Budget Officer

Open Date: Sep 11, 2024
Close Date: Oct 10, 2024
Position Type: Permanent Excepted Service
Job Vacancy #: PDS-2024-13
Location: 633 3rd Street Washington, District Of Columbia 20001

About The Job

PDS Overview:

The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) is a federally funded, independent organization governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees. PDS provides legal representation to individuals facing a loss of freedom in the local criminal, delinquency, and mental health systems in the District of Columbia. PDS’s approximately 260 employees, comprised of attorneys, social workers, investigative specialists, administrative, and technical staff, collaborate with each other to advance the PDS mission. PDS is funded by federal appropriations, and all employees are entitled to participate in certain federal benefits plans: health and life insurance, federal retirement system, and the Thrift Savings Plan.

Employment at the Public Defender Service (PDS) is neither federal nor District of Columbia government employment, and all employees are at-will.

Division Overview:

This position is in PDS’s Office of Budget and Finance (OBF). OBF provides planning, oversight, management and stability of all financial activities including accounting, financial management, procurement, and budget operations. The OBF mission is to protect the organization’s assets through effective financial planning and management, enhance fiscal integrity, ensure accurate and comprehensive financial reporting and analysis, and enable the achievement of the PDS mission through the strategic allocation and optimization of resources.  

Major Duties:

As Budget Officer, the incumbent plans, directs, and coordinates the activities of the Budget Branch in PDS’s Office of Budget and Finance OBF), and serves as the principal advisor to the Chief Financial Officer and other agency management officials on matters of budget policy, legislation, laws, federal rules and regulations, and procedural guidelines for the agency.  

Additionally, the Budget Officer:

  • Conducts complex financial analyses and provide expert advice and recommendations to senior leaders and stakeholders.
  • Considers, solves, or recommends solutions of difficult analytical problems by forecasting the validity of estimates and balance among operating programs.
  • Serves as principal advisor to the Chief Financial Officer and other agency management officials on matters of budget policy, legislation, laws, federal rules and regulations, and procedural guidelines for the agency.  Develops or recommends instructions concerning budget formulation, budget justifications and presentations, and budget execution.
  • Prepares detailed analysis and estimates of annual funding needs for the agency and linking those needs to the agency’s strategic and annual performance plans. Gathers, compares, and correlates information about projected costs of current and future programs and activities.  Determines costs and benefits of different levels of program operations. Develops budget estimates for the desired level of program operations for review by the Chief Financial Officer.
  • Advises the Chief Financial Officer and other management officials concerning agency strategy for responding to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) questions or requests for additional budget justifications.
  • As needed, serves as agency liaison to OMB for purposes of reiterating budgetary needs, communicating justification content, and negotiating appeals. 
  • Attends OMB budget review hearings, provides advice or assistance to the Chief Financial Officer during the hearing; and as required, testifies on certain budget questions or issues. 
  • Reviews and analyzes the OMB approved budget by line items and as directed, prepares an agency appeal relating to certain OMB budget actions or decisions.  Upon OMB decisions on the agency appeal, prepares a final budget submission to OMB within OMB approved guidelines and instructions.
  • Prepares a final annual budget request for submission to Congressional appropriations committees.  Advises and assists agency management officials with the process of Congressional review of the budget request.  On behalf of the Director and Deputy Director, performs as agency liaison to Congressional Appropriations Committees for purposes of reiterating budgetary needs, communicating justification content, and negotiating appeals. With appropriate OMB clearance, responds to questions or requests for additional budget information from Congressional staff.  Acts as an advisor to the Director during Congressional hearings on budgetary and related program matters.
  • Develops and manages a system of administrative controls designed to monitor, check, and control the use of agency funds.  
  • Assures that the obligations incurred and resulting expenditures of funds are in accordance with existing laws and regulations.  
  • Reviews requests from program offices for availability of funds, legality, and assessment of agency priority and certifies fund availability for those requests. Establishes and maintains a variety of records and documents relating to budget execution.  Provides the current status of obligations and balance of funds, and projections of expenditures on current trends.  
  • Acts as backup to the Staff Accountant for reviews of year-to-date obligations and disbursements on all accounts and reconciles differences.  Prepares monthly and special reports on fund execution.

Required Qualifications:

Qualifications: 
The incumbent must possess the following:

  • At least 4 years’ experience in federal budgeting, federal financial management, or related positions. 
  • At least 1 year of specialized experience, which must have been professional experience at a level of difficulty comparable to the next lowest grade level. Specialized experience is progressively responsible professional or administrative experience related to the functions of federal budgeting and federal financial management.  Such experience should have provided a comprehensive knowledge of the practices and procedures used in these processes, as well as knowledge of the administrative requirements needed to support these activities. 

Specialized experience includes, but is not limited to, hands-on experience (versus having supervised or overseen) in the following activities:

  • Design, develop, and manage data driven departmental and enterprise budget forecasts. Objectively evaluate division financial plans to recommend improvements.
  • Provide data-driven, fact-based financial reports to the Chief Financial Officer and other senior officials as required.
  • Using an analytical approach, create accurate, detailed tables, charts, and other exhibits for the annual budget request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
  • Using an analytical approach, create accurate, detailed tables, charts, and other exhibits for the annual congressional budget justification.
  • Using personnel and payroll data from the PDS Office of Human Resources (OHR), develop accurate annual personnel cost projections.
  • Initiate transactions in an automated financial system of record. Provide quality assurance for transactions generated in an automated financial system of record by financial analysts.
  • Generate data from automated financial management systems, conduct detailed analyses of the extracted data, and present conclusions in an informative, useful, and relatable manner. 
  • Conduct periodic reviews and updates with managers to ensure efficient use of PDS funds.
  • Reconcile data discrepancies between feeder systems and official systems of record.
  • Use automated tools such as spreadsheets to analyze and track information. 

In addition to the specialized experience as described above, the incumbent must also possess two years of general experience as described below.

General experience in executing administrative functions, including best practices such as electronic record keeping and document retention. Candidate must possess strong math, analytical, organizational, and communication skills, which are essential qualifications for success. Working with general instruction, adapting and applying principles, concepts, processes, tools and methodologies to solve real-world problems. Must be team player but possess the negotiation skills and the ability to work independently as needed. An understanding of federal contracting operations and processes is important. 

General experience includes, but is not limited to:

  • Effectively using Microsoft Word to create exhibits, reports, analyses, and other correspondence.
  • Effectively using Microsoft Excel to produce analytical spreadsheets and trackers.

Note: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g. Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Additionally, the incumbent must possess strong interpersonal skills, as candidates will be expected to work with a diverse number of stakeholders with varying levels of procurement knowledge. The candidate should expect to interact with a wide range of personnel that may include PDS executives, suppliers, shared service providers, and others. The incumbent prepares and/or contributes to technical reports, memos, analyses and briefings, and supports meetings, inter-team communication, and issue-resolution with external and internal stakeholder groups.

If the incumbent has the Certified Government Financial Management (CGFM), Certified Defense Financial Management (CDFM), or equivalent certification, he or she may be promoted without further competition to AD-14 upon completion of one year of exemplary performance, and approval of the PDS Director.

If the incumbent does not have the Certified Government Financial Management (CGFM), Certified Defense Financial Management (CDFM), or equivalent certification, he or she may be promoted without further competition to AD-14 upon attaining the certification, completion of one year of exemplary performance, and approval of the PDS Director.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Demonstrated knowledge of the Oracle Federal Financial system
  • Government or Defense financial management certification (CGFM, CDFM) 
  • Demonstrated knowledge of data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) and techniques 

Application Evaluation:

How you will be evaluated
Your application package includes your cover letter, resume and requested supporting documentation. Please ensure your application package includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position. Failure to provide sufficient evidence in your application package and requested supporting documents can result in a rejection of your application package. 

Rating: Your application package will be rated and ranked among other applicants, based on your experience, education, training, and awards relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating can be lowered if your application package is not supported by the requested documents.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application package will be referred to a hiring manager for consideration at which time you may be invited to participate in a selection interview.

Interview Structure: Those who are selected for interviews will be required to interview via Web- X, Skype, or some other communications platform.  Note: PDS reserves the right to interview prior to the closing date.

Number of vacancies:

1

Pay Series:

0905

Compensation:

Salary:  $112,015 - $172,075 

AD-0560-13/14 (GS-13/14 Equivalent)

Promotion Potential: AD-14 (equivalent to GS-14)

Benefits:

PDS is funded by federal appropriations, and employees are entitled to participate in federal benefits plans, federal retirement systems, and the workers compensation program. Transferring federal employees will receive recognition of creditable federal service for leave accrual and retirement (if applicable) purposes. Benefits include:

  • Federal Employees Retirement Systems (retirement annuity) 
  • Thrift Savings Plan (similar to a 401K program)
  • Federal Employees Health Benefits (health insurance) 
  • Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (life insurance) 
  • Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program
  • Flexible Spending Accounts (for health care and dependent care) 
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Parking Space Lottery
  • Federal Occupational Health (access to health clinic and services)

Telework: This position is eligible for telework in accordance with the organization’s policy.

Who May Apply:

U.S. Citizens and those authorized to work in the United States.

How to Apply:

For consideration applicants must submit the required documents listed below. Failure to submit will result in an incomplete application. Please upload the required documents as one PDF attachment. 

Please ensure your application package includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position. Failure to provide sufficient evidence in your application package and requested supporting documents can result in a rejection of your application package. Your application package should include the following:

For consideration, you must provide a complete application package, which includes:

  • Resume must not exceed 5 (five pages) and should not cover more than the most recent 5 (five) years of experience.
  • Most recent performance evaluation.
  • A list of three professional references with a brief description on how each reference is able to attest to your skills/experience.  Please include the name, email and telephone number and the relationship (i.e. Direct Supervisor, Indirect Supervisor, Mentor etc.)

Please send your application package in MS WORD or PDF documents; please combine application documents in one PDF document, if able. Applications MUST be emailed to [email protected]. To ensure your application receives proper consideration, the subject line of your application email MUST include the job announcement number and the position title (i.e. PDS-2024-13: Budget Officer).  

All application materials become property of PDS and will not be returned. PDS will not accept application packages by postal mail, fax, or personal delivery.

For applicants with disabilities, this organization provides reasonable accommodations which will be decided on a case-by-case basis. To request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or interview process, please contact Teresa Oliver, Senior HR Specialist at (202) 824-2352 or at [email protected].         

Disclaimer

The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) is a federally funded, independent organization; governed by an eleven-member Board of Trustees, PDS provides legal representation to individuals facing a loss of freedom in the local criminal, delinquency, and mental health systems in the District of Columbia. PDS’s approximately 275 attorneys, social workers, investigative specialists, administrative, and technical staff collaborate with each other to advance the PDS mission. PDS’s main office is located at 633 3rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. District of Columbia residency is not a requirement for employment. PDS is funded by federal appropriations, and all employees are entitled to participate in the federal health and life insurance plans, the federal retirement plans (FERS, FERS-RAE, FERS-FRAE, CSRS, CSRS-Offset), and the Thrift Savings Plan. Transferring employees will receive recognition of creditable federal service for leave accrual and retirement purposes. Employment at PDS is neither federal nor District of Columbia government employment, and all employees are at-will.

PDS is an E-Verify participating agency. Please see the Right to Work Poster and the E-Verify Participation Poster for more information.

 

PDS is an Equal Opportunity Employer and E-Verify Participant.