CFO

Mackenzie Eason & Associates has been retained by the City and County of Denver to help recruit the next Chief Financial Officer (CFO) within the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI).  The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will be a key member of the department's executive leadership team.  The Chief Financial Officer is one of three deputy level positions within the department, each reporting directly to the mayoral appointed Executive Director. The CFO oversees the finance, accounting, procurement, and administration of the department.  The position is currently vacant due to the retirement of the former CFO.  

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), through its employees, enhances the quality of life in Denver by efficiently delivering effective, high quality, safe, and equitable public infrastructure and services, including transportation planning, design and construction; major projects, maintenance of streets, bridges and storm and sanitary sewers; residential trash, recycling and compost collection; and oversight and regulation of the use of the public right-of-way including on-street parking.  We employ a culture of safety throughout the department to strengthen workplace health and organizational performance. 

The Opportunity

The Office of the CFO needs a leader that can build a strong team, embrace diversity, and look beyond typical budgets, bringing a strong fiscal analysis and performance focus to the department.  The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) is accountable for budgeting, accounting, and procurement activities.  The CFO Office is responsible for establishing an analytical framework for the Department and ensuring an environment with strong internal controls.  The OCFO will be forecasting trends as well as revenues and expenditures, analyzing the fiscal impact, and conducting performance and budget studies to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.  The department will look at past data and construct financial models to understand and explain business results, allowing DOTI to better forecast for the future.  The CFO will also need to appropriate funds for multi-billion-dollar capital infrastructure projects, requiring a strategic long-term vision to navigate investments over lengthy 5-10 year project lifespans. The CFO also oversees Fleet Management, which maintains more than 2,200 vehicles and pieces of capital equipment.  There needs to be strong alignment with the DOTI Strategic Transportation Plan and ongoing capital projects.

Primary duties and characteristics will include:

• Directing financial functional areas that include establishing a multi-year vision and strategic plan for the organization, optimizing resource allocations, and ensuring the organization accomplishes annual goals and strategic initiatives.
• Providing supervision, guidance and direction to the directors of Finance & Accounting
• Provide the Executive Director and Chief of Staff with an operating budget. Work with the Chief of Staff to ensure department success through cost analysis support, contract negotiation, audit support, and monitoring compliance.
• Oversee the management and coordination of all fiscal reporting activities for the organization including organizational revenue/expense and balance sheet reports, reports to funding agencies, development and monitoring of organizational and contract budgets.
• Develop and maintain systems of internal controls to safeguard financial assets of the organization.
• Assist the Executive Director and Chief of Staff in identifying new funding opportunities, prospective budget drafts, and determining cost-effectiveness of prospective service delivery.
• Assess the benefits of all prospective contracts with agency-wide impacts and advise the Executive Management Team on programmatic design and implementation matters.
• Oversee the continuous improvement of the budgeting process through education of department managers on financial issues impacting department budgets.
• Evaluate the financial structure of the department and provide leadership in continual improvement of its efficiency and effectiveness.  
• Methods and techniques of statistical data collection and analysis

The Ideal Candidate

The City of Denver is seeking a strategic CFO that can move beyond the accounting mindset of compliance and reporting to deliver strategy and forecast the future to make informed decisions for the City. The ideal candidate will have in-depth knowledge and experience in the financial operations of a large organization. The candidate will have a thorough understanding of budgets, accounting, procurement, fiscal analysis, financial modeling, capital delivery programs and funding, and related financial processes, contracts, and grants.  The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience at a senior executive level including providing leadership, direction, and management of financial functions.  The CFO should have a proven track record of building and leading highly efficient teams as well as a high level of financial acumen.

Additionally, the ideal candidate will possess:

• Demonstrated experience establishing a multi-year vision and strategic plan for an organization.
• Extensive people leadership experience in the finance industry.
• Experience advising senior leadership accordingly.

The CFO will be collaborative, with the ability to learn from others and to build and maintain close and highly productive working relationships with employees and stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have a collaborative management style with the ability to motivate and engage personnel. The selected individual will maintain a culture of accountability and coach employees to perform to their highest potential.  Denver is a multicultural community, and an honest appreciation and respect for diversity are essential.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, or a related field.

Experience:

• Three (3) years of management-level work experience which must have included managing subordinate supervisors. One (1) year of management experience must include budget and fiscal oversight responsibility, evaluation of business processes, and policy and decision-making experience with planning and organizing multiple programs, projects, operations, or functions.

Education-Experience Equivalency: 

• Two (2) years of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.