Reclaiming the Narrative: ‘Back-Office’ Teams as Strategic Government Leaders
Local government leaders in functions like finance, information technology, human resources, and procurement are too often left out of strategic conversations on how best to operationalize government to serve our communities.
Mayors and governors don’t often campaign around streamlining the time to purchase goods and services or reducing staff vacancies; however, they quickly realize they can’t fulfill their promises without transforming those functions.
But as back-office innovators, we know that our cities, counties, and states don’t run well unless we are empowered to operate more proactively. We aren’t just process enforcers and risk mitigators. To deliver timely and efficient services for residents, we must be core strategists with a seat at the table.
We assembled a dream team of panelists with real-world examples of strategic back-office transformations from the City of South Bend, IN, the Government Finance Officers Association, Work for America, and Partners for Public Good. Scroll down to read three powerful takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Back-Office Functions Need to Evolve Into Strategic Partners Focused on Problem-Solving
While public servants in finance, procurement, human resources, and information technology aren’t always highly visible to residents, we are essential to supporting government service delivery—from fixing a pothole to staffing 9-1-1 dispatchers. When we move from focusing on transactional processes to a more strategic role that supports better planning, decision making, and communications, we can bring together leaders from across the organization to connect resources to outcomes.
“At GFOA, we use the line that we want finance officers to be chefs and not cooks” said Mike Mucha, deputy executive director of the Government Finance Officers Association.
“Cooks follow a recipe, but chefs are able to use their training to understand how ingredients work together to satisfy needs — even when you face challenges.”
Operational functions are better positioned to be proactive, creative, and resident-focused when we’re not in the weeds of forms and compliance. Also, all parties need to understand the role of finance, procurement, human resources, and information technology and how they can add value. The Fort Worth Lab is an example of strategic administration in action.
Fort Worth, Texas combined budgeting, planning, development, strategy, and data analytics functions to create one department – The Lab. Goals for The Lab include reducing silos, prompting staff to think more strategically, and promoting a holistic approach to managing the city’s $3.6 billion operating budget. Although only two years in, The Lab is already changing how the city approaches land-use development. Now, budget analysis is completed during the development process, which allows the city to predict revenues and expenses associated with each project early on.
Takeaway #2: We Must Change Internal Narratives About Public-Sector Finance, HR, IT, and Procurement
We know our colleagues in resident-facing departments don’t always realize the complexities of our functions. But we sometimes oversimplify our roles, too, only seeing ourselves as task executors. HR departments are focused on following rules and avoiding lawsuits. Finance teams are expected to prevent the misuse of funds. Procurement officers are seen as gatekeepers rather than enablers of service delivery and innovation.
Denise Linn Riedl, chief innovation officer at the City of South Bend, shared that her city government transformed when they reframed the IT function as collaborative problem solvers for residents.
“We stopped thinking of ourselves as just tech support,” said Linn Riedl. “We started asking: how can we help deliver better outcomes for residents?”
For example, The Digital Team at South Bend’s Department of Information and Technology launched a multi-year program to redesign how residents find important information from the city. Partnering with accessibility and customer experience experts, the team is designing with their residents and sharing findings in real time.
Takeaway #3: We Must Fill Priority Vacancies Proactively and Creatively
Governments at all levels face many pressures: workforce shortages, rising public expectations, and the need to adopt new technologies. Yet many internal departments remain under-resourced and overburdened by outdated rules and systems.
“When the governments aren’t fully staffed, projects get delayed, budgets spiral, and everyone feels the impact,” said Caitlin Lewis, executive director of Work for America.
“Think about the impact of not having enough 9-1-1 dispatchers employed and ready to take calls.”
Both Maryland and Pennsylvania have launched innovative recruitment campaigns to fill chronic vacancies.
Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore partnered with Work for America in March 2025 to connect experienced federal workers to state and county government jobs through Civic Match. The program is a nonpartisan initiative connecting mission-driven professionals with meaningful roles in state and local governments.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro launched an awareness and recruitment campaign aimed at the more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians employed by the federal government. In about two months, state agencies hired about 120 federal workers.
A Call to Action
As public-sector leaders, we are at an important inflection point. We know that while trust in government has recently hit all-time lows, the majority of residents still want their governments to solve big – and small – problems that impact their daily lives, from housing shortages to trash pickup.
Functions like finance, human resources, information technology, and procurement are crucial to meeting residents’ needs and delivering on big policy goals. As these examples from Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, and Maryland show, our departments have the potential to meet this important moment — we just have to harness it.
Join the Conversation
Send us a message with your thoughts: How do you see operational functions in your government creating value for residents?
Quotes sourced from a panel at Code for America’s 2025 Summit.