Sr. Vice President of Business Investment

The City of Richmond's Department of Economic Development seeks a results-oriented Senior Vice President of Business Investment (Senior Policy Advisory) to lead strategy and execution of the City’s efforts to attract, retain, and engage businesses, and activate commercial corridors. This highly visible senior position will work with leaders across the City to manage mission-critical initiatives that will help shape the city’s future.

• Work directly with the Director, Senior Deputy Director, and other Department and City leaders to define priorities, positioning, and near- and long-term strategy. 
• Oversee team focused on business attraction, retention, business engagement, and commercial corridor activation.
• In collaboration with colleagues in real estate and program administration, develop or oversee the development of policies and programs to activate commercial corridors, encourage placemaking, attract commercial investment, and support small businesses.
• Lead or oversee high-stakes corporate recruitment and retention projects and prospecting opportunities, including proposal development, negotiations, and deal closures to secure new investments.
• Represent the City to press, elected leaders, and public and private partners. 
• Serve on industry and community task forces, boards, or other collaborative initiatives to support economic and community growth.
• Oversee team performance by tracking key performance metrics related to business investment efforts, ensuring transparency and accountability. Use data to continuously improve outcomes.
• Develop and manage annual budgets,employee work plans, consultant projects. 

• Bachelor’s degree in public administration, urban planning, public policy/political science, economic development, business administration, or a similarly related area of study.
• Seven years of progressively responsible related experience in an economic development organization that includes significant program management and supervisory experience.
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.

PREFERRED TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s degree in public administration, urban planning, public policy/political science, economic development, business administration, or a similarly related area of study.
• Ten years of progressively responsible related experience in an economic development organization that includes significant program management and supervisory experience.

LICENSING, CERTIFICATIONS, and/or OTHER SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• A valid Commonwealth of Virginia driver's license

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
TYPICAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: These are a representative sample; position assignments may vary.

• Experience leading business attraction, expansion, and retention projects and initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience leading placemaking and commercial corridor initiatives, such as business improvement district efforts and street-level retail strategies.
• Proven ability to conceptualize, draft, and implement new policies and programs, including interpreting City and State regulations and effectively incorporating feedback from leadership and stakeholders. 
• Direct experience in managing and supervising economic development professionals.

• Experience building andmaintainingproductive relationships with corporate and community stakeholders.
• Experience leading complex cross-division and/or cross-department initiatives and special projects.
• Experience creating and managing budgets.
• Experience presenting to City Councils, economic development authorities, planning commissions, and other similar governing bodies.
• Experience with Customer Relationship Management software (Salesforce) andoverseeing its use for business investment performance management and tracking.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Prospective and current employees are invited to discuss accommodations.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS:Working conditions may include exposure to travel to other locations within the City of Richmond as well as outside of the City of Richmond; exposure to hazardous physical conditions such as mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations, etc.; atmospheric conditions such as fumes, odors, dusts, gases, and poor ventilation; inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards such as disruptive people, imminent danger, and a threatening environment. 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT:Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraint. The essential duties of this classification may require the ability to regularly talk; frequently finger, hear, see, and perform repetitive motions; and occasionally climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, stand, walk, push, pull, lift, feel, and grasp. The working conditions may include environmental hazards. In terms of the physical strength to perform the essential duties, this classification is considered to be sedentary, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally, and a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to move objects.

Salary : $108,672 - $181,479