Principal Financial Analyst bei San Mateo County Transit District, CA

About the Department

The Principal Financial Analyst - FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis) plays a strategic role in managing the financial planning, analytics, and reporting functions for all agencies: San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), the Peninsula Joint Powers Board (Caltrain), the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA), and the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority (SMC-ELJPA). The incumbent will collaborate with finance and business leaders to lead high-impact analysis and reporting, deliver recommendations on critical decisions, and manage long-term financial projections. The role will design, analyze, and implement management reports to turn analysis into action and insight.

Position Duties

Examples of Essential Functions:

• Perform complex financial analysis, using statistical and accounting techniques to evaluate options and alternatives for cost-benefit and quantitative analysis.
• Design processes to enhance cohesion, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across Finance and all Agencies and Departments served.
• Under the Manager of FP&A’s guidance, develop or assist in the creation or improvement of various forecasting models. Perform scenario analysis given various financial and operational inputs.
• Identify opportunities for improvement and efficiency and drive alignment for key planning responsibilities.
• Assist in developing and tracking current and future funding needs and funding capacities for the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and Capital Budgets.
• Drive development of models to analyze trends and recommend strategic actions.
• Prepare executive-level strategic financial reporting to various public transit programs with executive summaries, highlights, insights, and recommendations on financial and operating outlook and performance.

Examples of Essential Duties:

• Lead financial forecasting, long-term financial projections, and month end close for effective decision support and strategic financial reporting.
• Support FP&A processes including revenue, expenditure, and cash flows forecasting in partnership with cross-functional teams at various levels of organization.
• Lead financial forecast update by aligning capital planning with funding capacity and capital/operating assumptions including sources/uses and growth assumptions.
• Support iterative financial constraining process for capital programs/budgets and adjust for funding constraints and strategic priorities.
• Consult with staff, external consultants, and the public to gather and provide information. 
• Collaborate with various departments (planning, operations, IT, communications, etc.) to provide financial guidance and support strategic initiatives.
• Present financial findings, highlights, and recommendations to senior management, the Board, and regional stakeholders, as needed.
• Provide analysis and support for special projects and ad hoc assignments.

• Compile financial forecasting models for operating and capital programs with recommendations.
• Conduct complex scenario analysis for labor compensation studies to assess financial impact and sensitivity, partnering with cross-functional teams to develop strategies for financial sustainability and labor market competitiveness.
• Lead cost/benefit scenario analyses and deliver strategic recommendations to optimize District’s operations, resource allocations, and drive financial decisions.
• Assist with preparing financial reports and presentations with clear, strategic insights and impactful visualizations for Executive Leadership, the Board of Directors, and other stakeholders.

• Evaluate and propose improvements to financials, data collection process, and reporting.
• May supervise the work of more junior FP&A staff.
• Perform all job duties and responsibilities in a safe manner to protect oneself, fellow employees, and the public from injury or harm. Promote safety awareness and follow safety procedures in an effort to reduce or eliminate accidents.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Supervision: Works under the general supervision of the Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis, establishes goals and objectives and evaluates performance.  

Minimum Qualifications

Sufficient experience, training and/or education to demonstrate the knowledge and ability to successfully perform the essential functions of the position. In lieu of a degree, work-related experience that demonstrates the skills and experience necessary to perform this role will be accepted. Development of the required knowledge and abilities is typically obtained through but not limited to:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics, finance, accounting or closely related field.   
• Four (4) years of full-time relevant and progressive experience in leading financial analysis, financial forecasting/budgeting/planning, and operation/business analysis.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in finance, accounting, business administration, or closely related field.
• Advanced skills in MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word; experience/knowledge in business intelligence systems (Tableau, Power BI, Hyperion, TM1, etc.).  
• Experience in the public sector, ideally public transportation. 
• Working knowledge in accounting processes and ERP systems (e.g. PeopleSoft). 
• Attention to detail and accuracy. Experience using modeling techniques and managing large datasets.
• Demonstrated success building consensus within and across teams, departments, and divisions.