Local Government Specialist

Local Government Specialist Department: Community Planning Employment Type: Full Time Location: Albany, NY Compensation: $85,000 - $100,000 / year Description Artheon is seeking talented professionals to join our growing team in support of diverse engineering and environmental projects. Whether your background is in civil engineering, environmental science, or infrastructure design, this is a great opportunity to contribute to meaningful work in a collaborative and innovative environment. About Artheon: Artheon is a trusted engineering and consulting firm offering services that rival large organizations while maintaining the personalized client relationships of a boutique firm. With expertise spanning civil/site engineering, environmental permitting, transportation infrastructure, construction management, and advanced surveying technologies, we are committed to delivering high-quality, timely solutions to local, state, and federal clients. Position Summary: We're seeking an analytical, public-service-minded professional to join our Government Operations and Efficiency team. This role combines municipal finance, public policy, and management consulting to help local governments improve financial sustainability, organizational effectiveness, and service delivery across New York State. Working alongside experienced consultants, you'll support projects involving municipal reorganization, village dissolution, shared services, organizational assessments, strategic planning, and fiscal impact analysis, including the preparation of village dissolution studies, joint consolidation agreements, interim studies, and implementation strategies. The ideal candidate has experience in municipal finance or local government and understands municipal budgeting, public finance, and New York State local government operations. Success in this role requires the ability to analyze financial and operational data, develop practical recommendations, and communicate complex information clearly to elected officials, municipal leaders, and community stakeholders. Responsibilities Analyze municipal budgets, audited financial statements, tax levies, fund balances, debt schedules, revenues, expenditures, and staffing costs. Develop financial models that evaluate the fiscal impacts of municipal reorganizations, shared services, consolidations, organizational restructuring, and operational improvements. Support consulting engagements involving village dissolution, town-village consolidation, service delivery optimization, organizational management studies, and strategic planning initiatives. Assist in preparing village dissolution studies, joint consolidation agreements, interim studies, shared service studies, departmental organizational assessments, and implementation strategies. Interpret and analyze municipal budgets, audited financial statements, payroll schedules, staffing plans, collective bargaining information, service contracts, fee schedules, and operational records. Evaluate municipal operations, staffing structures, workflows, governance models, and service delivery practices to identify opportunities for improvement. Evaluate municipal operations, identify practical recommendations, and translate technical analysis into plain-language public information. Research New York State local government laws, municipal structures, shared service opportunities, and funding programs relevant to client projects. Prepare technical reports, executive summaries, presentations, fiscal analyses, and public-facing materials that communicate complex information in a clear and understandable way. Conduct interviews with elected officials, municipal administrators, department heads, employees, and community stakeholders to gather operational and financial information. Participate in client meetings, public workshops, steering committee meetings, and board presentations. Coordinate project documentation, data requests, meeting notes, and quality control throughout the project lifecycle. Support proposal development, project scoping, and business development initiatives for municipal consulting opportunities. Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, Public Policy, Planning, Political Science, or a related field. Two or more years of professional experience in municipal finance, local government, public administration, budgeting, public policy, consulting, or a related field. Excellent writing skills, including the ability to prepare polished reports, summaries, tables, and presentations for elected officials and the public. Knowledge of municipal budgeting, public finance, fund accounting concepts, tax levies, fund balances, debt, revenues, expenditures, and fiscal forecasting. Knowledge of New York State local government structures, including cities, towns, villages, counties, special districts, boards, departments, and intermunicipal service arrangements. Ability to interpret and analyze municipal budgets, audited financial statements, payroll schedules, staffing plans, collective bargaining information, service contracts, fee schedules, and operational records. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel with experience developing financial models and analyzing complex datasets. Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities. Ability to manage multiple projects while maintaining exceptional attention to detail. Comfortable working collaboratively with elected officials, municipal staff, consultants, and community stakeholders. Preferred Qualifications Master's degree in Public Administration (MPA), Public Policy, Finance, Economics, Planning, or a related field. Experience working with New York State municipalities or other local government organizations. Experience with municipal reorganizations, shared services, operational assessments, or strategic planning initiatives. Knowledge of New York State municipal laws, intermunicipal cooperation, or special district planning. Experience preparing fiscal impact analyses, public reports, board presentations, or grant-funded project documentation. GIS, data visualization, or financial modeling experience is a plus. Benefits The base salary range for this role is indicated in the posting. This range reflects the company’s good faith estimate of the compensation for this position at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, internal equity, and geographic location. Artheon offers a competitive compensation package including medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage, 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, educational assistance program and paid time off/parental leave. #J-18808-Ljbffr