Principal Debt Management Specialist

The Office of the State Treasurer exists to provide and ensure effective financial management of public resources, high standards of professionalism and integrity, and expanding opportunity for State of Connecticut residents and businesses.

Under the leadership of Connecticut’s State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden, the Office of the Treasurer (OTT) is dedicated to safeguarding the state’s financial resources and taxpayers’ dollars, while maximizing returns, minimizing risks and operating at the highest professional and ethical standards. Through investments and disbursements, the Office continues to enhance the State’s fiscal stability, financial literacy, college savings, and its approach to leveraging business partnerships to combat social issues such as gun violence, climate change, and equal opportunity in economic growth that impact shareholder value. 

We are accepting applications for the position of Principal Debt Management Specialist to work at our location in Hartford, CT.  This is a full-time (40 hours per week, Monday - Friday) classified management position.

The Debt Management Division is responsible for the cost-effective issuance and management of the State of Connecticut’s bonded debt. The State’s strategic investments in local school construction, roads, bridges, airports, higher education, clean water, and economic development are the foundation of Connecticut’s physical and social infrastructure.
 
The Debt Management Division manages the State’s four public financing programs: General Obligation Bonds, Special Tax Obligation Bonds (Transportation Infrastructure), University of Connecticut Bonds, and State Revolving Fund Bonds, and coordinates the issuance of bonds with State quasi-public authorities.

The Office of the Treasurer offers a competitive benefits plan that includes healthcare coverage, a retirement plan, as well as, paid time off!  https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/smART/General-Employee-Benefits.

Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as listed on the job opening and specify their qualifications on their application. Please ensure that your application is complete and you have included your resume in the “Resume Tab” of your application as you will be unable to make revisions once you officially submit your application into the JobAps system.  

Applicants invited to interview may be required to submit additional documentation supporting their qualification(s). These documents may include: performance reviews, supervisory references, college transcripts, licensure, etc. at the discretion of the agency.  

This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQ’s) which will be sent to you via email after the closing date.  The email notification will include an expiration date by which you must submit (Finish) your responses.  Please regularly check your email for notifications.  Please check your SPAM and or Junk folders, as emails could end up there in error.  

The minimum experience and training requirements must be met by the close date on the job opening, unless otherwise specified.     

Should you have questions pertaining to any phase of this recruitment, please contact the hiring agency's human resources office:  lorna.reid@ct.gov.

NOTE:  The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.

In the Office of the State Treasurer, this class is accountable for performing the most complex tasks in the issuance and management of the State's bonded debt and for having division-wide leadership responsibilities.

Serves as a subject matter expert and leader in one or more major bond financing programs having significant statewide impact; acts as an assistant to the Assistant Treasurer for Debt Management by carrying out all of the following duties: represents the Assistant Treasurer for Debt Management in his or her absence; assists in the management of the Debt Management Division; analyzes and interprets data and makes recommendations on policy decisions related to the public debt; studies the impact of changes in the amount, character and distribution of the public debt for its implications on credit conditions, interest rates, or the level and distribution of income; analyzes the relationships of public debt securities to the requirements of various classes of investors; oversees the issuance of bonds in compliance with all pertinent statutory requirements of finance capital projects and adjusts bond maturities to the life of capital improvements; schedules maturities of various bonds to coincide with anticipated government revenue; manages short-term borrowing or notes sold to banks or other investors; manages IRS Code compliance relative to tax-exempt bonds; monitors long and short-term financing requirements of a variety of quasi-public authorities; supervises the preparation of cash forecasts; formulates investment strategy for short-term investments; performs related duties as required.

Considerable knowledge of the principles and practices of public administration; considerable knowledge of the principles and techniques of government finance; considerable knowledge of current financial markets; considerable ability to analyze financial problems accurately and to develop effective courses of action; considerable ability to develop and implement creative and innovative responses to a changing financial and legal environment; considerable interpersonal skills; considerable oral and written communication skills.

Ten (10) years of professional level experience in financial management involving the preparation, organization and completion of complex financial transactions and the design and implementation of investment strategies.

Four (4) years of the above experience must have involved the coordination of various parties involved in executing bond issues or financial transactions of a complex nature.

1. College training in Business Management or a closely related field may be substituted for the General Experience on the basis of fifteen (15) semester hours equalling one-half (1/2) year of experience up to a maximum of four (4) years for a Bachelor's degree.
2. A Master's degree in accounting, business management, finance, economics or public administration may be substituted for one (1) additional year of the General Experience.

·         Strong leadership skills and ability to lead a major State financing program as well as large bond working groups in an effective manner.

·         Experience with state government processes and the ability to forecast and prepare budgets for bond issuance needs and bond debt service projections.

·         Experience with the various stages of legal approval for projects for state bond funding and various exceptions.

·         Experience with reading and interpreting state statutes and enabling legislation relative to state bonding and other fiscal controls that support the State’s credit standing and overall governance structure.

·         Experience interpreting business terms included in complex legal documents relating to bond issues.

·         Experience with and knowledge of effective and timely short- and long-term investment of bond proceeds.

·         Experience with municipal market trends including disclosure, ESG, market regulation, and compliance requirements.

·         The ability to understand the overall State fiscal position in sufficient depth so as to effectively communicate with rating agencies and investors.

·         Ability to be creative and develop innovative approaches and improvements to the bond issuance process and incorporate new financing types and approaches where appropriate.

·         Strong interpersonal skills - ability to work cooperatively and courteously with colleagues, other State agencies, and members of the bond working groups.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.