Description
The County Executive’s Office is seeking a well-qualified Assistant County Chief Financial Officer (Assistant County CFO) to join a high-performing team of public finance professionals supporting the County of San Mateo’s fiscal stewardship and service delivery.
The Assistant County CFO, a new position, is being added to the County Executive’s Office to help shape the trajectory of finance for the County for the future. This visionary leader will be expected to look at the County’s finances in their entirety now and in the years ahead.
This executive management role helps lead the Finance Department of the County Executive’s Office, which includes these four divisions: Budget and Performance, Procurement, Assessment and Appeals, and CEO Administration.
Under general direction of the County Chief Financial Officer, the Assistant County CFO provides day-to-day oversight, integration, and coordination of assigned budget operations and will supervise and mentor staff. The position requires a high level of judgment and discretion within the legal and policy frameworks established by the CFO, the Board of Supervisors, and applicable state and federal laws.
In addition to the responsibilities of complex budget development and oversight, this position plays a key role in helping develop practical, yet creative solutions to modern government funding and cost pressures, identifying options that are implementable, transparent, and aligned with Board and County priorities.
This is a unique opportunity for a high-impact public finance leader to develop and test new methodologies and ideas combining innovative yet practical problem-solving, forward-looking fiscal leadership, and enterprise-minded approaches with fiscally disciplined stewardship. We are looking for someone who can keep the County financially strong while helping departments navigate growing community needs, rising costs, and limited revenues by bringing fresh thinking, analytic rigor, and collaborative execution to budget solutions.
What You Will Do (Key Responsibilities)
Duties may include, but are not limited to:
Fiscal Strategy, Sustainability & Decision Support
- Develop data-informed options to address funding gaps and cost pressures, including scenario planning and clear articulation of tradeoffs and impacts.
- Support strategies to strengthen fiscal sustainability, including evaluation of cost controls, cost recovery, service delivery alternatives, resource reallocation, and other legally permissible approaches to improve revenues and/or reduce expenditures.
- Monitor department expenditures and revenues; identify trends, risks, and mitigation options.
- Review, analyze, and report on pending state and federal legislation with significant fiscal impacts.
Budget Leadership & Performance Management
- Assist in planning, organizing, directing, and reviewing the development and oversight of the County budget.
- Lead development and implementation of budget policies, calendars, tools, and processes.
- Oversee the development and implementation of performance-based/outcome-based budgeting approaches.
- Coordinate budget and fiscal activities with all County departments and special districts.
Organizational Improvement & Implementation
- Identify opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness through process redesign, automation, continuous improvement, and improved financial/performance reporting.
- Partner with departments to move from recommendations to implementation, building shared ownership, accountability, and measurable results.
- Lead and participate in high-priority department and county-wide projects and system implementations.
Executive Communications & Representation
- Explain and interpret budget and financial policies, rules, and procedures.
- Represent the County CFO with the County Executive, Board of Supervisors, special districts, media, community, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders.
- Inform the County CFO regarding overall fiscal condition and emerging issues that could affect the County’s financial position.
Ideal Candidate
We’re looking for a public finance leader who brings analytic rigor, creative thinking, and collaborative execution, and who can develop practical, transparent solutions aligned with Board and County priorities.
Ideal qualifications include:
- Strong public-sector finance fundamentals and a solutions-oriented mindset.
- Ability to think strategically while operating effectively at both enterprise and operational levels.
- Demonstrated success developing and implementing new approaches to complex fiscal challenges in a public agency setting.
- Political astuteness and excellent judgment in a highly visible public environment.
- Ability to build trust quickly and establish effective partnerships using a participatory, collaborative style.
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to persuasively convey fiscal strategy, options, and impacts to diverse audiences.
- Skill as a consensus builder who is firm, fair, and responsive
- Tactful leadership and strong facilitation skills.
- Proficiency with automated systems and advanced spreadsheet/analytics tools; experience supporting system/automation upgrades.
- Ability to evaluate operations across departments of varying size, complexity, and service models.
- An approachable manner and a sense of humor.
County of San Mateo: Fiscal Stewardship & Innovation
The County is in a period of financial transformation throughout our departments. We are in the process of securing a new budget system and new Assessment Appeals system and will continue to upgrade our County-wide systems and processes to strengthen the oversight of our fiscal stewardship. Our aim is to be one of the first adapters of new technology that will provide more in-depth information in our continued pursuit of data-driven approaches to demonstrate performance, enhance services, and improve transparency.
San Mateo County maintains a strong credit rating and is among the few California counties with AAA bond issuer ratings from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, supported by conservative debt and reserve policies and an aggressive approach to addressing unfunded pension and retiree health liabilities.
Qualifications
Experience and Education:
Any combination of experience and education that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:
- Four years of increasingly responsible experience performing a wide variety of fiscal, administrative, and managerial duties in a large, complex public agency, including one or more years in a senior-level administrative or management position.
Application and Examination
This is an Open and Promotional recruitment. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo and County of San Mateo Superior Court of California employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in classified regular, probationary, extra-help or limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.
The examination process will consist of an Application Screening (weight: pass/fail) and a Panel Interview (weight: 100%), which may include the evaluation of a brief writing exercise given immediately preceding the interview. Applicants must successfully pass the Application Screening to move forward to the interview. Candidates must successfully pass the interview to be placed on the eligible (hiring) list.
Depending on the number of applications, a screening committee may select those applicants whose education and/or experience appear to best meet the needs of the position. For that reason, not all applicants with the minimum qualifications are guaranteed to advance through selection process. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click “Apply.” If you are not on the County's website, please apply at https://jobs.smcgov.org/.
Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.
To be considered for this exceptional opportunity, the following materials must be submitted:
- County of San Mateo Application Employment Form
- Cover Letter expressing your interest in the position and providing responses to the following Supplemental subject areas:
Supplemental Subject Areas:
Subject Area One: Government finance has become increasingly complex and challenging. For this position, we are looking for someone with visionary ideas for fiscal transformation who can develop creative solutions to current challenges, such as increasing community needs, rising costs, and limited revenues, while aligning with Board and County priorities.
Provide at least two examples of creative, “outside-the-box” fiscal solutions you have presented and implemented at your current or a recent employer. One or both of your examples should relate to a current County of San Mateo priority or event.
In your response describe the issues you were trying to solve, how you implemented your ideas, and the result of the implementations. Please include the agencies where you implemented these ideas, your job titles, and your primary responsibilities.
Subject Area Two: Considering the description of the idea candidate and the core competencies listed in the job announcement, which three characteristics do you believe best align with your background and prepare you for this position? For each of the three qualifications selected:
a. Briefly describe one specific example of how you applied it in practice.
b. Explain your specific role and the results achieved.
c. Reference the position or job in which the experience was gained.
Tentative Recruitment Schedule
- Recruitment Opens: March 13, 2026
- Final Filing Date: April 6, 2026, at 11:59 PM PST
- Application Screening: April 8 – 20, 2026
- Panel/Departmental Interviews: April 29 and/or 30, 2026
About the County
San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.
The County of San Mateo, as an employer, is committed to advancing equity to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work.
The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community.
Analyst: Chet Overstreet – 03132026 (Assistant County Chief Financial Officer – D238)