Financial Planning Analyst Fin

• Work Location: City Hall, 100 Queen St W
• Number of Positions Open: 1
• Job Type & Duration: Full-time, Permanent Vacancy
• Job ID: 39527
• Job Category: Finance, Accounting & Purchasing
• Affiliation: Non-Union
• Posting Period: 04-Aug-2023 to 21-Aug-2023
• Division & Section: Financial Planning, Fin Plng Corp Financial Plng & Mgmt Team 1
• Salary: $93,500.00-$119,274.00
• Shift Information: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week

The Financial Planning Division within the City of Toronto provides timely, objective advice and information to Council and management staff of City divisions, agencies, boards and commissions, to ensure both the financial integrity of the Corporation, and the optimal balance between efficient, effective services levels, and levels of taxation and user fees.

As a Financial Planning Analyst, based either in a Client Portfolio or Corporate team, you’ll support the monitoring, and reporting on, the City’s financial performance, provide oversight and ensure compliance with financial planning and management policies and guidelines, City financial and budgetary controls, and the City's budgeting systems, to fulfill the City’s fiscal management and accountability responsibilities, and financial stewardship obligations. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role within the Division by providing strategic financial and business analysis and advice to help ensure informed decision-making by all levels of management, Committees, and City Council.

Major Responsibilities:

Demonstrating a fiscal and political/policy perspective, you’ll support the preparation – and presentation to senior management and/or Committees of Council – of a wide variety of analysis and/or reports, policy papers, briefing notes and/or presentations regarding strategic, financial and operational issues that are either within the purview of assigned programs, or corporate in nature. This will entail providing comprehensive corporate budget data, analysis and forecasting, identifying all relevant issues and making appropriate recommendations for decision-making.

Committed to best practices and innovation, you’ll also participate in the development of strategic and innovative approaches, financial strategies and analytical techniques, and ensure the effective provision of senior-level advice, guidance, assistance and analytical services, providing fiscally sustainable solutions to meeting the City's fiscal challenges, including cost containment and revenue maximization. Keeping abreast of the Corporation's changing strategies, priorities, policies and programs, as well as provincial legislation, you’ll ensure that the design and delivery of service plans and budgets are linked to strategic objectives and Council priorities.

In addition to the above, you can expect to carry out a variety of duties and responsibilities in any of the following areas, as assigned.

Client Portfolios

In this capacity, you’ll both support and challenge clients (City divisions, agencies and corporations) with your breadth of financial knowledge, political acuity, and understanding of issues from a City-wide perspective. This will include acting as primary financial advisor to any assigned portfolio, providing strategic and expert financial planning, management and oversight, including business case evaluation and service analysis considering financial, environmental and social impacts, as well as budget estimates and submissions during the annual budget process. Where necessary, you'll also participate in special project teams relating to Council-directed, inter-program or services-specific initiatives or issues, providing sound strategic financial analysis and advice for recommendation, resolution, and implementation. Based on your monitoring and evaluation of in-year expenditures and revenues, versus approved client budgets and performance measures, you’ll advise on causes for variances and recommend data-informed mitigating strategies to City Program and ABC clients, the Executive Director, Financial Planning, the CFO, the City Manager, Council Committees, and Council, as appropriate.

Corporate Analysis and System Support

In this capacity, you’ll work to ensure the accurate consolidation of Budget and Plan information into the enterprise software systems (HR and Budget systems), including the financial component of the City's complement management data. As part of this team, you'll work with staff across the Division to consolidate, analyze and provide corporate-wide insights into multiple areas of focus. You’ll be part of a team that is responsible for the system delivery to ensure effective management and coordination of the Operating and Capital budgets, budget forecasting, variance reporting and ongoing monitoring of the City's financial position, including oversight of the budget impact of the City's complement. You’ll help provide counsel and assistance regarding the systems that ensure development and implementation of sound financial planning, budgetary and administrative policies and procedures. You’ll also participate in the systems' maintenance process and provide testing support to ensure the applications remain robust and free of errors and bugs, by providing documented feedback, investigation and problem resolution suggestions where applicable. Supporting the delivery of financial management training for financial program staff as well as training for non-financial managers City-wide will be an integral part of this mandate.

Key Qualifications

Among the strengths you bring to the role of Financial Planning Analyst will be the following key qualifications:

1. Post-secondary education in Public Administration, Business Administration, Financial Management or a professional discipline pertinent to the job function, or an equivalent combination of education and experience in key functional areas of this position, including Operating and Capital budgets.

2. Experience with enterprise-wide systems, including human resources, accounting or financial or budgeting systems (e.g., SAP and PBF Budgeting).

3. Experience preparing schedules, worksheets and comprehensive reports, and analyzing, interpreting and summarizing information to support decision-making.

4. Experience at an advanced level utilizing MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Access software tools and experience with SAP Business Intelligence reporting tools (e.g., Excel Analysis and BusinessObjects Analysis).

Such a background will have prepared you to participate in, and generate, innovative solutions to business issues, conduct investigative analysis to support senior-level decision-making, prioritize and communicate important issues from a fiscal and political/policy perspective, as well as manage multiple tasks under pressure and produce results within tight timeframes. Technically skilled, you bring knowledge in using the Microsoft Office Suite (i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Access) for raw data manipulation/data modeling, and preparing reports to support decision-making activities. Strong research, analytical and conceptual thinking skills are also essential, enabling you to understand complex financial, service, operating and policy issues, program interrelationships and the potential results and outcomes of policy actions, and to conceptualize and develop options and recommendations to support decision-making.

Learning to communicate at all organizational levels, you’ll support the delivery of training and presentations to large groups, use interpersonal, human relations, negotiation, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills to interact and communicate effectively with client programs and agencies, and forge solid, effective internal and external relationships at all levels of the organization as a member of the Financial Planning Division.

It will be important to have independent judgment and discretion in handling matters of a confidential, proprietary or sensitive nature as they relate to Council and other senior staff, the public and personnel relations, and to have some familiarity with relevant government legislation and regulations in the area of governance, budgeting, financial reporting, service delivery and occupational health and safety.

Of the utmost importance within the City’s diverse environment will be your ability to support the Toronto Public Service values to ensure a culture that champions equity, diversity and respectful workplaces.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve. Learn more about the City’s commitment to employment equity.

Accommodation

The City of Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We are committed to providing barrier-free and accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Should you require Code-protected accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please make them known when contacted and we will work with you to meet your needs. Disability-related accommodation during the application process is available upon request. Learn more about the City’s Hiring Policies and Accommodation Process.