Chief Accountant - City of Birmingham

TARGET CLOSE DATE:

04/24/2026

PAY GRADE:

Grade 32

TYPE:

Full time

JOB SUMMARY:

The City of Birmingham is seeking a Chief Accountant to oversee daily financial operations and ensure compliance with federal, state, and local laws, as well as GAAP and GASB standards. This role establishes and maintains financial systems, policies, and internal controls; oversees accounting functions including reporting, reconciliations, payables and receivables, and audits; assists with budget development and monitoring; and supervises accounting staff.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

The City of Birmingham provides competitive pay and comprehensive benefits packages to include medical and dental insurance, employer-sponsored retirement plan (pension), generous paid holidays, sick and vacation leave, and more. The pay range for this job is listed below:

$81,058 - $125,736

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications that are required for employment consideration for this position:

Option A:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting from an accredited college or university.

• Experience performing and/or reviewing financial documents (e.g., audited financial statements), revenue, and the budget.

• Experience directly supervising employees performing financial work (e.g., verifying financial data for accuracy) or supervising employees who supervise others.

Option B:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting from an accredited college or university.

• Experience as a Principal Accountant in the Merit System.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications deemed desirable by the City of Birmingham. These qualifications may be considered by a hiring agency when reviewing applications and inviting candidates to participate in subsequent steps in the selection process.

• Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

• Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO).

TYPICAL JOB DUTIES:

• Oversees the Accounts Payable (AP) and/or Accounts Receivable (AR) process by entering requisitions and payments, generating invoices and account statements and reconciling funds using accounting software in accordance with professional standards to maintain finances for a department or jurisdiction.

• Oversees internal and external audits of financial records by acting as the point of communication, distributing audit-related tasks, and implementing changes identified during the audit consistent with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and auditor transaction testing techniques to maintain compliance with professional standards and regulations.

• Oversees the maintenance of banking records by researching banking and account information to provide recommendations to the department or jurisdiction regarding which banking institutions to utilize.

• Performs the financial closing process at the end of an accounting period (i.e., monthly, quarterly, yearly) by analyzing account balances and performing balance sheet reconciliations to ensure compliance with with federal. state and local guidelines and laws.

• Oversees the maintenance of the general ledger (GL) by reviewing and approving journal entries, auditing the GL for accuracy, creating journal entries and general ledger adjustments, and reconciling the general ledger to other financial records to ensure completeness of information and compliance with federal. state and local guidelines and laws.

• Engages in activities designed to ensure professional development, awareness of developments in the field, and knowledge of relevant practices, rules, laws, policies, and/or guidelines.

• Supervises staff by assigning and distributing work, directing staff in their job duties, monitoring progress of work, providing feedback and/or training.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Job is primarily sedentary involving sitting for long periods of time, but may involve occasional walking or standing for brief periods.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work is conducted almost exclusively indoors in an office setting. Work involves use of standard office equipment, such as computer, phone, copier, etc.

EEO STATEMENT:

The Personnel Board of Jefferson County provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment with the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.  Each Merit System member city/agency operates its own equal employment opportunity policies available on the individual city/agency website.

ACCOMMODATION:

NOTE:

This job posting may close before, or be extended beyond, the listed Target Close Date based on the employment needs of the Merit System. More detail regarding this job is available by clicking Apply.

DISCLAIMER:

This job posting is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of the job duties, responsibilities, or skills and abilities required for this position and may be changed at the discretion of the Personnel Board at any time.