Chief Accountant - City of Vestavia Hills

TARGET CLOSE DATE:

09/04/2026

PAY GRADE:

Grade 32

TYPE:

Full time

JOB SUMMARY:

The City of Vestavia Hills is seeking a well-qualified 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 Vestavia Hills 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 presented below:

$94,182 - $146,099

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

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

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration with a minimum of 30 semester hours in Accounting coursework.

• Experience supervising employees to include training and directing the work of multiple subordinates.           

• Experience using automated computer systems to post and balance financial transactions.    

• Experience reconciling financial accounts and reviewing journal entries.   

• Experience preparing, analyzing, reviewing, and approving accounting functions such as general ledger, AP, AR, financial statements, payroll, budgeting.    

• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite to include Excel and Word. 

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.