Business Services Manager na City of Durham, NC

About the Department

Work, Serve, Thrive.  With the City of Durham   
Advance in your career while making a real difference in the community you serve.

Business Services Manager
Our mission: To reduce harm, extend care, and increase stability for neighbors facing crises.

Hiring Range: $85,653 - $102,783

Hours: Monday – Friday, 9am - 5pm

About the Department

In 2022, the Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD) launched four 911 crisis response programs—collectively known as HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams)—to meet the needs of people in crisis with compassionate care and behavioral health expertise. In the first three years of operation, and having responded to over 30,000 calls, HEART continues to demonstrate that alternative 911 responses are safe and effective. Interested applicants can visit our website and dashboard; listen to The Fifth Branch, a 3-part podcast that offers a behind the scenes look at HEART; watch this clip from CNN’s Sanjay Gupta; listen to this segment on NPR (WUNC); or read this piece from The Assembly to learn more about our department. As part of a cohort of municipalities invested in developing transformative 911 crisis response programs, the Community Safety Department generates insights that affect cities across the country who visit, meet, and learn from and about HEART. In short: your work at the Community Safety Department will help seed a national movement.  

In 2025, DCSD’s scope of work is growing to include other dimensions of community safety. DCSD will add a new division focus on stabilization services that will include a reentry program, a guaranteed income program, street outreach, homeless services, Care Navigation (teams dedicated to providing follow up support to people after a 9-1-1 call), and Familiar Neighbors (teams dedicated to supporting people with complex needs – often at the intersection of homelessness, mental illness, and substance use -- who are interacting frequently with the criminal legal system).    

About the role

DCSD is hiring a Business Services Manager to support core business, budget, and finance operations for 75+ person department. The Business Services Manager will be responsible for supervising a small 2 – 4 person administration team, providing management analysis and oversight; preparing, reviewing, monitoring and adjusting a department’s budget; preparing financial reports; overseeing contract administration, Requests for Proposals, grant management, procurement processes (requisitions and invoices, reviewing and approving purchase card statements, and contract progress payments), and personnel management.  The manager will report to the departmental director. Decision-making includes providing input into management objectives, establishing work goals and objectives of a unit to carry out management direction, and selecting the method to address a problem or issue, subject to the constraints established by management objectives and direction. 

How you’ll know if you’re a good match for our department

DCSD’s approach to work is flexible, highly collaborative, and evidence-driven. Our departmental culture prizes equity, care, and the health and safety of our staff. If you resonate with the statements below, you’ll be a great match for our approach to work.

• You thrive in collaborative spaces – teamwork is at the core of your desired work-life.  
• You enjoy a workplace that emphasizes learning and translating insight into real change—both in the workplace and in how we engage with the people we serve. 
• You’re eager to learn—about people, about social systems, about new ways to approach care.
• You love caring for others and you know how to take care of your own needs, too. 

Position Duties

• Provides general management oversight of financial, budget, contract administration, grants, performance, personnel, or program administration functions; develops and updates policies, and procedures related to these functions; supervises staff; and ensures compliance with contracts, and applicable regulations, policies, and procedures. 
• Prepares, reviews, monitors, and adjusts budgets; reviews, evaluates, and/or approves expenditures, budget transfers, and fund allocation; researches, reviews, and analyzes financial information; and develops and makes budget and financial recommendations. 
• Coordinates the preparation of and/or prepares, reviews, maintains and submits financial and other complex, special, and general reports, plans, contracts, applications, memorandums, and other documents; researches, compiles, reconciles, and analyzes information; develops findings and makes related recommendations; reviews work and work of others for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable specifications, requirements, regulations, policies, and procedures. 
• Supports the Director and Assistant Directors in developing and monitoring the annual budget. Prepares budget reports and conducts related analyses.

• Developing and implementing compliance protocols, policies, and procedures.  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in business or public administration, or directly related field or related field
• Five years of professional experience that includes subject-matter expertise and knowledge in area related to assignment
• Two years of supervisory experience.
• A commitment to and interest in the mission of the department: to reduce harm, extend care, and increase stability for neighbors facing crises. 
• A commitment to equity, which could include having already attended racial equity trainings.  

Other Qualifications

• Master's degree in business or public administration;
• Federal grants management and reporting experience (CDBG, HOME, ESG, CAPER, Annual Action Plan); 
• Experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like Munis or Oracle a plus.
• Experience with personnel management and payroll.
• Experience with budget planning and reporting, and proficient use of spreadsheet applications like Excel.
• Experience with purchase orders, processing invoices, RFPs, and requisitions, especially in a government setting.