Finance Director

Getting to Know the City

The City of Fairburn, Georgia is a progressive, rapidly growing community of approximately 17,500 residents located just 10 miles south of ⁠Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Balancing its charming National Register Historic Downtown with its identity as a booming regional logistics and technology hub, Fairburn also has a vibrant community gathering space that hosts the Fairburn Farmers Market and seasonal live concert events.

The City’s seven core values include Integrity, Positive Attitude, Compassion & Empathy, High Standards, Proactive Leadership, Effective Communication, and Public Education & Engagement.Fairburn operates under a Council-Manager form of government (historically styled as a Mayor-Council structure with an administrator). The city provides comprehensive public services across 14 dedicated departments and maintains a strong commitment to long-term financial health, transparency, and operational excellence.

Additionally, the City of Fairburn officially received the City of Civility designation from the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), a prestigious recognition affirming the City’s core values and commitment to ethical leadership and accountability, professional and respectful conduct across departments, and a unified and transparent approach to serving the public.

Summary of Position

The City of Fairburn is seeking an accomplished, strategic, and highly respected financial leader to serve as its Finance Director. Reporting to the City Administrator, the Finance Director serves as the City’s Chief Financial Officer and a key member of the executive leadership team.  This position represents a unique opportunity to serve as a forward-thinking executive who utilizes a collaborative approach to partnering with the City Administrator, Mayor, and Council to execute the city's strategic vision and to ensure transparency, accountability, and sound financial decision-making.

The Finance Director provides comprehensive leadership and oversight of the City’s financial management operations to ensure compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). In this role, the Finance Director provides financial leadership and strategic direction in setting the priorities, goals, and objectives of the City’s Finance Department, while overseeing the City’s integrated financial operations, including budgeting, long-range financial planning, debt management, auditing, state compliance reporting, and public procurement processes.

Ideal Candidate:

• Strategic financial leader who leverages expert municipal budget knowledge and an adaptable leadership style to guide City Administration, elected officials, and department leaders through complex, shifting economic landscapes
• A collaborative communicator who will serve as a key strategic partner to the City Administrator and City Council, translating complex municipal fund accounting into clear, transparent data-driven strategies that guide city financial planning and policy decisions
• A forward-thinker ready to lead the City’s financial cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software implementation, with direct familiarity with BS&A software modules
• Ability to strategically align and diversify the City’s revenue and resources to meet community infrastructure needs through grants, long-term fiscal planning, expanded capital project pipelines, and sustainable debt management practices that strengthen the City’s financial stability
• Collaborative decision-maker who fosters cross-departmental partnerships to align annual budgets and capital improvement plans with the City’s overarching strategic vision
• Empowering leader who cultivates a culture of accountability, transparency, teamwork, and high performance and effectively aligns finance personnel with the City's strategic goals
• Ability to strategically deploy and manage city and departmental operational controls
• High-integrity fiscal leader with a record of ethical judgment, dedicated to ensuring total transparency, statutory compliance, and public trust across all city operations.

Education Requirements:

A Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a closely related field is required. A Master's degree (MPA/MBA) preferred; a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation is highly preferred. Possession of, or ability to obtain State Certification as Government Finance Officer within two (2) years of employment required.

Experience:

Education is supplemented by eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in government accounting, municipal finance management, with 3-5 years of supervisory experience or directory role.

Salary:

The hiring range for this position is $130,000 - $136,900.

Application Process:

The Sumter Local Government Consulting will be assisting the City of Fairburn, GA, in conducting the recruitment for the next Finance Director.

A review of applications and resumes will be conducted beginning September 1, 2026.

For more information on this position, please contact the Executive Recruiter: 

Jeff Jones

Email: jeff@sumterconsulting.com

Phone: (817) 528-8246 

Website: www.sumterlocalgovconsulting.com