Budget Officer

Boulder County, CO; Colorado; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 147,000; Full time

Job summary

Boulder County is seeking a Budget Officer to lead the Office of Financial Management's budgeting and strategy function. This senior role develops, monitors, and forecasts the county budget, advises leadership, and coordinates with the Board of County Commissioners and department heads.

The position is full-time with remote work and 1 day per week in the office at 1325 Pearl St, Boulder, CO. Exempt, CO residency required, salary range $120,384–$146,868; PSLF eligibility; schedule Monday–Friday

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field and five years of governmental accounting experience.
• Three years in a supervisory capacity.
• Strong leadership, analytical, and communication skills.
• Ability to develop long-range financial plans and policy recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the County's annual budget process, including development of budget strategy, instructions, departmental submissions, analysis, recommendations, balancing strategies, public presentations, adoption, and required State submissions.
• Provide year-round financial leadership and budget monitoring, including analysis of revenues, expenditures, appropriations, fund balances, vacancies, personnel costs, and other significant financial trends.
• Lead long-range financial planning and forecasting, identifying structural financial challenges, emerging risks, revenue trends, expenditure pressures, and opportunities to strengthen the County's long-term financial sustainability.
• Serve as a strategic financial advisor to the CFO, Board of County Commissioners, County Administrator, elected officials, department heads, and other County leadership on significant budgetary and financial matters.
• Develop clear financial analyses, scenarios, options, and recommendations that enable County leadership and elected officials to make informed policy and resource-allocation decisions.
• Lead the development and analysis of operating, personnel, capital, and other budget requests, including evaluation of ongoing and one-time financial impacts.
• Direct the analysis of expenditures, revenues, appropriations, fund balances, reserves, and other financial information necessary for budget development, monitoring, forecasting, and decision-making.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Budgeting

Forecasting

Financial analysis

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Five years governmental accounting experience

Tools

Budgeting systems

Financial software

Job description

*This is an internal opportunity. Only current Boulder County employees are eligible to apply.*

The Boulder County Office of Financial Management (OFM) is seeking a strategic, collaborative, and experienced leader to serve as the County's Budget Officer.

The Budget Officer leads Boulder County's Budget and Strategy function and is responsible for the development, monitoring, forecasting, and strategic management of the County's budget. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Budget Officer serves as a key financial advisor to County leadership and works closely with the Board of County Commissioners, elected officials, department heads, and financial leaders across the organization.

This position is responsible for much more than the development of the annual budget. The Budget Officer provides year-round leadership over financial planning, budget monitoring, forecasting, revenue and expenditure analysis, long-range financial planning, capital planning, and evaluation of financial risks and opportunities.

The Budget Officer also leads and develops a professional budget team and is expected to continuously improve the County's budgeting practices, analytical capabilities, financial systems, processes, and customer service.

The successful candidate does not need to have followed a traditional government budgeting career path. Boulder County is interested in candidates who demonstrate strong leadership, financial and analytical capabilities, strategic thinking, sound judgment, change leadership, and the ability to learn complex organizations and financial environments.

This is a full-time, benefited position that will work , Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm. This position will work remote and out of 1325 Pearl St Boulder, Colorado with 1 day/week required in office. Schedule may be altered at the discretion of the Chief Financial Officer. Under Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidelines, this position is exempt.

Boulder County requires its employees to reside in the state of Colorado as of the first day of work.

Hiring Salary Range

$120,384.00 - $146,868.00 Annually

Tentative Hiring Timeline

• Phone Screening: Week of October 5th
• First Round Interviews: Week of October 12th
• Reference Check: Week of October 19th

Boulder County employees may qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Visit studentaid.gov for more information.

1. Lead the County's annual budget process, including development of budget strategy, assumptions, instructions, departmental submissions, analysis, recommendations, balancing strategies, public presentations, adoption, and required State submissions.
2. Provide year-round financial leadership and budget monitoring, including analysis of revenues, expenditures, appropriations, fund balances, vacancies, personnel costs, and other significant financial trends.
3. Lead long-range financial planning and forecasting, identifying structural financial challenges, emerging risks, revenue trends, expenditure pressures, and opportunities to strengthen the County's long-term financial sustainability.
4. Serve as a strategic financial advisor to the CFO, Board of County Commissioners, County Administrator, elected officials, department heads, and other County leadership on significant budgetary and financial matters.
5. Develop clear financial analyses, scenarios, options, and recommendations that enable County leadership and elected officials to make informed policy and resource-allocation decisions.
6. Lead the development and analysis of operating, personnel, capital, and other budget requests, including evaluation of ongoing and one-time financial impacts.
7. Direct the analysis of expenditures, revenues, appropriations, fund balances, reserves, and other financial information necessary for budget development, monitoring, forecasting, and decision-making.
8. Lead or support the development of the County's long-range capital planning and capital budgeting processes, including analysis of affordability, project timing, funding strategies, and impacts on long-term financial plans.
9. Lead the preparation and publication of the County's annual budget document and other financial reports in accordance with applicable statutory requirements, County policies, and recognized governmental budgeting practices.
10. Prepare and oversee development of executive-level financial presentations, narratives, reports, recommendations, and decision materials that clearly communicate complex financial information to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
11. Work collaboratively with departments and elected offices to understand operational needs, evaluate financial requests, identify alternatives, and develop sustainable financial solutions.
12. Lead, supervise, coach, and develop the Budget team, including establishing expectations, assigning work, managing performance, supporting professional development, and creating a collaborative and accountable team environment.
13. Establish and maintain strong working relationships across the County and promote a customer-service approach that balances responsiveness to departments with fiscal accountability and organizational priorities.
14. Lead continuous improvement of County budgeting processes, policies, procedures, analytical tools, and financial practices to improve efficiency, consistency, transparency, and decision-making.
15. Provide leadership over the County's budgeting systems and tools, including business requirements, data integrity, reporting capabilities, user experience, process design, and coordination with financial systems and technology teams.
16. Develop and maintain budget policies, procedures, standards, controls, calendars, and guidance to promote consistent financial management across the organization.
17. Analyze complex or emerging financial issues, identify risks and alternatives, and provide timely recommendations to the CFO and other County leadership.
18. Support the development and implementation of fiscal policies and monitor compliance with adopted policies and financial objectives.
19. Incorporate equity considerations into budget analysis, resource-allocation processes, financial recommendations, and improvements to County financial practices.
20. Represent the Office of Financial Management in meetings, presentations, cross-departmental initiatives, and other Countywide efforts as assigned by the CFO
21. Performs related work, as required
22. May be reassigned in emergency situations

PLEASE NOTE

When completing your application describe all relevant education and experience, as applications are assessed based on the required qualifications listed. Resumes and other attachments are not accepted in lieu of completed applications and will not be reviewed in the initial screening process. Any personally identifiable information (PII) such as name and address will be redacted from applications that meet the minimum screening requirements and are forwarded to the hiring manager. If the hiring manager selects you to advance in the hiring process, your attachments will then be shared with the hiring team.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Boulder County is looking for well qualified candidates to fill our positions. Any combination of relevant education and experience is encouraged. In this position, we are looking for a minimum of

• Abachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Public Administration, Economics, Accounting or related field of study.

AND

• At leastfive years of increasingly responsible professional experience in governmental accounting, includingthree years in a supervisory capacity.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in accounting, or a related field
• C.P.A. and/or C.P.F.O. certification

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

• Significant professional experience leading or managing complex financial, budgetary, operational, programmatic, or organizational functions.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, including responsibility for leading teams, employees, projects, programs, or significant organizational initiatives.
• Experience analyzing complex financial, operational, or organizational issues and developing recommendations for leadership.
• Experience managing multiple priorities, projects, stakeholders, and deadlines in a complex organizational environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information clearly to different audiences.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating across organizational or functional boundaries and building productive stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment, solve complex problems, and make well-reasoned recommendations.

Boulder County is a workplace dedicated to supporting individuals and families of all types and to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful environment for all employees. We prohibit unlawful discrimination against applicants and employees on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.