CLASS SPECIFICATION

M A N A G E M E N T A N D B U D G E T S P E C I A L I S T I I I

DEFINITION OF CLASS:

This is full performance level staff work either conducting detailed analyses and providing recommendations concerning County Government or other County Agency operating and capital budgets, performing moderately complex special issue and project management assignments, and/or performing program evaluation and management analysis assignments. Work also includes the implementation and monitoring of executive level fiscal and programmatic decisions. Personal contacts for employees in this class are primarily with other employees and supervisors in the Office of Management and Budget and Department/Agency Heads and their principal managers and staff employees, but also include occasional contacts with elected and appointed officials and their staff employees in the executive and legislative branches of the County Government and other local and State government agencies. The purpose of these contacts is to advise, persuade, often negotiate, and otherwise present analyses and recommendations about issues which have significant impact on operating and capital budget formulation and decision making, and other issues which have either political, legal, fiscal, social, environmental, tax rate and/or service delivery implications. While this class of work occasionally requires employees to meet or speak before the general public and citizen groups, it does not require employees to provide direct public service or assistance on a one-to-one basis.

An employee in this class serves as a fully skilled member in one of several groups of Management and Budget Specialists which are assigned throughout the Office of Management Budget. This class of work is distinguished from the next lower class in this series in that employees in this class have assignments which are more varied and complex, have a greater impact across more issues and programs, and maintain a higher and more diversified level of contacts with more opportunity to meet and discuss with Department/Agency Heads and managers subjects involving disagreement and/or controversy. Employees work under the general direction and guidance of a Management and Budget Supervisor, who makes assignments by defining objectives, priorities and deadlines. Employees in this class plan and carry out successive work steps, requiring only general assistance or policy guidance from their supervisor, and select methods and procedures by which to complete their work. Completed work is reviewed and evaluated for accuracy and analytical soundness in relation to established policies and other requirements. Guidelines used in the work take the form of laws, regulations, policies and procedures. Since these guidelines are not fully applicable to the work (especially new or unusual situations), employees are expected to develop alternative methods of analysis within generally accepted practices of the occupation. The complexity of this class of work is evidenced by the variety of assignments involving a wide range of work processes and methods, and which often require employees to evaluate information which is contradictory and/or incomplete. In that regard, employees are expected to discover, evaluate and otherwise bring to bear information from a variety of sources when simultaneously considering several work issues/assignments. Tight and often conflicting deadlines, coordination of work activities with other affected persons and groups, employee application of writing, public speaking and time mangement skills, and the use of sophisticated computer programs and systems to facilitate work completion further characterize the complexity of this class. The impact of properly performed work is realized by the careful and deliberate analysis of and recommendations concerning a variety of often complex issues, the results of which affect other governmental units through decisions made by executive level management. In that regard, employees are expected to plan and design their work assignments, must understand, interpret and apply broad policies to specific issues, and recommend and provide justification for changes and how such changes should be implemented. Employees exercise sound judgment in the identification and selection of issues, alternatives evaluated, and options recommended. Work is performed in a comfortable office environment which is appropriately lighted, heated and cooled. Typically employees sit comfortably to do their work, interspersed by brief periods of walking, standing, bending, carrying of papers and books, and extended periods requiring the use of computer terminals to accomplish work objectives. During extended periods each year, employees are required to work considerable overtime.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES: (Illustrative Only)

Reviews and analyzes County Government Department/Agency Operating and Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget requests and similar requests from other County agencies such as Board of Education, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, and Montgomery College; determines implications (e.g., fiscal, legal, environmental, service delivery, political, etc.) of the budget requests; identifies alternative courses of action with corresponding advantages and disadvantages; and presents before OMB managers and the County Executive the most advantageous course of action.
Monitors assigned Department/Agency approved operating and capital budgets by identifying issues and problems requiring attention, obtaining and analyzing information through field audits and statistical analyses, preparing reports of findings and recommendations, providing guidance and assistance to Department/Agency heads and managers, and following through on approved course of action.
Conducts a variety of studies requiring coordination among many people and Departments/Agencies, and consideration of many issues.
Meets with appropriate officials to discuss proposals, consider alternatives and modifications, and/or resolve problems.
Analyzes Department/Agency operations and staffing patterns and recommends actions to improve service delivery and attain maximum cost effectiveness.
Analyzes and recommends action to be taken concerning requests for reallocation of funds and supplemental appropriations; ensures proposed transactions comply with rules, regulations and laws, and represent most cost effective means of accomplishment.
Represents executive branch of County Government at Public Hearings, Council Committee sessions, and Council meetings by providing budgetary and programmatic information.
Prepares revenue projections, and provides recommendations for changes in revenue, including an analysis of recommended changes to tax rates.
Reviews and analyzes numerous computer reports; manipulates and reconciles data for clarity and accuracy; and creates data bases, spreadsheets, and other analytic structures to analyze budgets, issues, reorganizations, etc.
Discovers, analyzes and reports on issues and problems appropriate to areas of assignment.
Provides training to other employees in immediate work unit as well as employees, supervisors and managers in other Departments/Agencies.
Performs related duties.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Experience: Three (3) years of experience reviewing, analyzing and monitoring operating and/or capital budgets, including analysis of and reporting on management and programmatic issues having budgetary implications.
Education: Graduation form an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree.
Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Considerable knowledge of the principles, practices, methods and techniques of budgeting and program evaluation.
Considerable knowledge of the laws, rules and regulations governing the preparation, review and implementation of operating and capital budget requests.
Considerable knowledge of the operation and organization of the Departments and Agencies appropriate to the affected position.
Considerable skill in identifying, synthesizing and evaluating complex budget related issues and assignments, bringing together information from a variety of sources, and selecting appropriate analytical approaches.
Considerable skill in negotiating complex issues with Department/
Agency Heads and management employees.
Considerable skill in expressing ideas, conclusions and recommendations effectively, clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
Ability to plan, set priorities and organize work assignments to meet tight and often conflicting deadlines.
Ability to work tactfully and effectively with employees, supervisors and managers, and with elected and appointed officials and senior staff in assigned Departments and Agencies.
Ability to use automated systems technology and software as tools for analyzing operating and capital budgets and related matters.
Ability to attend meetings or perform other assignments at locations outside the office, if necessary.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD:

Individuals appointed to a position in this class will be required to serve a probationary period of twelve months and, if promoted to a position in this class, will be required to serve a probationary period of six months. Performance will be carefully evaluated during the probationary period. Continuation in this class will be contingent upon successful completion of the probationary period.

MEDICAL PROTOCOL: Medical History Review

Class Established: May 1983
Revised: May 1991 (M)
November 1994 (M)
August, 2007