Federal Position Descriptions
Print

Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs

Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, Department of Transportation
Responsibility
Management Scope

In fiscal 2015, DOT had $75,425 million in outlays and 53,822 total employment. DOT’s budget, performance and financial management activities are overseen by the office of the chief financial officer and the assistant secretary for budget and programs.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains integrated accounting and financial management systems
• Oversees the recruitment, selection and training of personnel to carry out agency financial management functions, as well as managing, training and providing policy guidance and oversight of these personnel and their activities
• Implements agency asset management systems, including systems for cash management, credit management, debt collection, and property and inventory management and control
• Develops budgets that support all agency missions
• Manages the financial execution of the agency budget and actual expenditures
• Provides financial and performance reports to staff, overseers and stakeholders
• Ties the budget and performance to outcomes
• Takes the lead role in enterprise risk-management
• Serving as the vice chair of the department’s Credit Council.
• Oversees the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program and the TIFIA Joint Program Office on behalf of the secretary, including evaluating individual projects and providing overall policy direction and program decisions for the TIFIA program

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements

• Strong background in federal financial management
• Executive leadership experience
• Experience working in a large organization
• Risk-management experience
• Knowledge of the department’s functions and policies
• Knowledge of federal budget formulation
• Familiarity with cyber technology a plus
• Background in data analytics a plus

Competencies

• Ability to collaborate with the chief information officers (CFO), under/assistant secretaries for administration/management, as well as other CFOs and the Office of Management and Budget via the CFO Council
• Knowledge of, and relationships with, Congress or ability to develop them

Past Appointments
  • Shoshana M. Lew (2015-2017) – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at DOT; Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management supporting the reorganization of offshore oversight functions within the Department following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; Senior Policy Director for Energy and Climate Change at the White House Domestic Policy Council; Policy Advisor to the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget
  • Chris Bertram (2009-2014) – Senior professional staff member with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Federal Aviation Administration’s Assistant Administrator for Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer; Staff Director for the House’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, and in various positions within the Office of Management and Budget
  • Phyllis Scheinberg (2005-2009) – Director of transportation issues in the Government Accountability Office; senior budget examiner in the Office of Management and Budget
  • Linda Morrison Combs (2004-2005) – Chief Financial Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency
  • Donna Rae McLean (2001-2004) – Assistant Secretary of the Federal Aviation Administration; professional staff member of the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; worked within the Office of Management and Budget
AGENCY

Department of Transportation

Mission: To ensure a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future. This CFO is covered by the CFO Act of 1990 that may be filled through appointment by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, or through designation by the president from among agency officials who have been confirmed by the Senate for other positions.1

COMPENSATION

Level IV $155,500 (5 U.S.C. § 5315)2

REPORTS TO

Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation

SENATE COMMITTEE

Commerce, Science and Transportation

Appointee Tracker

Check out our Political Appointee Tracker

Go to the tracker
Footnote
  1. CRS report: Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations, 2016
  2. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31, May 5, 2017), contains a provision that continues the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials at 2013 levels during calendar year 2017.
More federal position descriptions