Fiscal Performance and Accountability Analyst

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 330,000 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.

As the designee for the Chicago Board of Education, The Options Network within the Office of Network Support authorizes and manages a portfolio of 36 Options Schools including charter, contract, Alternative Learning Opportunity Programs (ALOP), and district-run.

Job Summary: 

Reporting to the Authorization and School Options Director, the Fiscal Performance and Accountability Manager will oversee activities with charter, contract and law compliance, and enforcement areas of public school accounting and finance. The Fiscal Performance and Accountability Manager will review and audit financial statements, quarterly financial statements, budgets and amended budgets.  This role will have oversight of fiscal performance scorecards, ongoing assessments, and monitoring and support of operational performance. This role will also assist in the development of protocols and policies aimed at improving oversight and support.

The Fiscal Performance and Accountability Manager will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Administer fiscal oversight programs and processes

• Establish objectives and internal operational plans designed to assess and measure each CPS- authorized charter and contract public school’s fiscal performance and accountability

• Collaborate with team members to monitor fiscal performance expectations for charter schools authorized by CPS

• Structure and monitor processes regarding school early warning and remediation interventions based on fiscal and operational performance, including annual training cadences for school leadership

• Managing the annual publication of school Financial and Operational Scorecards

• Monitoring fiscal performance and accountability processes implemented to ensure school compliance with requirements dictated by legislation, policy, and school Agreements with the Chicago Board of Education

• Collaborate with Options Network leadership to oversee and provide input for school authorization and renewal processes in relation to finance, legal compliance, governance, teacher licensure, facilities and agreement conditions

• Develop and refine processes to better evaluate fiscal stewardship and the overall financial health of CPS charter public schools

• Design and oversee production of performance reports

• Monitor and report on non-student-related operational performance

• Manage components of the web-based compliance platform utilized by internal and external stakeholders to collect and store documentation submitted by schools to the District

• Lead communication and support collaboration between multiple internal and external stakeholders

• Partner with the Network Chief to ensure alignment across the Options Network strategic vision and shared understanding of challenges and opportunities

• Other duties as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Fiscal Performance and Accountability Analyst must possess the following qualifications: 

Education Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university required;  Preferred fields of study-Accounting, Finance

Experience Required: 

• Minimum of five (5) years of related professional financial analysis experience working with financial statements, budgets, capital financing options, financial data modeling, and business plans

• Compliance experience

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

• Strong analytical, financial, and budgeting expertise 

• Strong interpersonal, relationship building, and diplomacy skills

• Ability to coach and guide school leaders around financial performance and compliance

• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to assist in management of multiple projects and assignments while balancing competing priorities with attention to detail

• Strong communication skills, including the ability to develop high-quality external communication documents for a wide range of audiences

• Ability to analyze, synthesize and interpret complex data

• Flexibility and ability to function effectively in ambiguity

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. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.