Lead School Finance Analyst -Legislative Research Commission (Non-Merit)

Job Duties

• Lead and train analysts in understanding and analyzing education finance data including knowledge of data standards and programming codes used to produce aggregate data for revenue and expenditures
• Oversee annual data requests and analysis of education finance data used to provide the general assembly with district finance data and additional analyses, upon request
• Oversee office collaboration with agency staff in maintenance of finance data in the OEA database
• Conduct in-depth analysis of school district budgets, revenue streams, and expenditure patterns as necessary to support research studies or other legislative requests
• Prepare comprehensive reports with data visualizations and presentations to inform legislators about school funding issues
• Monitor implementation of school finance policies, identifying any implementation challenges
• Monitor trends in revenue and expenditures at the state and district levels
• Support investigate staff in understanding and carrying out complaints related to school finance
• Fulfill duties required of education accountability research analyst III

Desired Skills And Abilities

• Ability to manage training or staff projects by identifying goals and timelines
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Knowledge of education finance data as reported by districts to the Kentucky Department of Education
• Knowledge of state and local finance data and accounting standards
• Ability to interpret federal, state, and local laws and regulations
• Knowledge of research methods used in education finance and ability to prepare succinct written analysis of complex projects and issues
• Knowledge of education policy, school funding, and state budgeting
• Experience with data collection, analysis, processing, interpretation, and reporting
• Ability to correlate budgeting and expenditure to public policy outcomes
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and the MUNIS financial software; proficiency in additional programming software preferred
• Knowledge of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) principles
• Familiarity with state and local revenue streams and associated policy requirements
• Ability to both work independently and to collaborate with others and work effectively in a team environment, maintaining sensitivity to political nuance and protocol while prioritizing workloads to meet deadlines

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s or relevant degree in business, finance, public policy, or a related and relevant field
• Experience, Training, or Skills: Minimum of 5 years in budgeting, business, public policy, statistics, auditing, legislative activities, or a related field required
• Experience with Kentucky education finance data at the district or state level strongly preferred
• Supervisory experience including project leadership preferred