SANTA CLARA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION

Job Description

ASSISTANT CONTROLLER

SUMMARY: Coordinates the day-to-day operations of the County School Service Fund and Office accounting functions; supervises professional and clerical staff; safeguards assets; develops and maintains the system of internal controls; assists with developing and maintaining accounts payable, accounts receivable, and grant/fiscal services; assists with preparing financial statements; interfaces with federal and state agencies; provides technical staff assistance; and performs all other related duties.

ACTIVITIES:

40% INTERNAL CONTROLS

Reviews transactions for problems relating to compliance with state and federal laws; calculates block grants and adjustments; prepares, recommends improvements to, and enforces internal controls systems; updates and maintains charts of accounts; prepares and reviews internal and external reports; performs financial analysis of management reports; prepares necessary reconciliations; assists with auditing process and response to audit findings; and forecasts, plans, and implements accounting changes required by the state.

30% SUPERVISION

Selects, trains, assigns work to, and evaluates support staff.

25% SPECIAL PROJECTS

Assists with developing departmental and Office-wide policies; assists with developing and implementing departmental policies and procedures; plans and presents Office-wide inservices; and assists with designing and implementing various automated accounting systems, and other projects as assigned.

5% RELATED ACTIVITIES

Performs all other related duties.

DECISION-MAKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING: Makes decisions on employee selection, discipline, work allocation, staff training, staff conflict resolution, inservice topics, and planning; interprets contracts and statutes; solves problems relating to implementation of organizational financial reporting requirements; and makes decisions and recommendations on automated data processing design changes and departmental policies and procedures. Develops and implements short-term plans in own program/department; requires independence and autonomy in decision-making within framework of broadly stated policy guidelines, precedents, specialized knowledge and prior research; situations are varied and sometimes highly complex; and makes program decisions that frequently have major impact on a division and/or its clients.

REQUIRED MINIMUM SKILLS AND ABILITIES: Skill in managing a complex accounting function; ability to understand and apply grants, contracts and statutory regulations relating to governmental and standard accounting principles; and knowledge of data processing and microcomputers. Skill in communicating orally and in writing, with large and small group audiences; advanced skill in financial and other statistical analysis; ability to administer programs; skill in personnel management through coordination and cooperation; and skill in adapting style to divergent situations.

REQUIRED MINIMUM TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND LICENSING: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in accounting or a related field; possession of a certificate as a Certified Public Accountant issued by the State of California is preferred; and a valid California driver's license.

REQUIRED MINIMUM PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE: Three years of job-related experience with demonstrated competence.

REQUIRED INTERACTION (NON-AUTHORITY): Contacts are somewhat unstructured, and are primarily with high-level individuals inside and outside the Office, such as vendors, school district staff, state and federal employees, and program managers; contacts require planning, promoting, strategy development, decision-making, and problem-solving.

SUPERVISION: Directly supervises professional/specialist and other support staff.

Revised: February 14, 1989

Approved by Personnel Commission:

Approved by Board of Education: December 7, 1988