Financial Services Officer

READ THIS ENTIRE BULLETIN FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO REAPPLY FOR THIS RECRUITMENT. 

THIS IS A REOPENING OF AN EXISTING EXAMINATION.

If you have previously submitted an application for the Financial Services Officer, Examination #19-0217-01, and choose to reapply, you must contact the analyst at Nicole.Lewis-Bolton@acgov.org to have your previous application released back to you.  The scores and dispositions of candidates for this examination will be merged with previous exam participants. If you reapply, your new score/disposition will replace your current score/disposition. If you do not wish to change your score/disposition, you are not required to reapply. Please note that if you previously applied and qualified, you may not participate within six (6) months of your disposition notice. If you did not qualify, you may reapply sixty (60) days from your disposition notice.

Applications must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Applications will only be accepted on-line.

 

Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification.

 

Qualified bilingual persons who speak English and are also fluent in: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Korean, Mien, Tagalog, Amharic, Farsi, Dari, Tigrigna, Russian, Romanian or Sign Languages are especially encouraged to apply. There is an additional bi weekly compensation for persons in positions designated bilingual. Qualified candidates may be tested to demonstrate language proficiency.

 

 

 

THE COUNTY

Alameda County, located on the east side of San Francisco Bay, is California's seventh-largest county.  The County employs 9,700 full-time employees and operates on an annual budget of $3.4 billion.  Oakland, the County seat, is California's eighth largest city.  One and a half million people call Alameda County home and live in a variety of incorporated cities, unincorporated communities and rural areas.  As a major urban county, Alameda provides a full range of services to its citizens.  The County is a blend of culturally and ethnically diverse communities, and its mixture of cosmopolitan and suburban areas provides the perfect environment for families and their active lifestyles.  The County offers extensive cultural resources, countless recreational opportunities and an array of fine public and private colleges and universities.  

 

THE POSITION

Under administrative direction, to manage and oversee various financial service staff and functions at an agency or departmental level; to serve in a consultative role to management in addressing and resolving financial, revenue, contract, grant and related administrative, programmatic and policy matters; to facilitate the implementation of a wide variety of programs and projects; and to do related work as required.

 

Positions in this class normally exercise full management authority for making decisions and implementing programs to facilitate the effective provision of financial, business, administrative, and analytical services to the assigned organizational unit. Areas of responsibility normally include budget development and processing, contract negotiation and administration, grants management, and/or financial planning. In addition, responsibilities may include specified administrative functions such as personnel, purchasing, management and operational analysis and the provision of office and related support. Supervision of professional and paraprofessional staff is also required. This class is distinguished from Administrative Services Officer, which has management level responsibility in the broad administrative services area with financial services being of a secondary nature. It is further distinguished from Administrative/Financial Services Manager, which, as a second-level manager, directs and oversees both administrative and financial services at an agency level or for a large county department with complex, multiple funding sources and contracting and reporting activities.

 

THE VACANCY

The immediate vacancies are located in the Department of Environmental Health; however, please note that the eligible list resulting from this recruitment and selection process may be utilized to fill these vacancies and any future vacancies county-wide which may arise within the next year.

 

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications and knowledge and skills below, the ideal candidate will have:

 

• Demonstrated considerable technical and professional astuteness and financial and programmatic expertise in the public sector, as it relates to budget, finance, contracts and grant administration.
• Applied strong supervisory skills and a demonstrated ability to train, coach, counsel and manage subordinate staff in order to optimize individual performance.
• Collaborated and built consensus with exceptional organizational skills and a demonstrated ability to plan and organize work for self and others in order to ensure that the work was completed efficiently and in a timely manner.
• Worked with a wide variety of stakeholders to identify opportunities and built strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, units, or organizations to help achieve business goals.
• Used strong business acumen to understand and improve business results; use one’s understanding of major business functions, industry trends, and own organization’s position to contribute to effective business strategies and tactics pertaining to social services.
• Effectively met customer needs and applied a customer centered approach; built productive internal and external customer relationships and took responsibility for customer satisfaction.
• Acted strategically and creatively in forecasting the financial needs of programmatic areas by identifying & understanding complex problems, exercising good judgment in making effective decisions, and formulating and articulating action plans proactively and collaboratively.
• Effectively communicated and clearly conveyed information and ideas; and interacted well with others by relating to people from varied backgrounds and in different situations; and who exemplifies understanding, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness.
• Personal satisfaction and pride contributing as a valued organizational leader with direct responsibilities for the finances of the organization.

For a detailed listing of the essential responsibilities and core competency requirements for this position, please click here for the job description.

EITHER

The equivalent to three years of full-time experience at the level of or higher than the class of Financial Services Specialist II or Administrative Specialist II in the Alameda County classified service.

Completion of the Alameda County Management Academy “Management & Supervision Certificate Program” may be substituted for six (6) months of the required qualifying experience for the internal patterns.


OR
Education:

The equivalent to graduation from a four-year accredited college or university (180 quarter units or 120 semester units) with major coursework in business or public administration, economics, financial management or a field related to the work.

(Additional professional-level financial planning and support experience may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.)

AND
Experience:

The equivalent of three years of full-time professional-level experience in independently performing complex financial planning or analysis, budget development and processing, contract negotiation and administration and/or grant management at a level equivalent to or higher than the Alameda County classified service class of Financial Services Specialist II, preferably in a public agency setting. This experience must have included at least one year of supervising the work of others.

License: Possession of a valid California Motor Vehicle Operator’s license.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

The most suitably qualified candidates will possess he following competencies:

Knowledge of:

• Management principles and practices, including work plan¬ning, employee supervision and business management.
• Financial planning, rate setting and revenue enhancement principles and strategies.
• Principles and practices of governmental budget development and administration.
• Principles and practices of contract and grant administration.
• Financial record-keeping and auditing practices.
• Practices and techniques of administrative analysis and report preparation.
• Computer applications related to the work.
• General administrative principles, including personnel, purchasing and business management.
• Office administrative practices and procedures, including records management and the operation of standard office equipment.

Ability to:

• Serve effectively as a member of a departmental management team.
• Manage a variety of financial functions, including budgeting and contracts and grants administration.
• Plan, supervise, review and evaluate the work of others, either directly or through subordinate supervision.
• Plan and conduct complex financial, revenue and strategic planning analyses.
• Provide sound technical advice on financial matters to departmental management.
• Conduct and coordinate financial audits.
• Monitor legislative and regulation changes and recommend operational and procedural changes as required.
• Interpret, explain and apply complex policies, regulations and procedures.
• Prepare clear and accurate reports, correspondence, procedures and other written materials.
• Represent the department and the County in meetings with others.
• Organize and prioritize work and meet critical deadlines.
• Exercise sound independent judgment within established policies and guidelines.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of the work.

The examination will consist of the following steps: 1) A review of candidates' applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. 2) Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process which is a review of candidates' Supplemental Questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants to continue in the process. 3) Those candidates selected as best qualified will move on to the next step in the examination process, an oral interview examination which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score. The oral interview examination may contain situational exercises.

 

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.

 

We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

 

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position.  Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

 

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.

 

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance.  The following dates are tentative and subject to change based on the needs of the Agency:  

 

TENTATIVE SELECTION PLAN: 

Deadline for Filing	5:00pm, Friday, August 28, 2020
Review of Minimum Qualification	September 4, 2020
Supplemental Questionnaire Review for Best Qualified	September 21- 24, 2020
Oral Interview Exam**	October 8-9, 2020

**The combined oral examination/hiring interview, in addition to establishing an eligibility list, may serve as the final selection interview for vacancies in this classification.

 

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN

 

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statues.  To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes.

 

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs/divisions/ps/application.htm

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

 

For your Health & Well-Being

·         Medical – HMO & PPO Plans

·         Dental – HMO & PPO Plans

·         Vision or Vision Reimbursement

·         Share the Savings

·         Basic Life Insurance 

·         Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees) 

·         County Allowance Credit

·         Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance

·         Short-Term Disability Insurance

·         Long-Term Disability Insurance

·         Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services

·         Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

·         Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)

·         Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

·    11 paid holidays

·    Floating Holidays

·    Vacation and sick leave accrual

·    Vacation purchase program

·    Catastrophic Sick Leave

·    Employee Mortgage Loan Program

·    Group Auto/Home Insurance

·    Pet Insurance

·    Commuter Benefits Program

·    Guaranteed Ride Home

·    Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)

·    Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)

·    Child Care Resources

·    1^st United Services Credit Union 

 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, acgov.org and Noreply@jobaps.com as  accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page.

 

Please take the steps recommended above to insure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment.

 

 

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box Noreply@jobaps.com are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions, please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied.

 

 

Nicole Lewis-Bolton, Human Resources Analyst II

Human Resource Services, County of Alameda

(510) 272-6468 • nicole.lewis-bolton@acgov.org

 

 

Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve, and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of:  race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.