Chief of Staff

Under the direction of the City Manager, under general direction, manages major City programs, contracts and interdepartmental projects; administers marketing plans, community information, legislative advocacy, and intergovernmental relations programs; participates as member of the executive management team and supports the City Manager and City Council; and performs related duties as assigned.

• Represents and supports the City Manager, employee and citizen group discussions and meetings. Monitors the pending items list, and keeps the City Manager informed about projects and issues of importance to Council. Provide the City Manager with accurate and timely information to support decision-making and policy direction.

• Work with City leadership to design and facilitate strategic organizational development initiatives and operational interventions consistent with the organization’s objectives related to strategic planning, leadership development, change management, process improvement, coaching, and team building.
• Participates with City Manager in framing Council’s vision and strategies for accomplishing organizational initiatives; advocates City, Federal, State, and regional cooperation where opportunities exist to further the City’s and region’s goals.
• Develops or directs the development of project concepts, scopes of work, and preliminary budgets and schedules.
• Develops and implements processes to execute organizational functions, projects, and/or capital projects in accordance with process management standards.
• Manages project activities; manages and directs consultants and project teams through all phases and activities of the project life-cycle process.
• Serves as internal and external point of contact for stakeholders, consultants, contractors, vendors, and the like. Responsible for managing project deadlines and holding all parties accountable. 
• Develops, implements, maintains, and administers standard operating procedures (SOP’s), standard materials or elements, quality assurance standards, policies, goals, objectives, work plans, and workflows.
• Manages the City’s Strategic Planning process.  Maintains process and tracking of all goals and initiatives.   Communicates and coordinates with all departments to ensure operation plans are aligned to the City's overarching strategies.
• Manages, monitors, and updates project funding sources, costs, and schedules; forecasts costs; schedules work; takes or recommends corrective action as needed.
• Directs the preparation of the newsletters, reports, publications, press release, and other materials.
• Performs related work as required. 
• Performs emergency response duties as necessary

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, with major coursework in Administration, Management, Public Policy, Public Administration, Project Management, or closely related field (Master’s degree is preferred), supplemented by a minimum of seven (7) years of successful management experience in municipal/county management, with experience working in a City/County Manager’s Office preferred.  Must be proficient with the Microsoft Office suite.

Licenses and/or Certifications:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and/or experience preferred. 

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of service delivery management including functional and operational planning; determining citizen needs and providing responsive requests to the community. 
• Knowledge of strategic leadership including initiative, calculated risk-taking, vision, creativity, and innovation; understanding of information technology and ensuring appropriate incorporation in plans to improve service delivery, information sharing, organizational communication, and citizen access. 
• Knowledge of budgeting; assessing short- and long-term financial impacts, program/service cost-effectiveness, and considering alternative strategies. 
• Knowledge of city laws, regulations, policies, and practices. 
• Knowledge of modern business and public administration procedures. 

Skills:

• Supervisory/managerial skills, training, troubleshooting, analytical, and quantitative skills.
• Project-management skills, communication, consulting, organization, and time-management skills.
• Skilled in both written and oral communications for effective expression and clarity. 

Abilities:  

• Ability to demonstrate fairness, honesty, ethical, and legal awareness in personal and professional relationships and fostering integrity throughout the organization. 
• Ability to respond to citizen complaints/concerns with considerable tack and courtesy for the purpose of diffusing any given situation. 
• Ability to conduct investigations and to prepare accurate analyses for reporting purposes. 
• Ability to resolve a broad range of administrative issues, or direct such to appropriate entities. 

Work Environment:

• Work is primarily performed in an indoor, climate-controlled, pleasant environment.

Essential Physical Activities:

• Stooping, lifting, hearing, seeing up close, kneeling, reaching, talking, finger movement, repetitive motions 
• Typical weight handled: up to 25lbs.