Mid-South Transportation Management, Inc. Careers

Description

• Support the development of MATA’s annual operating and capital budgets in coordination with Finance leadership.
• Prepare budget schedules, templates, and instructions for departments.
• Review departmental budget submissions for accuracy, completeness, and consistency with prior year trends and approved assumptions.
• Analyze labor costs, overtime, vacancies, fuel, parts, contracted services, and other key transit cost drivers.
• Ensure approved staffing plans, service levels, and grant-funded positions are accurately reflected in the budget.
• Prepare budget backup schedules, narratives, and summary tables for executive leadership, Trustees, and external stakeholders.

• Maintain monthly and quarterly forecasts for operating departments and funds.
• Monitor projected year-end results compared to the adopted budget.
• Analyze forecast changes related to ridership trends, service adjustments, labor costs, overtime usage, fuel prices, and grant activity.
• Update forecasts based on departmental input, actual spending trends, and leadership direction.
• Support multi-year financial projections as needed for service planning, grant applications, and long-term financial sustainability.

• Prepare and review monthly budget-to-actual reports for all departments.
• Identify significant variances and emerging financial risks.
• Partner with department leadership to understand drivers of variances and identify corrective actions.
• Ensure expenses are properly classified and aligned with approved budget categories and funding sources.
• Support budget amendments and reallocations when required.

• Serve as a primary finance contact for assigned MATA departments.
• Conduct monthly budget review meetings with department heads and designees.
• Prepare variance summaries, forecasts, and discussion materials in advance of meetings.
• Document decisions, follow-up actions, and required budget adjustments.
• Provide ongoing guidance on budget management, allowable costs, and financial controls.

• Perform routine reconciliation of position control to payroll, budget, and HR records.
• Verify that filled and vacant positions align with approved staffing plans and budget authorizations.
• Identify discrepancies related to hires, separations, reclassifications, overtime, and grant-funded positions.
• Coordinate with Human Resources and Payroll to resolve inconsistencies.
• Support labor cost forecasting, vacancy tracking, and overtime analysis.

• Prepare internal management reports and ad hoc financial analyses.
• Maintain documentation supporting budget assumptions, forecasts, and adjustments.
• Support external audits, FTA reviews, and internal control assessments by providing financial and staffing documentation.
• Assist with reporting requirements tied to federal and state transit funding as requested.

• Support the development and maintenance of automated budget and forecasting tools to improve accuracy, consistency, and timeliness of financial reporting.
• Partner with Finance leadership, IT, Payroll, and HR to identify opportunities to streamline manual budget, forecasting, and position control processes.
• Assist in the design and improvement of standardized budget-to-actual reports, forecast dashboards, and management reporting templates.
• Help define data requirements, report logic, and business rules for budget and staffing reports across systems.
• Support automation of recurring reports, including monthly budget-to-actuals, forecast updates, and department-level summaries.
• Test and validate automated reports to ensure data integrity and alignment with approved budgets and payroll records.
• Document reporting processes, assumptions, and data sources to support continuity, training, and audit readiness.
• Serve as a functional subject-matter resource for budget reporting tools and financial systems used by MATA.

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Public Administration, Business, or related field.
• Minimum of 3–5 years of experience in budgeting or financial analysis, preferably in a public sector or transportation environment.
• Demonstrated experience with budget-to-actual analysis and forecasting.
• Experience working with labor-heavy budgets and position control.
• Strong Excel skills and experience with financial reporting systems.
• Experience in public transportation, transit authorities, or local government finance preferred.
• Familiarity with FTA funding, grants management, or federally funded programs.
• Experience with ERP or financial systems used in public agencies.
• Regular and consistent attendance is necessary.
• Must always comply with safety and COVID protocols and is expected to monitor compliance by employees for information sharing with HR management as needed.
• Must have and maintain a valid driver’s license in accordance with general company standards.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to clearly communicate financial information to operational leaders
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong organization and follow-through
• Professional judgment and discretion
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced operational environment