Cost Analyst / Cost Modeling Subject Matter Expert (SME) - DOT

Cost Analyst / Cost Modeling Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Summary:

·         Job Title: Cost Analyst / Cost Modeling Subject Matter Expert (SME)

·         Openings: 2

·         Security Clearance: Public Trust or the ability to obtain one.  

·         Work Type: Onsite

·         Job Type: One full-time position and one part-time position. The part-time position can be structured as part-time employment (W2) or as a 1099 independent contractor engagement.

·         Benefits: Our client provides full benefits to W2 employees, including part-time.

·         Program Name: Working Capital Fund (WCF), Office of Financial Management (OFM) - WCF IT Financial Management, Cost Model Development, and Systems Integration Support

·         Agency name: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary (OST)

·         Work Location (FYI): DOT Headquarters, 1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington, DC 20590

BizFirst is assisting our client with recruiting a skilled and experienced Cost Analyst / Cost Modeling Subject Matter Expert (SME). This position supports the following program: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Office of the Secretary (OST), Working Capital Fund (WCF), Office of Financial Management (OFM) — WCF IT Financial Management, Cost Model Development, and Systems Integration Support.

Our client is a boutique consulting firm that employs consultants and professionals with unique skill sets to support the federal government with strategic execution, financial process enablement, IT systems, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software implementation.

What will you do

Own the design, modernization, and monthly operation of cost allocation and rate models for a federal Working Capital Fund's IT shared-service portfolio — replacing legacy spreadsheet methodologies with transparent, documented, reproducible models that recover full cost, prevent cross-subsidization among 11 customer organizations, and target near-zero retained earnings. This is a hands-on modeling role, not an advisory role: you will take custody of live models that produce real monthly bills, modernize them without disrupting billing, and document them so Government staff can operate them independently.

·         Develop, modernize, and sustain cost allocation models for legacy (commodity) and newly incorporated programmatic IT shared services, with full data lineage from source financial data through cost pools, drivers, and allocation logic to final billing outputs.

·         Apply federal cost accounting standards in model design: full cost under SFFAS 4 (direct tracing, cause-and-effect assignment, documented allocation), and software cost treatment under SFFAS 10, including project-level segregation of development costs expensed in the year incurred.

·         Design cost pool structures, cost drivers, and allocation bases that keep development, sustainment, tenant-specific, shared-service, and enterprise costs in separate, auditable lanes.

·         Produce annual rate development models aligned to the WCF budget formulation calendar, engineered to target near-zero retained earnings; support Government rate-review boards.

·         Produce monthly cost allocation outputs by the 5th business day, tying cleanly to source financial systems, with zero critical formula or logic errors. Build scenario and sensitivity analysis tools capable of responding to Government what-if requests within five business days.

·         Author methodology and assumptions documentation that fully justifies every cost driver and allocation basis, delivered 15 business days before each rate-setting cycle. Parallel-run modernized model components against legacy outputs before cutover; reconcile and disposition every variance.

·         Support billing reconciliation, audit response, and customer (OA) billing-dispute analysis with model-based evidence.

Requirements:

·         Security Clearance: Public Trust or the ability to obtain one. 

·         Candidates whose experience is limited to advisory, strategic, or conceptual consulting will not meet this program's bar. The client explicitly requires demonstrated, hands-on implementation experience — deployed cost models, executed billing cycles, delivered automations, and operational financial products.

·         Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, or Data Analytics.

·         8+ years of specialized experience with federal Working Capital Funds (or comparable revolving/fee-for-service funds), federal cost accounting standards (SFFAS), and the construction of cost-recovery or chargeback methodologies.

·         Demonstrated implementation record: cost models you personally built or modernized that were deployed into production and used for actual rate-setting or billing.

·         Advanced Excel modeling proficiency, including structured, documented, auditable workbook design.

·         CPA, CGFM, or CDFM certification, or an advanced degree in a relevant field.

·         Experience costing IT shared services specifically (service catalogs, consumption drivers, chargeback/showback); familiarity with Technology Business Management (TBM) concepts.

·         Experience with Oracle Federal Financials-based environments and BI tools (Power BI or similar) as model input/output layers.

·         Experience presenting methodology to auditors or defending rates to skeptical customer organizations.

·         Family Health Care (54% cost covered for the entire family)

·         Family Dental (54% cost covered for the entire family)

·         Family Vision (54% cost covered for the entire family)

·         Flexible Spending Account

·         Overutilization bonuses for Time and Materials (T&M) contracts

·         Lifetime Event Bonuses (e.g., child, marriage)

·         Profit-sharing arrangement for any work brought into the company

·         Unlimited Leave with Approval

·         401k 100% employer match on first 4% invested

·         $1,000 training budget