Senior Accountant

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

About the Department

The City of San José, the Capital of Silicon Valley, is one of the nation's best managed cities and one of the top ten cities in which to live, work, and do business. Moreover, San José is the center of cultural, government and economic activity for the region. The employees of the City of San José have embraced the following values: Integrity, Innovation, Excellence, Collaboration, Respect and Celebration. The City's Retirement Services Department is seeking an individual whose values align with the values of the City's employees.

The mission of the City's Retirement Services Department is to provide quality services in the delivery of pension and related benefits and maintain financially sound pension plans.

The Office of Retirement Services (ORS) oversees the investment of assets and administers the benefits of the two Defined Benefit Retirement Plans for City of San Jose employees. The assets of the two plans total over $6 billion. As of June 30, 2024, there were over 6,400 retirees and beneficiaries, and over 5,100 active employees in the two retirement plans. Each of the retirement plans has a Board of Administration that has fiduciary responsibility over their respective retirement plan. ORS staff has accountability to them as well as City Administration.

For more information on ORS, please visit our website at: http://www.sjretirement.com

Position Duties

The salary range for the Retirement Investment Officer classification is $113,327.76- 138,072.48 annually. This salary range includes an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable compensation pay.

The Senior Accountant works under the direct supervision of the Accounting Division Manager and general supervision of the CEO of Retirement Services. This role may include the supervision of other accounting staff, including Accountants I/II and Account Clerk II.

The Senior Accountant is primarily responsible for the preparation and review of general ledger activity and the preparation of financial statements for five retirement trust funds. The Senior Accountant is also responsible for the preparation of all general ledger entries designed to record investment transactions and reconciliation of manager portfolios held by the custodian bank for the five independent funds. Additional responsibilities include budgeting and overseeing the preparation of financial statements, and the supervision and/or review of other accounting staff.

Typical responsibilities and performance expectations:

• Prepare various types of financial reports:
  • Trust funds comparative financial statements (Trust Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Format), including management discussion and analysis, basic financial statements, notes to the financial statements, required supplementary information, and other supplementary information.
  • Annual tax information (IRS 945, IRS 1042, IRS 1099R)
  • State Controller Annual Financial Reports
  • Quarterly state tax returns

Reconcile and account for custodial banks, money managers, or other third-party activity for the trust funds and prepare financial statements and disclosures.Prepare, monitor, and report Budget activity.Coordinate with internal and external auditors and trust fund actuaries.Review and assist with Retiree Benefit payments and activity.Prepare, review, and assist with the processing of administrative and investment management accounts payable vouchers and/or journal entry activity.Prepare, review, and maintain accounting policies and procedures.

• Maintain the G/L chart of accounts in PensionGold and FMS (City System).

Compile information and develop recommendations to enable the Boards to make informed decisions and provide administrative support of their fiduciary responsibility. Assist other employees in technical and procedural activities, including cross-training of position responsibilities.Effectively direct other accounting and accounting clerical staff in the performance of their duties.Understand daily responsibilities and manage time effectively to complete tasks in a timely manner.Display shared values through personal commitment and demonstrated action.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Completion of a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Business Administration, or related field, including at least 18 semester units in accounting subjects.

Experience: Four (4) years of experience at the working level of a professional accountant.

Acceptable Substitution: None

Other Qualifications

Desirable Qualifications

• Ability to recognize and evaluate the materiality and significance of deviations from good business practice and recommend appropriate solutions to problems.
• Ability to gain compliance of auditees in completing the audit and in implementing the recommendations contained in the audit report.
• Possession of a current/valid certification such as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and or Certified Information System Auditor (CISA).

Competencies
The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history. Desirable competencies for this position include:

Job Expertise - Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.

Analytical Thinking - Approaches a problem or situation by using a logical, systematic, sequential approach.

Communication Skills - Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people's ideas and thoughts.

Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; uses effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions.

Fiscal Management - Understands the relationship of the budget and resources to the strategic plan.

Planning - Acts to align own unit's goals with the strategic direction of the organization; Defines tasks and milestones to achieve objectives, while ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives.

Problem Solving - Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem; collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.

Supervision - Sets effective long and short-term goals based on a good understanding of management practices; establishes realistic priorities within available resources; provides motivational support; empowers others; assigns decision-making and work functions to others in an appropriate manner to maximize organizational and individual effectiveness.

Team Work & Interpersonal Skills - Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.

Selection Process
The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to all the job specific questions. You must answer all questions to be considered or your application may be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Only those candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process. Additional phases of the selection process will consist of one or more interviews.

If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Angela Tea at angela.tea@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 10/30/2024 11:59 PM Pacific

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• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

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