State Aid and Finance Management Analyst

The Department of Education is seeking a State Aid and School Finance Management Analyst for the Division of Finance & Management, State Aid and School Finance office. The Office of State Aid and School Finance oversees the implementation of the state aid to schools funding formula and data collections of financial, student, and teacher compensation data as it relates to funding for school districts. This position will specifically collect and analyze information needed to support the boards that are associated with the state aid funding programs: the School Finance Accountability Board, Teacher Compensation Board, and Extraordinary Cost Board. Duties include the collection and thorough analysis of data to identify trends, formulate plans of action for improvement and working in a team environment to evaluate programs. This position also will oversee the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds program, the State Aid Intercept program, verify draw downs and collect data for technical institute bonds, collect and analyze finance data from educational cooperatives, and serve as the state contact for open enrollment programs and school district reorganizations.

The Ideal Candidate Will Have:

At least a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a related field and knowledge or experience with government accounting and finance, specifically as related to school districts, is preferred.

Knowledge of:

• principles and methods used in the collection, analysis, and presentation of education finance data;
• Microsoft computer applications;
• State Aid to Education programs, laws, and regulations;
• research design methods, procedures and statistics to include the analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data;
• program management, diplomacy, and negotiation.

Skill to:

• complete high quality work with the appropriate technology including Microsoft Excel and Word. Extensive experience utilizing pivot tables, charts, and other analysis tools is preferred;
• organize processes and projects;
• manage multiple, simultaneous work tasks;
• communicate ideas and information plainly and succinctly;
• write technically and clearly.

Ability to:

• promote and support the mission, vision, and priorities of the department;
• build and maintain relationships with stakeholders and coworkers;
• deal tactfully and effectively with others;
• take initiative and follow through;
• think about and act on long-term visions, priorities, and needs;
• present information to large audience in an engaging way;
• facilitate learning and work for educators and committees;
• solve problems;
• construct processes and programs;
• review and evaluate methods, processes, and outcomes;
• work in a team environment while still being able to work independently on assigned projects;
• bring a positive can-do attitude to every situation.

VETERANS’ PREFERENCE ELIGIBLE

The State of South Dakota offers paid employee health insurance plus ten paid holidays, generous vacation leave accrual, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information visit
http://bhr.sd.gov/workforus/workbenefits.aspx