Director, Priority Based Budgeting

The Priority Based Budgeting Director is the senior consultant and strategic coach who leads a government client through the interpretation, application, and decision-making heart of Priority Based Budgeting. An Implementation Consultant is assigned to every engagement to run the data pipeline, operate the predictors, and own the client's data. The PBB Director is the lead on the engagement — the senior presence with the CFO, City/County Manager, or Budget Director, the person who turns predicted data into a defensible strategy, and the person accountable for whether a recommendation holds up when an elected official pushes back on it. This is the most leveraged, outcome-focused component of a PBB engagement — the difference between a client that completes the technical steps and a client that changes how it budgets. Clients purchase this role for executive-level interpretation of program data, credibility in council briefings and budget hearings, lived experience of what comparable jurisdictions actually did, and the confidence to act that comes from a senior expert shepherding the process. The ideal candidate combines consulting skill, public-sector fluency, strategic communication, facilitation talent, and comfort working with AI-generated insights — including the confidence to challenge model output rather than accept it.

Executive Client Leadership: •     Serve as the senior relationship holder with each client's executive sponsor, conducting a personal check-in at minimum at the start and end of every phase. •     Sign off on the narrative and the numbers for all executive-facing material before it leaves an engagement, including the executive briefing to the City/County Manager, CFO, or Council. •     Own the recovery plan when a client satisfaction signal drops. Engagement Leadership Across Implementation Phases: •     Phase 1 — Data Creation: Lead client-facing review of program inventory and costing. Guide departments on cost allocation, overhead, and time-allocation logic while the Implementation Consultant operates the orchestrator and supports as data expert. •     Phase 2 — Analytics: Lead benchmarking and insights review. Validate feasibility of AI-suggested opportunities, prioritize the shortlist, and ensure every recommendation is defensible in front of a CFO or elected official. •     Phase 3 — Applied: Co-design target budget scenarios with finance leadership and facilitate executive-level ranking of proposals and opportunities. •     Adapt session format to the client, phase, and stakes — onsite facilitated workshop, virtual working session, a series of shorter conversations, or asynchronous review followed by a decision call. Insight Validation and Implementation Playbooks: •     Supervise interpretation of program benchmarks, process overlap analysis, and resource optimization insights from the AI insight engine. •     Review top savings and revenue opportunities against real peer case studies, judging each for local feasibility and political viability — not just arithmetic soundness. •     Facilitate accepted opportunities into AI-generated implementation playbooks with step-by-step actions, named owners, and timelines. Quality and Process Governance: •     Conduct a formal phase gate review before any phase is marked complete, covering data outputs, client satisfaction signals, and confirmation that all phase deliverables are met. •     Approve any change to a client's contracted scope. •     Own and quarterly review the implementation playbook. •     Identify patterns across engagements and convert them into process improvements rather than one-off fixes. •     Log material decisions — scope changes, timeline adjustments, approach changes — with