Director, School Budget And Systems Support

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts 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.
The Office of Budget and Grants Management supports strategic utilization of all resources, aligning them to district priorities, to increase student achievement.
Job Summary
As part of the District's Five Year Vision and the Office of Finance's strategic priorities, OBGM is implementing a portfolio-based model to support CPS school principals and other school leaders based on customer service practices to inform Budget and functional strategy as it relates to the nearly $4B designated for School Budgets. Core elements of the School Resource Strategy are as follows:

• Develop and implement a Continuous Improvement model of support for the School Resource Strategy
• Provide tiered support to Chiefs and Principals to ensure that they are well-positioned to make full and impactful use of their available resources.
• Collaborate with Network Chiefs, Network Teams, Principals, and other school leaders on the alignment of school funding and needs/strategies, especially at schools impacted by enrollment declines.
• Develop and deliver improved training for school staff and school communities to empower local-level leadership to best manage school finances.
• Supervise, mentor, and provide professional learning for Senior School Budget Specialists, and School Budget Specialists

Reporting directly to the Executive Director of School Resource Strategy, the Director, School Budget & Systems Support is responsible for ensuring the continuous fulfillment of the core elements of the strategy and providing leadership and direction to the School Resource Strategy team charged with delivering high-quality, budget support to school leaders.
The Director, School Budget & Systems Support will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Lead School Resource Strategy budget support and Systems implementation strategies to support Executive Director in ensuring schools receive consistent quality, support, and resources necessary to make impactful use of their available resources.
• Support the Executive Director in the leadership and day-to-day operations of the School Resource Strategy Department.
• Assist the Executive Director with the supervision and development of the School Resource Strategy team to ensure managers and specialists have appropriate guidance and that work product meets departmental quality standards.
• Lead system implementation strategy around district resourcing to schools, ensuring that district resourcing strategies are reflected appropriately in budgeting platforms and enterprise financial systems.
• Serve as school-facing lead in the development and maintenance of the budget platform and enterprise financial system functionality.
• Lead internal training and support strategy to ensure School Resource Specialists are equipped with the expertise and Systems knowledge to provide strategic and transactional support to principals and other school-level staff.
• Support development of school user training in budget platform and enterprise financial system.
• Serve as School Resource Strategy (SRS) team lead in liaising with OBGM technical support team, ITS, Talent, and other departments to proactively address school-facing issues and problem-solve new issues in budget platform and enterprise financial system.
• Provide strategic guidance to the School Resource Strategy team and implement best practices for budget system support for school leaders.
• Operate in a coordinated leadership team, overseeing service delivery, monitoring data (call and ticket performance metrics), and ensuring quality management of School Resource Strategy functions. Anticipate customer needs, actively monitor and report on customer feedback and concerns to Central Office leadership.
• Coordinate the supervision and monitoring of School Budget Specialists and Senior School Budget Specialists.
• Support capacity building in schools to address transactional questions and issues effectively.
• Develop and deliver strategic budgetary support to school leaders, with a focus on tiered, differentiated, and proactive assistance.
• Partner with Chiefs, Principals, and other school leaders to coordinate budget development, strategic planning, and reporting on units under the Chief's purview.
• Review and revise analysis for school program support and enrollment analysis requests, making recommendations to the Executive Director.
• Prepare and deliver training on related topics to school and Network office staff individually or in groups.
• Support the planning and development of the team with the Executive Director of School Resource Strategy, including modeling interactions with Chiefs, Principals, and Other School Leaders, leadership coaching, developing continuous improvement practices, peer-to-peer consultation, creating job aids and/or shared work products or references, leading and delivering internal staff Professional Learning, etc.
• Coordinate campaigns and initiatives as assigned by the Executive Director.
• Recruit, onboard, and coach staff to ensure robust learning and career development consistent with the District's values and mission.
• Perform related duties as required.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Budget Analyst must possess the following qualifications:
Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Finance, Business Management, Education, Political Science, or a similar field.

Experience Required:

• Minimum of ten (10) years of relevant experience in finance, budgeting, business operations, or a related field.
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience managing a team.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Expertise using enterprise financial systems as a power-user.
• Ability to develop effective resources, tools, and training content.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; the ability to develop and deliver presentations to diverse stakeholders, including school leaders.
• Excellent customer service skills with both internal and external customers.
• Initiative and accountability.
• Ability to set and articulate a clear vision, set high standards, and effectively guide schools and principals in meeting expectations.
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management, and organizational development.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with various constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure effective system operations.
• Problem-solving skills, data analysis, and the ability to outline valid conclusions and action steps.
• 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.
• Expert level knowledge Microsoft Office Suite; The ability to effectively use Google Suite.

Conditions of Employment
As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. This Chicago residency requirement does not apply to part-time/temporary positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.