Controller
City of Santa Fe Springs
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Job summary
Merced College seeks a strategic Controller to lead the District’s financial operations, including accounting, treasury, grants accounting, and financial reporting. The role ensures regulatory compliance and strong internal controls while advising leadership on fiscal policy and sustainability.
The Controller will manage external audits, oversee the Bursar/Student Fees Office, and drive optimization of financial software and processes to support student learning and institutional excellence.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or related field; four years of related experience.
- Strong knowledge of public sector accounting, budgeting, and BAM—Budget and Accounting Manual.
- Experience leading internal controls and external audits.
Responsibilities
- Plan, organize, and evaluate the District’s fiscal infrastructure under the Director of Business & Fiscal Services.
- Oversee accounts payable/receivable and general accounting practices, ensuring regulatory compliance.
- Direct the external audit process and support accreditation and reporting obligations.
- Manage treasury, cash management, and grants accounting to optimize resources.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Merced College is seeking a strategic, collaborative, and forward-thinking Controller to play a pivotal role in advancing the College's mission of empowering students through accessible, high-quality education and strengthening our community through opportunity and innovation. As a key member of the Business & Fiscal Services leadership team, the Controller oversees the District's core financial operations, including accounting, treasury and cash management, grants accounting, financial reporting, audit coordination, and internal controls. This position serves as a trusted advisor to District leadership, ensuring fiscal integrity, regulatory compliance, and the responsible stewardship of public resources that support student learning, equity, and institutional excellence. If you are a dedicated financial professional who thrives on strategic problem-solving, operational excellence, and making a meaningful impact in higher education, we invite you to join Merced College in building a strong financial foundation for student success and our community.
As you consider this opportunity, know that Merced College is more than a community college — we are a catalyst for transformation, redefining higher education and setting new standards for excellence. Serving nearly 20,000 students each year, we are proud to be a leading center of learning and opportunity in California’s Central Valley.
Founded in 1962, Merced College blends a strong tradition of academic excellence with forward-thinking innovation to create an inclusive and engaging environment for students and employees alike. Committed to the well-being, growth, and professional success of our team, we foster collaboration and a supportive culture where every employee is empowered to make a difference. Located in the heart of California’s Central Valley, the City of Merced offers a welcoming community of more than 90,000 residents, with easy access to the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Yosemite National Park.
If you are passionate about innovation, equity, and student success, we invite you to join the Merced College team.
At Merced College, students are our focus, and we are known by their success. We transform lives through education and workforce development.
- Degree/Certificate Programs
- Transfer
- Career Technical Education
- Workforce Training
- Lifelong Learning
- Basic Skills
- Community Engagement
This is an exempt classified administrator position. Under limited direction of the Director of Business & Fiscal Services, the Controller provides high-level administrative leadership, planning, and technical direction over the District’s centralized financial infrastructure. The position provides general oversight over the Bursar's Office and holds comprehensive operational accountability for the core functional areas of accounts payable, accounts receivable, general accounting for the District, grants accounting, treasury, and cash management.
The Controller directly manages the external audit of the District, serves as an expert advisor on fiscal policy, and holds the authority for managing, monitoring, and enforcing internal control frameworks throughout the District to ensure alignment with state guidelines and the Budget and Accounting Manual (BAM). Additionally, the position assists federal, state, and regional compliance reporting, facilitates institutional accreditation initiatives, and manages the deployment and optimization of specialized financial software and support technology networks.
Director of Business and Fiscal Services
Management Range 4
Salary will be commensurate with education and experience
- Assist with planning, organizing, directing, and evaluating the daily operations of the District’s fiscal infrastructure under the direction of the Director of Business & Fiscal Services (DBFS).
- Manage, implement, and monitor robust internal control systems throughout the District to safeguard public assets and maintain compliance with accounting practices.
- Act as a key advisor to District leadership, the DBFS, and administrative personnel on overarching fiscal policy and financial sustainability.
- Evaluate the feasibility of college services within budget parameters to maximize the use of financial resources
- May serve as a delegate representative, and accounting and fiscal advisory for the District’s auxiliary foundations and organizations.
- Provide technical management and operational oversight over accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general accounting workflows for the District.
- Ensure that all financial ledgers, transactional cycles, and general accounting practices meet regulatory compliance and conform to the California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual (BAM).
- Manage the District’s Treasury and Cash Management programs, including cash flow forecasting, and the reconciliation of treasury reserves with the general ledger.
- Direct and monitor grants accounting to safeguard federal, state, and local funding allocations and ensure compliance with third-party reporting boundaries.
- Serve as the primary administrative lead managing the annual external audit of the District; coordinate activities, resolve inquiries, formulate responses, and compile necessary records.
- Manage the collection, verification, compilation, and submission of critical institutional reporting instruments, including the CCCO Annual Financial and Budget Report (CCFS-311), the ACCJC Financial Report, and the IPEDS financial report.
- Support the writing, preparation, and administrative response efforts for the District's ongoing accreditation self-reporting processes.
- Participate in the college-wide Integrated Planning and Program Review process to effectively align fiscal allocations with strategic institutional and departmental objectives.
- Advise and assist in the support, deployment, implementation, and continual optimization of the District’s financial and support technology systems to maximize processing accuracy and data integrity.
- Analyze complex financial variables, statistical data, and state fiscal trends to mitigate potential budget variances and draft operational recommendations.
- Direct, manage, and evaluate assigned professional fiscal staff, incorporating recommendations for hiring and the execution of performance evaluations.
- Provide administrative direction and general oversight over the Bursar and the Student Fees Office.
- Prepare and present financial statements, spreadsheets, and fiscal overviews for public, committee, and Board review.
- Represent the District and the Department at workshops, panels, and community-related boards.
- Demonstrate sensitivity to and an understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.
- Performs other related duties as assigned
- Advanced principles, practices, and theories of public sector accounting, auditing, budgeting, and financial administration.
- Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) statements and the specific regulatory codes of the California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual (BAM).
- Internal control design, financial risk mitigation, and fund/cost accounting methods.
- Integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and specialized financial reporting technologies.
- State and federal compliance metrics linked to CCCO, ACCJC, and IPEDS reporting structures.
- Manage, develop, and evaluate the output of a multi-faceted institutional fiscal department.
- Analyze and interpret highly complex financial data to provide clear, actionable policy advice.
- Establish, monitor, and enforce uniform internal control processes across a diverse college district.
- Lead technical software transitions and maximize the utility of business systems.
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, finance, business administration, or a closely related field AND four years of job-related experience OR the equivalent education and experience.
The stated education and experience requirements are the required minimum qualifications for this job. However, advanced degrees, certificates and/or licenses to substitute for the experience requirement may be allowed for hiring flexibility. If certificates and/or licenses are used to substitute for the experience requirement, employee must maintain certificates and/or licenses.
A valid California Class “C” driver’s license. Travel to locations throughout the District may be required.
The conditions herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.
Work is performed primarily in an office environment with some travel to different sites; incumbents may be required to work extended hours including evenings and weekends.
- Hear and understand speech at normal levels
- Communicate so others will be able to clearly understand normal conversation
- Read printed matter and computer screens
- Stand or sit for prolonged periods of time
- Bend, twist, stoop, kneel, crawl, push, and pull
- Reach in all directions
- Work at a desk, conference table or in meetings of various configurations
- Operate office equipment requiring repetitive hand movement and fine coordination including use of a computer keyboard
See in the normal visual range with or without correction.
Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction.
Applicants deemed highly qualified for the position will be invited to participate in onsite oral interviews conducted by a screening committee. A limited number of candidates will be selected to move forward to the interview stage.
Interviews are tentatively scheduled for September 16, 2026 with in-person final interviews scheduled for September 17, 2026.
- Medical (Anthem Blue Cross) $100 deductible for each family member or $300 deductible per family paid by employee each calendar year. 100% coverage after deductible is paid (except for emergency room visits which cost $100 unless the person is admitted to the hospital).
- Prescription (Navitus) Pharmacy costs are $3.00 for up to a 30-day supply of generic medications and a $15.00 co-payment for brand-name medications; at Costco, a 30-day supply of generic medications and a 90-day supply by mail are $0.00, while brand-name medications cost $15.00 for a 30-day supply and $35.00 for a 90-day supply.
- Dental (Delta Dental - Incentive Plan)
- Plan pays 70% the first calendar year that the plan is used
- 80% paid second year
- 90% paid third year
- 100% paid fourth year
- 100% will be paid each year thereafter unless member does not visit the dentist each year for cleanings/check-ups.
- $1,500 lifetime maximum for each enrollee.
- Vision (VSP) $5.00 co-pay for exam every calendar year. The plan pays $150 for frames, anything over $150 is paid by the member. Single vision, lined bifocal and lined trifocal lenses are covered in full.
- $50,000 life insurance policy on employee
- Short-term and long-term disability.
The selected candidate must be fingerprinted and tested for tuberculosis at his/her own expense prior to the start of employment. In compliance with the Immigration Reform Act of 1986, all new employees are required to verify their identity and the right to work in the United States. All offers of employment are subject to approval by the Board of Trustees. The applicant must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations.
Individuals with disabilities may request any needed accommodation to participate in the application process. Please submit your request with your application to the Human Resources Office.
- Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
- Classic members - 7% and the college pays 26.68%.
- New members (PEPRA) – 8% and the college pays 26.68%.
- State Teachers Retirement System (STRS)
- Members prior to 1/1/13 – 10.250% and the college pays 19.10%
- Members after 1/1/13 – 10.205% and the college pays 19.10%
- The District and the employee do NOT pay into Social Security
- Holidays: 11 paid plus 5 days during Christmas.
- Vacation: 2 days per month.
- Sick: 12 days per year each fiscal year.
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