Chief Financial Officer

The CFO drives the development of a high-performing Financial Services organization that emphasizes exceptional customer service, fiduciary responsibility, and data-driven decision-making. The leader guides strategic planning and budgeting processes to ensure resources are allocated to the City’s highest-priority objectives, fostering organizational accountability and monitoring progress through financial reports and metrics. The CFO also provides financial analysis and decision support to Service Area Directors and Department Heads, enabling data-based and collaborative decision-making.

As a champion of innovation and efficiency, the CFO leads the implementation of systems and processes that enhance service delivery and ensure sound financial management. This role is responsible for developing financial policies, overseeing investment programs, managing debt, and guiding the development of comprehensive financial plans. The CFO builds relationships across the organization to promote transparency and support effective financial decisions while anticipating future challenges and emerging trends to proactively prepare the organization.

The CFO ensures alignment with the City’s strategic goals and strengthens its position as a forward-thinking organization by guiding complex financial and operational matters. Aligned with the City’s belief in having a broader view, the CFO also plays a unique role within the community, region, and beyond.

Financial Services Service Area

The CFO joins the City at a time of significant transformation as the Utilities and Financial Services departments undergo a reorganization with an anticipated completion date in early 2025. The successful candidate joins an internal Change Team and a trusted consultant to impact City and service area culture, shape the efficiency and effectiveness of our infrastructure, and support our goals of innovative strategies propelling us into the future. The new CFO will play a critical role in implementing new organizational models, shaping the structure with people placements, and driving innovation to make a lasting and significant contribution.

Financial Services employees are innovative leaders and partners in fiscal stewardship. The Service Area has a budget of $16.7 Million and is comprised of nine departments with a total of 78 employees and currently encompasses Accounting and Financial Operations, Budget, City Give, Financial Planning and Analysis, Purchasing, Safety and Risk Management, Sales Tax, Utility Customer Connections, and Utility Finance. The reorganization will transition Financial Services to six departments, including Accounting and Financial Operations, Budget and Financial Planning, City Give, Purchasing, Sales Tax and Revenue, and Utility Finance.

Accounting and Financial Operations oversees financial planning, cash management, investment of City funds, fiscal recovery, grants, accounts payable/receivable, and payroll. The department leads the development and maintenance of robust internal controls and daily accounting procedures to comply with City Charter provisions, state regulations, federal grant requirements, and GAAP/GASB standards. Additionally, the department is responsible for producing timely and accurate financial statements and reports, including the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and the Popular Annual Financial Report. The department is also responsible for all aspects of the City’s government grant activity, including the application and award process for state and federal grants. The department ensures the City adheres to all audit and compliance standards and is responsible for overseeing and approving the City’s indirect cost recovery rate with the designated agency.

Budget and Financial Planning develops the City’s budget and leads the current budgeting process called Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO), where the focus is on the programs and services provided to the community rather than the traditional approach of budgeting by the department. The department also provides financial decision-making support, process guidance, and reporting across the organization. The department oversees critical deliverables, strategic initiatives, and long-term financial planning, including new ventures, intergovernmental agreements, capital planning, and annexation assessments.

City Give is the City’s philanthropic service. In 2019, the City launched this pioneering structure to coordinate charitable activities across City departments. City Give is responsible for the stewardship of transparent and accountable standards for philanthropic engagement and charitable gifts and serves as a liaison between the philanthropic community, private-public partnerships, City leadership, and the City’s mission. This “in-house” approach to philanthropy, with its transparent and accountable standards for the financial governance of gifts, gives the City the agility to respond to strategic priorities outside the city budget yet well-positioned for private funding.

Purchasing is a strategic partner to the City and its agencies, including the Poudre Fire Authority (PFA), Poudre River Public Library District, Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the Fort Collins Urban Renewal Authority. The department provides the essential materials, services, and construction needed to support operations and deliver vital services to the community. The department is committed to fair and equitable practices, maximizing value and compliance, and ensuring that public funds are used wisely and effectively.

Sales Tax and Revenue oversees business licensing (sales tax and use tax licensing), tax collection, reporting, education, and compliance functions for sales and use taxes, lodging taxes, and other city transactional taxes or fees for approximately 14,000 licensed businesses. The department also issues licenses for various activities, including liquor occupation tax, short-term rentals, tax-exempt organizations, and outdoor vendors. Sales Tax and Revenue contribute approximately 50% of the City’s total governmental revenue and are the primary funding source for essential services like public safety, road maintenance, park development, and trail infrastructure.

Utility Finance ensures the financial health and resilience of the City’s four utility enterprise funds (electric, water, wastewater, and stormwater) and one internal service fund (customer service and administration). The department develops and maintains cost-of-service models for utility charges and development and redevelopment fees, and the application of these fees. They also ensure the accuracy, integrity, and analysis of periodic financial reporting for both operating and capital budgets and provide direction and oversight for developing fiscally sound asset life-cycle management plans for all major utility assets.

One to Three Year Priorities

• Lead Financial Services through the reorganization. Increase strategic alignment, enhance decision-making opportunities, bolster collaborative partnerships, and strengthen the sustainability of our operations to support a robust, strong, and sustainable future.
• Support a collaborative team environment, reconstitute the management team, align processes across the organization, and rebuild the culture while ensuring a core financial foundation of transactional, internal control, and compliance excellence.
• Collaborate with the City Manager to modernize and enhance the budget methodology and process to increase meaningful transparency and connectivity between financial investments and service levels.
• Mature grant development and compliance to sustainably leverage outside funding opportunities, including federal grant dollars. Properly manage and allocate the City’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), oversee the reporting and compliance, and ensure readiness for federal audits.
• Manage the financial information systems portfolio. Lead digital transformation and future financial technology initiatives, including the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Information System (CIS) implementations.
• Lead the capital financing using instruments like revenue bonds and certificates of participation and partner with engineers, design firms, and program managers to realize projects such as the Halligan Reservoir, Water Quality Lab, Civic Center Master Plan, and Southeast Community Center.
• Develop a long-term capital planning and asset management strategy working horizontally with departments to consolidate individual plans in support of a holistic strategy and funding approach.
• Enhance the City’s revenue strategy. Consider utility rate increases and future tax initiatives, develop and resource an expanded sales and use tax audit program, and explore and implement a comprehensive cost recovery strategy.
• Proactively partner and build trust with colleagues and peers throughout the City. Provide financial tools and support to advance City Council goals, departmental initiatives, and organizational priorities.
• Actively champion and support the City’s ongoing efforts to lead with equity in our processes and service delivery. Collaborate with colleagues to ensure Fort Collins continues to foster an inclusive and equitable culture that represents all residents.

The Successful Candidate

The Chief Financial Officer is excited by the opportunity to provide strategic leadership, evolve Financial Services, and strengthen the organization to meet the needs of the Fort Collins community. Invested in building organizational resilience and capability, the CFO is a trusted partner who combines operational know-how with the ability to work horizontally across the organization to shape and execute the City’s financial strategy. With a forward-looking approach to financial management and local government, the CFO is committed to long-term financial sustainability and operational excellence.

The CFO actively builds relationships across the organization and works collaboratively to understand and address its financial needs. The successful candidate easily gains the confidence and trust of others through honesty and integrity in all interactions. Considered an effective communicator and authentic storyteller, the successful candidate simplifies complex financial information to create understanding among diverse audiences. With strong political acumen, the CFO balances confidence and humility and effectively articulates the financial position and needs of Fort Collins to the City Council, City leadership, staff, and the broader community.

The CFO fosters a culture of teamwork, innovation, and shared problem-solving, ensuring Financial Services maintains its core strengths while building adaptable and sustainable leadership structures that embrace change and transformation. The CFO develops and invests in employees, empowering them to reach their full potential.

Rooted in financial best practices, the CFO applies diverse skills to implement effective processes in a growing community. The ideal candidate combines critical thinking, analytical expertise, and systems thinking to identify trends, connect insights, and address emerging issues. They evaluate alternatives based on financial, social, environmental, and strategic impacts, proposing well-rounded solutions.

The CFO is skilled in navigating a hybrid financial model that includes centralized and decentralized functions. They understand the macro and micro factors that influence government and are experienced in utilizing financial systems and tools to optimize efficiency and accuracy. The ability to develop and implement complex systems and processes across the entire City organization is essential.

Fort Collins Leadership Competencies

• Self-Awareness: Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into leadership strengths and development opportunities.
• Ensure Accountability: Fostering a strong feeling of accountability across the organization, ensuring people at all levels meet commitments.
• Manage Complexity: Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Decision Quality: Making good, timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward.
• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Cultivate Innovation: Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Value Differences: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.
• Build Effective Teams: Cultivating and developing strong teams that possess the skills required to establish and achieve strategic goals and objectives.
• Growth Mindset: Adapting approach and demeanor in real time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Drive Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.

The Community

The City of Fort Collins sits nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains alongside the Cache La Poudre Riverbanks. At 5,000 feet in elevation, residents enjoy a moderate, four-season climate, with an average of three hundred days of sunshine per year. With 174,800 residents, Fort Collins is Colorado’s fourth-largest city and spans 57 square miles. With the 20-year growth projection, the City of Fort Collins is expected to reach 255,000 residents.

The first people who hunted in this region arrived approximately 11,000 years ago, and Northern Colorado remains an integral part of the traditional and ancestral homelands of many Tribal Nations, including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute. Today, Fort Collins has a vibrant Native American community that represents numerous Tribal affiliations. European American trappers and traders arrived by the early 1800s but rarely established permanent settlements. Gold and silver discoveries in the Colorado mountains in the mid-1800s and the prospect of land for farming and ranching attracted people from eastern cities and across the globe to the Colorado Territory, including what would become the town of Fort Collins: an agricultural colony that emerged from its founding days as a military camp. The expansion brought new residents whose descendants still live here today, including Mexican American families from Southern Colorado, New Mexico, and Northern Mexico, Germans from Russia, and other immigrant families who settled here in the 1800s.

Since 1879, Fort Collins has been the home of the state’s land grant institution, Colorado State University, which currently enrolls 34,000 students. Along with the University, the City’s major high-tech and manufacturing companies and breweries attract new residents from all over the country and the world. The City is known for its unique innovative, entrepreneurial, and collaborative spirit that brings together the public and private sectors and the Colorado State University community. Fort Collins is the home of the Colorado State University Energy Institute, whose mission is to deliver real-world energy and climate solutions that address society’s most pressing global challenges, and Innosphere Ventures, a science and technology incubator that accelerates the business success of startups and emerging growth companies.

Our adaptability, openness to failure, risk-taking, the overarching character of collaboration and strong ties between leaders from the University, city government, and local businesses, and a sense of community led to Fort Collins being chosen by Smithsonian Institute curators as one of the country’s most innovative places for the exhibit, “Places of Invention.” People can make a difference here and have contributed to the City’s reputation for breakthrough inventions in clean energy and socially responsible innovation.

We have exceptional medical systems, strong public and private K-12 schools, and a lot of recreational offerings for families. We like to think every age can live, work, and play in our community, and with three hundred days of annual sunshine, mild temperatures, and record snowfalls, it is always an enjoyable time to come to Colorado.

The community’s overall social diversity continues to grow, and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities are available to the many residents who enjoy healthy lifestyles. The nearby Horsetooth Reservoir is a key attraction, as is the Cache La Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway. Thanks to voter support of sales tax ballot measures, the City conserves valued lands and provides recreation and educational access to our community treasures.

There are 53 natural areas and over 100 miles of trail encompassing more than 38,000 acres. Fort Collins has a strong appreciation for arts, culture, and entertainment and is known as the cultural hub of Northern Colorado. There are numerous outstanding performance theaters, museums, and art galleries to visit. The Downtown district offers a variety of options for live music, shopping, dining, and nightlife. Fort Collins is widely regarded as the Craft Beer Capital of Colorado. Several national organizations and magazines recognize Fort Collins as one of the best places to live in the nation. As a result, many people are drawn to the City and want to build their lives here.

The Organization

The City of Fort Collins aspires to provide exceptional services to the community while cultivating an outstanding organizational culture for its employees. To achieve its vision, both internal and external services are data-informed and implemented according to organizational values.

The City develops resiliency and sustainability through organization-wide systems and processes that ensure consistent employee work practices and alignment across service areas. The City highly values public input and strives to include community members as fellow problem-solvers whenever possible. Residents can expect to receive high-quality service, engage with decision-makers, provide input regarding the allocation of City resources, and access government information promptly and transparently.

The City of Fort Collins recognizes and honors the legacy inherited from the decisions, relationships, and thoughtful planning of those who care deeply about our community. We also realize we are a more robust and better community when we welcome everyone to participate in shaping our future. The 2019 City Plan serves as our long-range vision and development framework, and the 2024 Strategic Plan shapes decision-making and funding priorities to implement the future the community desires. Whether building a more inclusive and equitable community, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, addressing, and mitigating the impacts of climate change, or creating additional transportation and housing options, we are committed to partnering to make Fort Collins an even better place for future generations. We know this means keeping our current infrastructure updated and maintained while thinking ahead.

The City is a dynamic and continually evolving organization. However, the City’s vision, mission, and core values remain a constant that helps all employees focus on the primary goal: service to our community members. This commitment is one that the over 2,500 City employees take seriously. From exceptional snowplow drivers and emergency dispatchers, utility crews and recreation officials, IT specialists, vehicle mechanics, and police services, the City’s workforce provides high-quality municipal services around the clock employing their wide variety of talents.

Fort Collins is a community with a strong sense of place. It has gained accolades as one of the best places for job seekers in Colorado, one of the best towns in America, and among the healthiest, most livable, and bicycle-friendly.

Awards and Memberships over the past few years include:

• Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting: Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) – December 2022
• Certified Healthy Workplace Award: Healthy Links – 2023
• No. 23, Top 150 Best Places to Live: U.S. News & World Report – 2024-2025
• American Public Works Association (APWA), Operations/Maintenance – Large Community Award for the Harmony Road Overlay Project – 2024
• Top 100 Best Places to Live: Livability – April 2024
• Excellence in Economic Development Gold Award: Multicultural Business and Entrepreneur Center – 2024
• Cities A List, Climate Action Leader: CDP – November 2023
• No. 1, Best Place to Live in Colorado: Forbes – October 2022
• Best Places to Work in Local Government: Engaging Local Government Leaders – July 2021
• What Works Certified City: Bloomberg Philanthropies – 2021
• Municipal Equality Index 100 – November 2022
• No. 3, Most Dog-friendly City in the U.S.: Rocket Homes – February 2022
• No. 5, 2021 Top 10 Remote-Ready Cities in the U.S.: Livability – January 2021
• No. 8, Colorado City Ranked Among ‘Most Relaxed’ in Country: Out There Colorado – April 2021
• No. 4, 25 Best Cities in the U.S. to Own an Electric Car: 24/7 Wall St – April 2021
• No. 8, Most Fitness Friendly Places for 2021: Smart Asset – December 2020
• No. 2, Best Tasting Drinking Water in North America: American Water Works – June 2021
• No. 42, 2021 Top 100 Places to Live: Livability.com – October 2021
• No. 6, Safest Cities for Cyclists: Your Local Security – May 2021
• No. 18, 20 Safest Cities in Colorado: SafeWise – April 2020
• Clean Air Champion: RAQC – December 2020

We believe these awards are possible due to our employees, volunteers, community members, partnerships in the City and region, and strong leadership from City Council.

The City of Fort Collins is involved in Bloomberg Philanthropies and has received funding and consulting for several key projects. This philanthropic organization focuses its resources on five areas: the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation, and education. Councilmembers and City leaders are engaged nationally and internationally in issues facing our community.

Fort Collins was selected as one of 30 U.S. cities to participate in the City Budgeting for Equity & Recovery program from Bloomberg Philanthropies, through What Works Cities. This new effort will help cities confront budget crises while strengthening their commitment to equity in the wake of COVID-19. The program was designed to help cities develop and implement plans to drive financial recovery and ensure their budget crises do not disproportionately harm low-income residents and communities of color. From the City’s 2021 application, we acknowledged, “The City of Fort Collins has a strong desire to invest in long-term, meaningful equity advancement, and yet in the absence of the requisite models, knowledge, and abilities, this is uncharted territory for our organization.”

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank and grant-making institution dedicated to promoting cooperation and understanding between North America and Europe. Fort Collins was chosen as one of 12 cities to participate in “Cities Fortifying Democracy,” a first-of-its-kind cohort of American and European cities come together in teams to collaborate on what cities are and can be doing to strengthen their resilience and the foundation of democracy from the ground up.

Total Compensation

The City of Fort Collins offers a competitive comprehensive benefits package, including a market salary commensurate with education and experience. The annual salary range is $156,526 – $260,881, and the anticipated hiring range is $200,000 – $240,000; salaries are paid biweekly. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life, and short- and long-term disability insurance. Additionally, the City of Fort Collins offers additional benefits, including 401(a) and a 457 deferred compensation plan with an employer contribution, an optional Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, a significant Wellness Program, and relocation assistance for the successful out-of-area finalist.

Education and Experience

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. The City may consider an equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications.

At least 8-10 years of progressively responsible senior management-level experience in finance, budgeting, and accounting is required. A diverse background that may include experience in local government, private sector, or consulting is ideal. Change management experience coupled with business and digital transformation is essential, as is prior experience navigating organizational complexity. Prior experience working with a board or elected body is ideal.

A bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, public administration, or related field is required, with a master’s degree preferred. An equivalent combination of experience and education that enables success as the Chief Financial Officer will be considered.

Residency

The Chief Financial Officer is subject to residency requirements under the City’s Charter (Article IV, Section 3), which requires the incumbent to reside at the time of appointment and throughout employment within the Fort Collins Urban Growth area. City limits and the Urban Growth Area/Growth Management Area can be found on FCMaps.

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted electronically by Raftelis. Applicants complete a brief online form and are prompted to provide a cover letter and resume. For full consideration, please apply by Wednesday, January 8, 2025.

Questions

Please direct questions to Heather Gantz at hgantz@raftelis.com.

The City of Fort Collins is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity at all levels of its workforce. Applicants selected as finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal history, credit, and driver’s license check prior to the interview. Under the Colorado Open Records Act, information from your application or resume may be subject to public disclosure.

RECRUITMENT BROCHURE