Budget Director

Find a rewarding career making a difference: Join the Office of the Attorney General!

 
WHO WE ARE
The Office of the Attorney General/Department of Law is the “People’s Lawyer.” The Attorney General, Phil Weiser, was elected by the people of Colorado and is the State’s chief lawyer and law enforcement official. Our vision for the Department of Law is: “Together, we serve Colorado and its people, advancing the rule of law, protecting our democracy and promoting justice for all.” Our core values and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, drive our actions and demonstrate our focus on being principled public servants who are innovative and better together.

Visit our website to learn more: https://coag.gov/.

Description of Job

This position is open only to residents of Colorado.

The Budgeting Unit provides strategic budgetary planning, guidance, and support to meet Department of Law (DOL) objectives and provides the efficient delivery of services.

WHAT YOU WILL DO
The Budget Director (Budget & Policy Analyst IV) reports to and collaborates with the department’s Chief Financial Officer to provide leadership and management of the Department’s budget by establishing and executing broad financial policies and strategies for the annual $146M budget and spending plan from a variety of funding sources including general fund, appropriated cash-funds, non-appropriated custodial funds, and federal funds.

The Budget Director is responsible for budgetary and fiscal analysis and providing direction regarding all budget-related activities, such as annual budget creation, fiscal note preparation, and supplemental/budgetary amendment requests. This role ensures accurate, timely submissions to the Joint Budget Committee (“JBC”), Office of the State Auditor (“OSA”), Office of the State Controller (“OSC”), and Office of State Planning & Budget (“OSPB”). Additionally, this position provides budgetary, legislative, and policy guidance to support Departmental objectives and assists leadership in aligning resources with departmental goals.

Job responsibilities include:

Budget Direction and Oversight

• Manage the Department of Law budget and interpret business needs set out by the Strategic Plan
• Determine systems and provide oversight to ensure the DOL can implement Attorney General initiatives
• Actively manage budget expenditures and authorizes spending by sections
• Determine whether to approve or deny requests based on existing budget and spending authority/ revenue
• Determine impact of expenditures on the Department
• Oversee, coordinate, and finalize the Department’s budget request and all written correspondence with Joint Budget Committee staff
• Develop Statewide Common Policy figures for Legal Services to State Agencies (LSSA), coordinating with client Budget Directors (including financial staff for Institutions of Higher Education), DOL attorneys, and JBC staff
• Determine the best strategies to advance Department initiatives through the budget process, accommodating for differing sister agency input, to best support good public policy for the State and Department
• Monitor and adjust resource allocations to address evolving Department needs, coordinating with program leaders to reallocate funds as required to meet both strategic goals and unexpected demands within established budgetary limits
• Forecast budget availability to advise and direct internal business decisions on resource implementation consistent with Department strategic initiatives and priorities
• Determine whether expenditures are in compliance with legislative intent against appropriated/allocated budgets
• Ensure compliance with appropriation headnotes, footnotes, and expenditure limits in alignment with legislative intent and state fiscal rules
• Collaborate with program staff to set and adjust fees for cash-funded programs, ensuring sufficient revenue to support programmatic operations
• Monitor cash fund balances and grant expenditures to ensure compliance with statutory reserve requirements, spending authority limits, and grant deliverables

Fiscal Note Analysis

• Coordinate and facilitate the analysis and preparation of fiscal notes for all legislation potentially impacting the DOL
• Draft synopsis of bills, analyze work to be performed, and resources needed within the Department to perform the work and what type of legal attorney work is needed (rulemaking/ litigation/ GC)
• Perform financial analysis to estimate fiscal impact of bills or other proposed measures, demonstrating the assumptions and calculations (potential litigation, rulemaking, etc.) to generate resources needed for implementation

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
 
Must meet one of the following combinations of education/experience to meet the qualifications: Please document all relevant experience in detail on your application. Experience will not be inferred or assumed. Any part-time experience listed will be prorated. 

• Eight (8) years of professional experience in budget analysis, development and implementation. Experience must include public sector budget experience.

OR

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in business, business administration, economics, finance, statistics, government, political science or a closely related field AND
• Four (4) years of professional experience in budget analysis, development and implementation. Experience must include public sector budget experience.

OR

• A combination of relevant education and experience that equals eight (8) years of education from an accredited college or university with coursework in business, business administration, economics, finance, statistics, government, political science or a closely related field AND
• Four (4) years of professional experience in budget analysis, development and implementation. Experience must include public sector budget experience.

OR

• A current, valid licensure as a CPA by the Colorado Board of Accountancy AND
• Two (2) years of professional experience in budget analysis, development and implementation. Experience must include public sector budget experience.

Preferred Qualifications: In addition to the minimum qualifications, if you possess any of the following specifically include the details on your application, as this information will be used to assess your qualifications and may be used to determine a top group of applicants.

• Knowledge of Colorado state or public sector fiscal processes, including experience with the Colorado Operations Resource Engine (CORE) system
• Knowledge of the Colorado legislative process, including the development of fiscal notes
• Experience creating, managing and executing budgets as the primary role of the job for an organization with multiple funding streams
• Knowledge and ability to write financial reports and make formal presentations of financial data to internal and external parties
• Ability to use job-specific software including databases, spreadsheets, word processing, and analytical tools
• Ability to work effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders
• Experience managing agency-wide administration related programs
• Public servant mindset

Required Competencies:

• Strategic thinking and ability to formulate objectives and priorities, and implement plans consistent with the long-term interests of the organization
• Financial management; understanding of financial processes, economic analysis, and internal controls; ability to monitor expenditures and uses cost-benefit thinking to set priorities; understanding of the principles and concepts of public finance
• Ability to influence others
• Strong critical thinking/problem solving skills, including the ability to analyze budget and fiscal data, make recommendations, and take action based on the analysis
• Ability to work collaboratively with internal and external customers to develop solutions that meet the needs of customers while abiding by fiscal constraints, regulations, policies and rules
• Excellent written and oral communication skills

Note: Candidates possessing a foreign degree must submit a translation (evaluation) of their degree from an accredited institution, such as The National Association of Credential Evaluations Services in order to be given credit for the degree.

Conditions of Employment:  Applicants must pass a thorough background investigation prior to appointment.

Please view the full job description for more information, including information about compensation and benefits, and to apply online.