Chief Financial Officer
South Shore Line · Michigan City, IN ·
- Seniority
- C level
- Employment
- Contract
- Category
- Finance
Chief Financial Officer
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), operator of the South Shore Line Railroad, is seeking an experienced financial executive leader to serve as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The CFO is the District's senior financial executive and a principal advisor to the President and General Manager, executive leadership team, and Board of Trustees. The CFO is accountable for the integrity, transparency, efficiency, and long-term sustainability of NICTD's financial operations and for aligning operating and capital resources with the safe, reliable delivery of South Shore Line service.
This is both a stewardship and transformation role. The CFO will maintain disciplined governmental accounting, grant, audit, treasury, debt, payroll, procurement, and internal-control practices while leading the modernization of financial systems, data, workflows, and management reporting. The successful candidate will understand the operational and financial realities of a public railroad, including collectively bargained labor, around-the-clock service, federally funded capital programs, multiple governmental funding partners, and public accountability.
Executive Mandate:
- Give the President and General Manager and Board timely, candid, decision-ready analysis - not simply historical financial reports.
- Protect public funds and funding eligibility through reliable controls, compliant records, accurate reporting, and prompt correction of audit or grant findings.
- Lead the District's transition from operating primarily under a business plan to preparing, adopting, and managing against a formal annual operating and capital budget, supported by a multi-year financial forecast.
- Modernize the finance function through an enterprise roadmap for core financial, payroll, timekeeping, procurement, grants, budgeting, asset, and reporting systems, with disciplined change management and uninterrupted business continuity.
- Develop a capable, accountable finance organization with documented processes, cross-training, succession depth, service standards, and measurable performance.
Financial Strategy, Business Planning and Executive Advice
- Serve as the President and General Manager's principal financial advisor; identify emerging risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities and recommend clear courses of action.
- Design and execute a disciplined transition from the District's current business-plan process to a formal annual operating and capital budget process, while retaining a multi-year business plan as a strategic forecasting and policy tool.
- Establish a budget calendar, revenue and expenditure assumptions, departmental instructions, position and labor-cost controls, capital programming standards, executive review, Board adoption, amendment authority, and clear ownership for every material budget line.
- Administer the adopted budget through monthly budget-to-actual reporting, rolling forecasts, variance explanations, expenditure and position controls, and timely corrective-action plans developed with accountable department heads.
- Integrate the annual budget with cash flow, grants, debt obligations, reserves, capital commitments, ridership and fare revenue, collective bargaining obligations, and multi-year operating and capital forecasts.
- Translate complex financial matters for the Board, elected and appointed officials, funding partners, employees, labor representatives, auditors, lenders, and the public through clear written reports and presentations.
- Establish useful financial and operational performance indicators and lead recurring variance reviews with department heads; require corrective action when results depart materially from plan.
- Evaluate service, workforce, procurement, project, and investment proposals for full life-cycle cost, funding eligibility, affordability, risk, and measurable return to the District.
- Direct general accounting, accounts payable and receivable, payroll accounting, capital assets, revenue accounting, cost allocation, financial close, and preparation of audited financial statements.
- Ensure compliance with GAAP, GASB standards, applicable Indiana requirements, the National Transit Database Uniform System of Accounts, federal award requirements, District policy, debt covenants, and other governing requirements.
- Maintain a practical, risk-based system of internal controls, segregation of duties, delegations of authority, reconciliations, documentation, fraud prevention, and records retention.
- Lead relationships with external auditors and oversight bodies; ensure timely, accurate responses and durable corrective action on findings and management recommendations.
- Maintain financial continuity and recovery plans for critical functions, including payroll, cash, vendor payments, grant drawdowns, and financial reporting.
- Provide executive oversight of federal, state, regional, and local funding; ensure grant eligibility, matching-fund availability, drawdown accuracy, indirect-cost treatment, subrecipient or contractor compliance, and timely closeout.
- Integrate the capital program with cash flow, grant schedules, debt capacity, project controls, asset management, and state-of-good-repair priorities; identify funding gaps before they become project delays.
- Direct cash management, investments, banking, liquidity, reserves, revenue forecasting, and debt administration consistent with law, Board policy, covenants, and prudent public-fund practices.
- Support financing and refunding transactions, rating-agency and lender relationships, continuing disclosure, and presentations to public funding partners.
- Strengthen project financial controls, including commitments, change orders, forecasts at completion, contingency use, reimbursement support, and reconciliation between project and general-ledger records.
Labor, Payroll, Benefits and Organizational Partnership
- Ensure accurate, timely payroll and financial administration across represented and non-represented workforces, including complex work rules, premiums, overtime, leave, benefits, pensions, and regulatory reporting.
- Partner with Human Resources, Labor Relations, and operating departments to model the cost and implementation consequences of collective bargaining proposals, staffing plans, work-rule changes, benefit decisions, and organizational restructuring.
- Provide credible financial analysis for labor negotiations without assuming ownership of the District's labor-relations strategy unless assigned by the President and General Manager.
- Understand that finance supports a safety-critical, 24/7 railroad operation; design controls and service levels that protect accountability without impeding urgent operational needs.
- Provide executive financial oversight of procurement, contracting, insurance, claims, and risk-management functions assigned to the CFO, while preserving appropriate independence and segregation of duties.
- Promote competitive, transparent, timely procurement and strong contract administration, including price and cost analysis, funding clauses, change control, vendor performance, and prompt payment.
- Evaluate enterprise risks and insurance strategies and ensure material financial exposures are quantified, communicated, and addressed.
- Own the business case and executive roadmap for modernization of the District's financial ecosystem, including ERP or core accounting, budgeting, payroll, timekeeping, procurement, grants, fixed assets, document workflow, and management reporting.
- Begin with process and control design, data governance, integration requirements, and measurable outcomes; avoid merely automating inefficient legacy practices.
- Establish a reliable source of financial truth and expand self-service dashboards, automated reconciliations, electronic approvals, workflow visibility, and exception-based management reporting.
- Lead vendor selection and implementation governance in partnership with Information Technology and business owners; control scope, schedule, cost, cybersecurity, access, testing, conversion, training, and post-implementation performance.
- Use technology and process redesign to shorten close and reporting cycles, reduce manual entry and duplicate records, improve grant reimbursement speed, and increase management accountability.
- Recruit, develop, organize, and retain a high-performing finance team; set clear expectations and build cross-training and succession plans for critical roles.
- Create a culture of service, disciplined execution, respectful challenge, ethical conduct, transparency, and continuous improvement.
- Attend Board and committee meetings and represent the District with governmental bodies, auditors, financial institutions, industry organizations, and other stakeholders.
- Perform other executive responsibilities assigned by the President and General Manager.
- Ability to attend in-person meetings and respond to time-sensitive financial or operational matters outside normal business hours when required.
- Ability to travel within the District and occasionally outside the region.
- Successful completion of employment, reference, education, and other lawful background checks appropriate to a senior fiduciary position.
- This position is safety-sensitive only if designated under applicable District policy or law; the CFO must comply with all railroad safety, security, ethics, confidentiality, and records requirements.
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, or a closely related field.
- At least ten years of progressively responsible finance, accounting, budgeting, treasury, grants, or related experience, including at least five years leading managers or major functions at an executive or senior management level.
- Substantial experience in a public agency, transportation or infrastructure organization, regulated utility, or comparably complex enterprise with public accountability, capital assets, and multiple funding sources.
- Demonstrated command of governmental or public-sector finance, audited financial reporting, internal controls, business planning, forecasting, and executive or board-level communication.
- Demonstrated experience leading a significant finance-system implementation, ERP replacement, or multi-function process and data modernization effort.
- Experience evaluating the financial effects of collective bargaining agreements, union work rules, complex payroll practices, or a similarly structured workforce.
- CPA, CPFO, CGFM, CMA, or comparable professional credential.
- Master's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, or a related discipline.
- Senior financial leadership experience in passenger rail, public transit, freight rail, aviation, infrastructure, or another safety-critical 24/7 operation.
- Working knowledge of FTA and/or FRA funding, Uniform Guidance, NTD reporting, grant reimbursement and closeout, capital project controls, municipal debt, and public procurement.
- Successful experience improving underdeveloped processes or legacy systems while maintaining payroll, payments, reporting, and audit readiness.
First 90 days: Complete a listening and control review; confirm near-term cash, payroll, audit, grant, business-plan, and reporting risks; assess staff capacity and critical single points of failure; evaluate current planning and spending-control practices; and present a sequenced roadmap for moving to an adopted operating and capital budget.
First 12 months: Implement or materially complete the District's first formal annual budget cycle, including department submissions, executive review, Board adoption, monthly budget-to-actual reporting, rolling forecasts, variance accountability, and amendment controls. Improve executive and Board reporting; strengthen grant and project financial controls; and deliver an approved finance systems and process modernization roadmap.
First 24 months: Institutionalize budget ownership across departments and demonstrate that the adopted budget actively governs staffing, spending, capital commitments, and corrective action. Improve forecast accuracy, grant reimbursement timing, audit outcomes, data reliability, reporting cycle time, and internal customer service; build succession depth; and complete or materially advance the highest-value modernization phases without disruption to core operations.
Schedule: The anticipated normal hours of service are during the daytime, Monday through Friday. The specific work schedule will depend on the needs of the service.
Supervision: The position reports to the President.
Location: Michigan City, IN
Salary and Benefits: The salary for this position is $159,650 annually. Vacation, holidays, health, dental, and supplemental pension plans apply to the assignment. Relocation benefits available. Details are available during the interview process.
How To Apply: Complete the application. A cover letter outlining the reasons why you are interested in working as the Chief Financial Officer and why you believe you are best qualified is encouraged but not required.
Questions: Contact Joseph Cieniawski, Chief Human Resources & Labor Relations Officer, at (219) 874-4221, ext. 268, with questions about this opportunity.
Apply early for best chance for consideration; the District reserves the option to close this position prior to the stated application deadline.
All interested employees must submit resumes by Friday, October 31, 2026.
NICTD is an Equal Opportunity Employer
All interested employees must submit resumes by Friday, October 31, 2026.
NICTD is an Equal Opportunity Employer
NICTD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We strive to have a workforce that reflects the community we serve. It is our policy to fill vacant positions with qualified candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class, assuming the individual can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodations.
NICTD’s complete EEO Policy Statement is available upon request to the District’s EEO Officer, Ms. Melissa Jones, at (219) 874-4221, ext. 289; e-mail: [email protected].
Applicant Note: This application form is intended for use in evaluating your qualifications for employment. It is not an employment contract. Please answer all questions completely and to the best of your ability. False or misleading statements are grounds for refusal or termination of employment and benefits.
Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law in all employment decisions.