Summary

This job involves leading the accounting team at Washington's public education oversight agency, managing financial records, budgets, and compliance for K-12 schools.

It requires overseeing daily accounting operations and ensuring accurate fund allocation to support student education.

A good fit would be an experienced accounting professional who enjoys public service, team leadership, and working in a supportive environment that values work-life balance.

Key Requirements

Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or related field
Significant experience in accounting management or supervisory roles
Knowledge of governmental accounting principles and regulations
Strong leadership and team management skills
Proficiency in financial reporting and budgeting
Ability to ensure compliance with state and federal financial standards
Excellent communication and problem-solving abilities

Full Job Description

WASHINGTON MANAGEMENT SERVICE

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

General Accounting Manager

$102,394 - $120,464 annually

Recruitment open: December 17, 2025 – January 4, 2026

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks to fill the General Accounting Manager position. This full-time permanent position is based in Olympia, Washington.

This position is required to be in-person five days a week during the onboarding process. Once onboarding is complete, the position may be eligible for limited telework.

Telework is a combination of in-building and off-site days. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.

About OSPI and our initiatives

OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K–12 education in Washington state.

Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 7 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

At OSPI, we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work but value the balance with our personal lives.

We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise.

OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment, including:

We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
We have an Infant at Work Program that is based on long-term values of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)

We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of cross-divisional, collaborative committee.

The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values; and maximizing the value of diversity and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision, Mission, and Values Vision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways, careers, and civic engagement.

Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators.

We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.

Values: Ensuring Equity, Collaboration and Service, Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement, Focus on the Whole Child

Equity

Each student, family, and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers, educators, and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color, students living in poverty, students receiving special education and English Learner services, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and highly mobile student populations.
Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students, families, and community representatives as partners in decision-making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers, replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview

This position serves as the Principal Accounting Manager to the Director of Agency Financial Services. It plans, leads, organizes, and controls the work performed by the fiscal section.

The position assures the appropriate and optimum use of the section’s resources and enhances the effectiveness of section employees through timely appraisal and professional development opportunities.

The section consists of a wide range of functions including accounting, cash receipts, financial reporting, travel, and contract and purchasing payables.

Key Responsibilities

Direct and supervise fiscal services staff in their responsibilities to prepare, monitor, and report on accounting, payables, and receivables for the agency.
Develops and implements agency-wide fiscal and accounting policies.
Provides technical and procedural consultation to agency management to ensure legal compliance with state and federal laws pertaining to fiscal operations.
Represents the Superintendent in various statewide financial accounting committees with OFM and works closely with the accounting consultant for the agency at OFM.
Actively participates on the various work groups at OFM for the improvement of existing statewide accounting systems and for the design and implementation of new accounting systems.
Prepares the fiscal annual and biennial closing documents and the preparation of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
Directs agency administrators to comply with appropriate and correct accounting and procurement policies/procedures. This includes the management of local fund accounts for OSPI.
Responsible for managing, maintaining, and organizing the preparation and processing of all documents related to this position’s work according to state archive and records retention schedules.
Provides input to the Budget staff regarding the development of the agency chart of accounts, ensures that agency account code structure is up to date and available for staff use.
Maintains accounting system tables. Serves as the AFRS System Administrator for setting up user authority and passwords. Provides expertise in OSPI’s integration of the OFM accounting systems.
Directs the work of the Inventory Officer in Accounting Services. Provides technical and procedural consultation with management to ensure legal compliance with state and federal laws pertaining to procurement.
Monitors expenditures for appropriate account coding and revise and correct as needed.

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, budget or other financial focus area and two years of professional experience in: accounting, payroll, fiscal analysis, budget management (experience may substitute for education year for year).
Experience successfully leading and supervising a team;
- Supervising entails: hiring, performance development and evaluation, set expectations, identifying goals and priorities for team
- Leading entails: assist with onboard and training new team members, provide guidance around processes, oversight on goals and expectations
Experience ensuring compliance with accounting principles, standards, and theory. Preference for state and federal funding experience;
Experience ensuring compliance with federal grant requirements and administrative policies;
Ability to think analytically and understand the relationship between the agency accounting and budget processes;
Ability to act as an agency consultant and trainer;
Ability to effectively lead and motivate section staff; and
Advanced proficiency in Excel, including skills such as data analysis, complex formulas, and workbook management

Desired Qualifications:

Experience with Workday financial management software;
Experience ensuring compliance with WA State OFM policies, procedures, and regulations;
Knowledge of agency/organization goals and strategic plans and how those pertain to Fiscal Services;
Knowledge of the interrelationship between agency internal systems and statewide accounting systems (AFRS, HRMS, TMS, and Enterprise reporting tools);
Knowledge of state purchasing procedures as defined by the Department of Enterprise Services;
Knowledge of state contract procedures as defined by the Department of Enterprise Services and the Attorney General;
Experience with Smartsheet; and
Experience with the Workday financial platform

CompensationThe annual compensation for the position is $102,394 - $120,464 per year and depends upon experience, educational background and qualifications.

Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate.

Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement and an optional deferred compensation program.

Please visit Health Care Authority for information regarding health benefits and the Department of Retirement Systems for retirement plan information. This is a Washington Management Position.

This position is not represented by a bargaining unit.

Application Process

Those interested in this position must apply through Careers.wa.gov. Applications must include the following documents in MS Word or PDF format:

A letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in this announcement;
A current résumé, and;
A list of three or more professional references.

NOTE: Your resume and letter of interest must be attached to your application. Please confirm they are attached before you submit.

Please address any questions to:

Sal Salazar, Human Resources

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
600 Washington Street Southeast
Olympia, Washington 98504-7200

360-725-6278: sal.salazar@k12.wa.us

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at (360) 725-6270 or (360) 725-6066, or e-mail hroffice@k12.wa.us.

New Jobs Alert Service

OSPI offers a subscription service, which regularly notifies subscribers of new OSPI employment opportunities on careers.wa.gov. Subscribers are notified via text or email alert. If you are interested in this service, then please subscribe at this location.

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity.

OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability.

If you would like, please include your name and gender pronouns in your application, to ensure we address you appropriately throughout the application process.

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the human resource consultant listed in “Application Process.”

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General Accounting Manager

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