Senior Manager, Engineering Financial Planning & Analysis

at  The City of Vancouver

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience:

• A Bachelor degree and a professional accounting designation (CPA, CA, CMA, CGA) or MBA
• Minimum 8 years finance experience in budgeting, financial analysis, forecasting, reporting, and accounting
• Advanced financial systems experience preferably with integrated ERP and BI reporting environments
• Minimum 5 years of experience managing financial staff, preferably in a large multi- unionized environment

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Advanced knowledge of finance and business concepts including generally accepted accounting principles as they relate to local government including PSAB
• Extensive experience delivering strategic, transformational and general process improvements including all aspects of project delivery from identification to implementation and handoff
• Experience with presentations to senior management and formal reporting writing experience
• Strong leadership experience with the ability to influence at senior levels of an organization and influence within a matrix organization
• Strong business acumen and capability to link finance to the business
• Excellent financial reporting, research and analytical skills
• Excellent organizational and project management skills with ability to manage multiple tasks with competing priorities
• Ability to consider options, contingencies and consequences of decision, to make robust fact-based decisions; makes available choices clear and simple to stakeholders
• Strong communication skills and the ability to develop communication material that is easily understood to influence business partners and management, and simplifies complex information to ensure understanding
• Ability to recognize and adapt to different presentation or meeting style/structures based on audience
• Attention to detail and the ability to consistently produce accurate, high quality presentations and analysis for executive audiences
• Ability to represent and serve the city at all levels as well as interact with customer and clients outside the organization
• Problem-solving and issue resolution skills in a complex business environment
• Ability to foster a climate of transparency, trust, and respect within the division and in partnerships
• Ability to deliver and provide additional information beyond expectations
• Ability to build rapport and committed relationships with customers, evaluates service delivery and makes recommendations to improve satisfaction
• Is highly aware of behaviors, actions, and their impacts on staff
• Inspires others and fosters a team environment
• Ability to attend to a broad range of activities, prioritize and multi task

Where operationally appropriate and subject to change, the City of Vancouver has a Flexible Work Program. This program allows staff to work remotely 1 – 4 days a week from locations that are a daily commutable distance from their work at a City worksite. At this time this position is eligible to be part of the Flexible Work Program.
Business Unit/Department: Finance & Supply Chain Mgmt (1150)
Affiliation: Senior Exempt
Employment Type: Regular Full Time
Position Start Date: January, 2025
Salary Information: Pay Grade RNG-111: $121,960 to $160,467 per year

MAIN PURPOSE AND FUNCTION

The Senior Manager, Engineering Financial Planning and Analysis position is a strategic finance partner who is responsible for the financial planning and analysis function of the utilities divisions within Engineering, encompassing waterworks, sewerage and drainage, solid waste and the Neighbourhood Energy Utilities. The Senior Manager leads the financial planning, service planning, performance measurement, and budgeting, quarterly, and monthly reporting process for operating and capital for all areas within the City, including responsibility for collaboration with agencies outside of the City that supports the delivery of these services. The Senior Manager supports the Director, Engineering Financial Planning and Analysis with strategic decision making on evaluating financial implication of long-term decisions involving the utilities and other government organizations such as Metro Vancouver.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Business Partnership:

• Supports the Director, Engineering FP&A to lead the Finance function for, including all aspects of financial planning and analysis for the Utilities divisions including the preparation of forecasting, economic analysis, financial modeling, financial policy development
• Leads, within a matrix structure, the delivery of utilities capital and operating budget, forecasting and analysis, and monthly and quarterly reporting processes and other, as required
• Leads financial oversight of collaboration with all external agencies that supports the delivery of the City’s utility services
• Plays a key role in the development of major projects in Engineering, such as the development of the Healthy Waters Plan, Landfill retirement obligation projection and the Neighbourhood Energy Utilities system expansion.
• Collaborates with City-wide FP&A to implement budget processes, systems, and business intelligence reporting as well as other continuous improvement initiatives, as required
• Prepares and reviews reports and presentations to Council and senior management, leads priority ad-hoc financial analysis initiatives, leads and reviews business cases, and works with the business unit and financial strategies as well as providing data driven decision support
• Works closely with city-wide FP&A to develop or implement performance measurement
• Prepares and reviews reports and presentations to Council and senior management, and leads priority ad-hoc financial analysis initiatives and business case reviews
• Provides leadership and guidance to staff including hiring, performance evaluation, coaching, mentoring, training and development
• Leads financial reporting and budgeting approval processes to meet requirements of the City’s partners in delivering utility services

Budgeting, Reporting, Forecasting and Decision Support:

• Identifies mitigation strategies for budget pressures, and risk factors
• Develops and analyzes business cases for proposed projects, including cost benefit analysis to justify strategy direction, and quantify impact on budgets and forecasts;
• Reviews and adheres to financial and administrative policies
• Collaborates with Procurement to ensure best practices for budgeting, reporting, and forecasting procurement spend and associated savings, direct role in procurement process, including review of bid committee analysis and attend the Bid Committee meeting when needed.
• Manages relationships with business units and external organizations
• Provides strategic financial advice and decision support
• Explains the long-term financial and value-for-money implications of department initiatives
• Links department strategies and City priorities to the budget

Council Report Preparation and Concurrences:

• Prepares, together with the Engineering Directors for utilities, the annual utility rate report
• Validates standing authority and policies as they relate to the council report
• Reviews council report for operational and strategic alignment with City objectives
• Validates financial implications and funding sources
• Reviews overall quality of report and make recommendations for improvements

Process improvement Projects:

• Identifies process improvement opportunities and works with external parties where required
• Provides supporting role in projects, and organizational and transformational initiatives, where applicable
• Provides ad-hoc support on departmental deliverables where required
• Other duties/responsibilities as assigned