in the performance of financial activities for the school.
• Assists internal, state, and all other authorized auditors during audits of the school's budget, petty cash, and internal accounts records.
• Serves as a liaison on matters related to the school's financial activities between the school and Chicago Public Schools' organizational units, local school council members, and all other organizations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time