Occ. Code 1905200
BUSINESS OFFICER 2,GRADE 62
BUSINESS OFFICER 1, GRADE 61
New York State Department of Civil Service
Classification Standard
NATURE OF WORK
Incumbents of Business Officer positions provide management
direction and control of business administration, fiscal and support
service 8ctivities at a Psychiatric Center of the Office of Mental
Health or Developmental Centers of the Office of Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities. Under the policy direction of
a Deputy Director for institution Administration, they coordinate
all such activities with clinical program supervisors to insure
that the activities are supportive of facility treatment objectives.
The Business Officer plans, organizes, directs and controls the
principal activities of all support departments (excluding the
facility personnel office and at some centers, the security force);
oversees the preparation of facility's annual other than personnel
service (OTPS) budget requests and the personnel service budget
requests for support departments: oversees the expenditure of
and accounting for funds appropriated in the annual budget; prepares
and monitors facility contracts with other providers of support
or clinical services according to appropriate rules and regulations
of the State Comptroller; and assists clinical program supervisors
with the evaluation, utilization, leasing and control of program
space on and off the facility "campus."
CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA AND DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
Business Officer 2 is the top level business and fiscal management
position at a facility having 250 or more positions budgeted for
support services. Business Officer 1 is the top level business
and fiscal management position at a facility which has less than
250 positions budgeted for support services.
Critical to these classes is the responsibility for effective
management of services in support of treatment activities and
objectives; for preparation and monitoring of annual facility
budgets; for operation of the business office; and for direction
of such activities as plant operation and maintenance, food service,
laundry services, housekeeping, and transportation.
Positions of Assistant Business Officer may perform many of
the same activities as a Business Officer. Assistant Business
Officers serve as second in charge to a Business Officer or, in
large facilities, may serve as a Principal Assistant to a Business
Officer.
Business Officers exist only in facilities of the Office of
Mental Health and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities. Positions of Institution Steward in the Department
of Correctional Services are also responsible for fiscal management
and support services at their agency facilities. However, the
size of such facilities and the scope and standardization of their
activities distinguish this class from Business Officer.
TYPICAL ACTIVITIES, TASKS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Supervises the activities of the facility's business office.
- Determines staffing and organization needs based on the facility's
fiscal requirements and organizes the fiscal and other units
necessary for the effective management of the budgeted resources.
- Prepares budget request for review by facility Director and
Deputy Director recommending the level of funding in various
categories under OTPS.
- Confers with the Deputy Director on problems that may arise
while the budget request is being reviewed internally prior to
final submission.
- Assists the Central Office budget staff in resolving problems
of interpretation that may arise during their review of budget
documents by preparing and submitting supplementary material.
Prepares annual personal service budget requests for support
services departments.
- Meets with facility Deputy Directors to discuss program needs,
staffing plans and funding levels for the purpose of program
planning and evaluation in support services.
- Meets with support service department heads to explain the
procedures to be followed in preparing and submitting initial
personal service budget requests and to resolve policy or procedural
difficulties on this matter.
- Periodically reviews staffing patterns with support service
department heads and Director of Institution Human Resources
Management, by comparing present and anticipated workload against
available manpower: where appropriate, recommends or requests
the establishment of new positions, reclassification of existing
positions, or redeployment of current staff.
- Receives and reviews budget requests from each support service
department head in order to prepare an overall budget request
for review by facility administration, recommending the level
of funding required for personal services in various support
services departments, and an appropriate staffing pattern for
each department.
Oversees the expenditure of and accounting for funds appropriated
in the annual budget.
- Develops or directs the development of financial management
systems and procedures to ensure fiscal accountability, solvency
and appropriate disposition of allocated funds; this may include
the use of cost accounting techniques, fiscal reporting systems,
internal auditing procedures, and similar techniques.
- Reviews periodic or special reports generated by the facility's
fiscal management information systems, as a basis for recommendations
to the Deputy Director and clinical unit chiefs on allocation
or reallocation of specific funds.
- Within the guidelines established by the Department's central
budget staff and in conjunction with the facility's program managers,
prepares or directs the preparation of revised spending plans
to accommodate the fiscal constraints, reordered program priorities,
and other contingencies arising during the fiscal year.
- When appropriate, prepares recommendations to the Deputy
Director on allocation of OTPS funds, or acquisition of additional
OTPS monies from alternate sources.
- Approves or disapproves requests for major equipment of supply
purchases based on their economy and feasibility.
- Confers as necessary with clinical unit chiefs and other
management staff on their spending plans; provides training,
advice and consultation to unit managers on such matters in cooperation
with the administration deputy.
In conjunction with users of service, prepares and manages
contracts and shared service agreements between the facility and
outside providers of clinical or support services, to insure that
services are delivered efficiently and effectively at the lowest
possible cost.
- Determines the feasibility and cost of purchasing specific
services on contract, as compared to the efficiency and effectiveness
of providing such services within the facility (examples include
food, laundry and transportation services, laboratory analyses,
and radiographic (x-ray) services. In this connection, the Business
Officer considers the facility's relationships with other mental
health or general health facilities in the service area, including
state, local and private agencies); may confer with outside providers
to determine the feasibility of shared services arrangements;
may prepare appropriate recommendations to the Deputy Director
or clinical unit chiefs on potential service agreements.
- Reviews bids and arranges final contract terms with selected
bidder; secures necessary contract approvals from the Central
Office Bureau of Budget Services, Division of the Budget and
Office of the State Comptroller.
- Monitors contract performance and delivery of service, through
direct observations, conferences with program staff and cost
review.
- Should contract performance standards not be met, negotiates
with the provider to bring about appropriate changes in quantity,
quality or timeliness of service; in case of serious breach of
contract, works with appropriate Units in the central office
to resolve the matter.
Assists clinical program supervisors in the evaluation, utilization,
lease and control of program space on and off the facility ''campus."
- Periodically evaluates the appropriateness of "on-campus"
space utilization, through conferences with program managers,
inputs of subordinate staff and personal observations, recommends
or implements alternative Uses based on program needs and efficiency/effective
criteria. Where major modifications are required, such as the
closing of patient/resident buildings, may prepare alternative
use plans for review by facility management, the central office
and control agencies.
- Determines ''off-campus" space requirements for community-based
programs, in cooperation with clinical staff and evaluates available
space.
- Oversees the modification, repair, improvement and furnishing
of leased or purchased space; and the provision of required maintenance
and other support services through outside contract and/or facility
support staff.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS
The nature of a Business Officer's activities requires frequent
verbal communication with support services department heads, clinical
chiefs of service, the Deputy Director, the facility personnel
officer, central office staff and community groups. Much of the
verbal communication with the Deputy Director and clinical chiefs
involves the identification of administrative and operational
problems and the exploration of alternative solutions. The Business
Officer's particular contribution to such matters is an evaluation
of the physical and financial resources available to meet operational
and program needs.
Verbal communication with Central Office and other state agencies
involves the exchange of information regarding a particular request
or expenditure and the development of justifications in support
of such transactions.
Business Officers are involved in the development of comprehensive
service delivery systems for treatment programs. Their involvement
typically occurs as each facility negotiates with county mental
health agencies, voluntary hospitals and others regarding budget
making, planning for and delivery of support services, and deployment
of clinical programs in the community. The Business Officer may
represent the facility independently or in conjunction with higher
management, in discussions of service contracts, shared staffing
agreements, preparation of unified services budget plans and similar
matters.
Business Officers prepare narrative and tabular materials for
the facility's annual budget request and for special projects
requiring an analysis of the fiscal implications of a proposed
program or course of action or a financial status of a particular
program. In addition, written reports are prepared periodically
on levels of expenditures, with particular emphasis on identifying
potential problems.
NATURE OF SUPERVISION
Positions in this class are generally supervised by a Deputy
Director. The Deputy issues policy and program guidelines and
reviews the work output of the Business Officer in terms of these
guidelines. The Business Officer provides the deputy with frequent
verbal and occasional written reports on activities and problems
and may refer disputes with clinical chiefs over the allocation
resources to the deputy for resolution.
In turn the Business Officer supervises a number of support
services department heads. This supervision is not over the day-to-day
activities but involves the setting of priorities, the solving
of operational and staffing problems, the review of periodic reports
for conformity to standards of efficiency, effectiveness, quality
and quantity; and frequent inspections of work areas.
JOB REQUIREMENTS
- Good knowledge of the techniques of solving financial and
support services problems.
- Good knowledge of the facility's support services program
and their needs.
- Good knowledge of the budget preparation process including
the application of Departmental and Division of the Budget guidelines,
procedures and policies.
- Working knowledge of supervisory practices.
- Working knowledge of the facility's and central office's
programs, goals and objectives.
- Good knowledge of support services staffing patterns.
- Working knowledge of the Comptroller's rules and regulations
and the Office of General Services and central office's procedures
governing the preparation and monitoring of contracts and leases.
- Working knowledge of the techniques of monitoring the expenditures
of funds.
- Basic knowledge of principles and practices of health care
administration.
- Basic knowledge of the principles of cost analysis.
- Ability to solve financial and support services problems.
- Ability to identify and anticipate fiscal problems and needs
within the institution.
- Ability to identify and set priorities.
- Ability to organize and consolidate narrative and tabular
information into a clear and logical fiscal plan for the facility.
- Ability to prepare narrative tabular reports in support of
fiscal and budget requests and to support periodic requests for
additional equipment, funds and the reallocation of funds.
- Ability to verbally explain and support fiscal and budget
requests in conferences with facility and/or central office program
and administrative staff.
- Ability to interpret financial reports.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
One year of permanent service as an Assistant Business Officer.
Revised: 9/00