The City of Palm Bay, Florida, seeks an experienced, forward-thinking finance executive to serve as its next Chief Financial Officer. This executive-level opportunity is available due to the planned retirement of the City’s longtime finance leader.

Palm Bay is a large, growing community located on Florida’s Space Coast in southern Brevard County. With a population approaching 150,000 residents, Palm Bay is Brevard County’s largest city and offers the scale and complexity of a major municipal organization while maintaining the natural beauty, recreational amenities, and quality of life associated with coastal Central Florida.

The City operates under the council-manager form of government and has an adopted FY26 budget of $521.3 million. Palm Bay has a strong foundation of financial stewardship, reporting, and accountability, including recognition from the Government Finance Officers Association and unqualified external financial statement audits for the past five years.

The Chief Financial Officer reports directly to the City Manager and serves as a key member of the City’s executive leadership team. The position works closely with the City Manager, City Council, department directors, and staff across the organization to support sound financial decision-making, long-range planning, operational accountability, and responsible stewardship of public resources.

The next CFO will step into a stable organization with a strong financial foundation, experienced staff, and a clear commitment to responsible stewardship, transparency, and accountability. The Finance Department includes 18 authorized professional staff positions across accounting, budgeting, payroll, cash management, financial analysis, capital and asset program support, and administrative operations.

Position Responsibilities

The Chief Financial Officer serves as the City’s senior financial executive and strategic financial advisor to the City Council, City Manager, executive leadership team, departments, residents, and stakeholders. Key responsibilities include:

• Financial strategy and long-range fiscal planning
• Budget development, monitoring, and forecasting
• Accounting, financial reporting, and the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report
• Debt management, bond financing, and investment oversight
• Internal controls, fraud-risk reduction, and financial safeguards
• Grants compliance and fiscal impact review
• Utility finance, rate analysis, and capital planning
• Procurement coordination and financial policy development
• Department leadership, performance measures, and staff development

The successful candidate will lead Finance Department staff, work collaboratively with departments citywide, strengthen financial policies and systems, promote accountability, and ensure that financial operations remain aligned with City priorities.

Ideal Candidate

The City of Palm Bay seeks a seasoned local government finance executive with strong technical knowledge, excellent judgment, and the ability to operate effectively at both strategic and operational levels.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Strong knowledge of governmental accounting, budgeting, auditing, and financial reporting
• Experience with debt management, capital planning, internal controls, and long-range forecasting
• A clear understanding of GAAP, GASB, municipal fiscal standards, and public-sector transparency
• The ability to communicate complex financial information clearly and practically
• Confidence working with elected officials, executive leadership, department directors, employees, auditors, consultants, financial institutions, and residents
• A collaborative, approachable, and solution-oriented leadership style
• A commitment to accuracy, integrity, customer service, accountability, and continuous improvement

The City seeks a strong department leader who values employee development, clear expectations, accountability, communication, teamwork, and innovation. The ideal candidate will cultivate a supportive, motivated work environment, foster innovation, and promote a departmental culture grounded in accuracy, integrity, customer service, and continuous improvement.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates must meet one of the following education and experience pathways:

Pathway 1

• A bachelor’s degree or higher, with a master’s degree preferred, from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field
• Minimum of eight years of progressively responsible experience in governmental accounting and finance

Pathway 2

• An associate degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in governmental accounting and finance

Additional requirements:

• Minimum of five years of supervisory experience in local government finance administration
• Valid Florida driver’s license required upon hire
• At least one of the following certifications: Certified Public Finance Officer, Certified Government Finance Officer, or Certified Public Accountant

Compensation

The starting salary is $150,000+ annually, depending on qualifications and experience. The selected candidate will also receive a monthly automobile allowance of $405.