Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Jen spent three years working for Oakland County in Michigan as Chief Financial Officer and Director of Management and Budget. He implemented budget process improvements to create a more transparent, structurally balanced $1 billion budget and revised its fund balance policy to better protect against future economic downturns. Mr. Jen also guided the successful implementation of an enterprise-wide financial system that had been delayed.

Previously, Mr. Jen spent over 20 years in key budget roles for the State of Michigan. As Deputy State Budget Director for four years, he oversaw the development of $60 billion annual budget recommendations while managing the transition of the State Budget Office between governors of different political parties. In 2020, he played a lead role building and negotiating a bipartisan plan to balance the state budget in response to projected pandemic-driven revenue losses of over $3 billion. Prior to that, Mr. Jen worked for the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency, where he provided financial expertise to members of the State House of Representatives as they confronted budget shortfalls and other complex fiscal matters.

Mr. Jen earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from Michigan State University. He is an active member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and an honorary member of the National Association of State Budget Officers. His writing on putting the principle of structural budget balance into practice has been featured in GFOA’s Government Finance Review.