BUSINESS RECRUITMENT MANAGER

Description

This position assists the Director in achieving the goals of the City’s Office of Economic Development by performing lead generation, prospect pipeline growth, and business recruitment activities in order to attract new companies, and drive job creation and business investment within the City of Columbia. The Business Recruitment Manager is responsible for identifying and nurturing leads, making the business case for the City, and working to position Columbia as the top mid-sized City in the U.S. for companies and developers to invest.

The work is considered sedentary in nature and involves walking or standing some of the time and involves exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a recurring basis or routine keyboard operations. The work requires the following physical abilities to perform the essential job functions: hearing, mental acuity, speaking, standing, talking, visual acuity, and walking.

Work environment involves exposure to no known environmental hazards; and is dynamic, requiring sensitivity to change and responsiveness to changing goals, priorities and needs.

Essential Job Functions

• Establish, execute, and enhance a business recruitment program that aligns with the organization’s priorities through strategic planning efforts and utilizing innovative and creative approaches to generate investment and job creation;
• Source high quality company leads from targeted industries where the business case for Columbia will resonate, managing prospects all the way through the business development life cycle to project close out to convert them to closed project wins;
• Successfully generate and maintain a robust pipeline of projects;
• Develop, plan, and execute out-of-market recruitment trips, managing domestic and occasional international business attraction strategies and cultivating major business development relationships;
• Hosts clients for virtual or in-person tours of the region meeting with partners and assessing real estate options, supervise and schedule tours and make travel and logistical arrangements for inbound visits and outbound sales missions;
• Research and identify current news, market trends and conditions within target industries and emerging market sectors that will impact targeted business relocation and expansion opportunities;
• Manage and maintain an extensive database of prospect data in Salesforce by documenting calls, visits, and correspondence with leads, prospects, and companies, screen and qualify projects by completing analysis on the feasibility of proposed projects, including economic and financial impact analysis;
• Develop and sustain quality, trusting relationships with the leadership of prospective companies, regional and national site selectors, commercial and industrial realtors, real estate development and investment groups, and allies regionally and nationally through personal contact and participation in professional industry related events, conferences and related associations/organizations;
• Works on project proposals, Requests for Information (RFI) and presentations for clients and collaboratively works with other team members to craft “Why Columbia” pitches, collaborate with staff to maintain a library of key facts, information, and data points necessary to respond to business and investor inquiries;
• Works with staff to identify suitable sites and buildings and maintains a working knowledge of available commercial real estate, assist staff in developing and maintaining a comprehensive inventory of retail sites, commercial buildings, and land in Columbia that are available for development;
• Coordinate with staff to develop and implement business attraction strategies and marketing campaigns aimed at our target markets, also works in close coordination with local and statewide economic development partners;
• Develop and create targeted marketing collateral, messaging, and executive campaigns;
• Develop digital and traditional marketing campaigns to support the economic development mission;
• Manage resources in communication and business information covering publication, print, audio/video, and website;
• Establish systems for the collection and maintenance of marketing information, demographics, and data pertinent to the attraction of new business development, including representatives of available real estate, commercial brokers, site consultants, and business development officials;
• Assist our existing business program by attracting vendors and/or suppliers that would benefit existing industries; and
• Performs other duties as assigned.
  
  

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:

• Bachelor’s degree in public administration, business, economics, finance or closely related field;
• Two years (2) years of relevant prior experience;
• Valid South Carolina Class “D” Driver’s License.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Knowledge of business recruitment and marketing including real estate development, investment, offices, site selectors, restaurants, retail, hospitality, etc.;
• Knowledge of professional economic development principles, practices and procedures;
• Self-starter with initiative and a proven track record of getting things done, someone who is resourceful, creative, and proactively creates opportunities;
• Strong sales and marketing background preferred, goal-oriented, competitive, and persuasive, confident in cold calling on potential leads and prospects;
• Strong project management skills, managing short- and long- term projects, demonstrated ability to prioritize and delegate assignments while effectively managing multiple projects under tight deadlines, ability to coordinate or determine time, place or sequence of operations or activities based on analysis of data or information, ability to implement and report on operations and activities;
• Ability to provide information, guidance or assistance to people to directly facilitate task accomplishment; may give directions or assignments to staff or assistants, works in a somewhat fluid environment with rules and procedures but with many variations from the routine;
• Familiarity with the business and economic climate of Columbia, SC preferred;
• Superior communication and presentation skills, comfortable with public speaking, possesses extremely strong written and verbal skills and the ability to communicate related economic development ideas to diverse audiences and communities;
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills that cultivate strong relationships;
• Trustworthy and can maintain confidentiality;
• Ability to travel extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally when required;
• Ability to interpret government regulations, zoning, and other complex written documents; and
• Proficiency in Salesforce, GIS, and MS Office preferred.
  
  

The City of Columbia is proud to offer a complete benefits package to full-time employees. This package includes health care, dental, vision, retirement, deferred compensation plans, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, holidays, vacation, and sick leave.

Part-time or temporary employees, including interns, are not eligible for City benefits.

To Learn More Details, Visit Our Benefits Page At

https://hr.columbiasc.gov/benefits/

01

Do you have a valid Driver's License?

• Yes
• No
  
  

02

Which statement below best describes the highest level of education you have completed?

• High school graduate, diploma or the equivalent (GED)
• Some college
• Associate degree
• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree
• Professional degree
• Doctorate degree
  
  

03

What is your major / area of study?

04

How many years of relevant experience do you have?

• No experience
• Less than 1 year of experience
• Over 1 year but less than 2 years of experience
• Over 2 years but less than 3 years of experience
• Over 3 years but less than 5 years of experience
• Over 5 years of experience
• Required Question