Community Economic Development Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Salary : $70,486.56 - $118,089.57 Annually
Location : City of Norfolk, Norfolk, VA
Job Type: Permanent Full-time
Job Number: 14178
Department: Development
Opening Date: 06/17/2026
Closing Date: 7/1/2026 11:59 PM Eastern
Description
The City of Norfolk's Department of Economic Development is seeking a Business Development Manager to join the Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) team. This position supports the Lead Business Development Manager in advancing BRE initiatives and helps protect and grow Norfolk's employment and business tax base by addressing the needs of the city's existing business community, with a particular focus on traded-sector companies. Key responsibilities include cultivating and assisting in maintaining relationships with existing businesses, identifying growth needs and challenges, assessing the local business climate, solving problems, and promoting new capital investment and job creation that benefit Norfolk residents.
Departmental Hiring Salary Range: $70,486.56-$77,535.22
Essential Functions
Essential functions include but are not limited to:

• Interacts with City departments, external economic development organizations, and business leaders to support the Lead Business Development Manager for BRE in addressing the needs of Norfolk's existing business community.
• Meets with businesses, actively listens to understand their needs, and assists in solving a variety of problems in support of their retention and growth in the City of Norfolk.
• Ensure the City of Norfolk remains a place of choice for its existing business community.
• Assists in the maintenance of business relationships by serving as business case manager to provide expertise in city process, incentives, economic zones, resolving problems, and forming long-lasting professional relationships
• Serves as a liaison with city staff, the state, and regional groups, and other stakeholders to assist businesses in their expansion and hiring plans
• Identifies opportunities for existing business expansions by researching the industry, locating market information, preparing joint local-state proposals and letters of support/documents for the public and stakeholders to inform them of the need for new jobs and revenue generation, and develops relationships with business prospects through conversation, correspondence, and marketing activities
• Assists existing business by exploring opportunities, marketing, and participating in negotiations to implement new initiatives related to the stated goals of the BRE program
• Facilitate expansion and/or retention projects to retain/increase available job opportunities and tax revenue
• Establish proactive, direct engagements with existing businesses and provide relevant services to support growth and/or retain operations in the City of Norfolk
• Foster economic competitiveness through the promotion of our local economic zones and proactively soliciting business community feedback
• Administer and/or assist with local/state economic zones to assist with business attraction, retention and expansion efforts
• Regularly solicit business community feedback to support a business-friendly climate, systematically maintaining notes, records and compiling feedback via the use of survey tools and CRM software
• Perform other duties as assigned

Education/Experience
Work requires broad knowledge in a general professional or technical field. Knowledge is normally acquired through four years of college resulting in a Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
Three years' experience in a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Additional Preferred Education/Experience:
Bachelor's degree in a related field such as business administration, public administration, urban planning or related degree or equivalent in number of years of related professional or military experience.
Experience in economic development or related fields
Completion of economic development courses (academic or professional), certificates, or training related to the economic development field, such as: (completion of IEDC, BREI, or NDC training courses and/or holding related credentials, such as: CEcD, BREC, BREP, EDFP, CWDP, etc.).

• Regular full-time and permanent part-time employees may receive paid holidays, vacation and sick leave, employer paid pension plan, basic life insurance, voluntary participation in medical and dental, Section 457 deferred compensation, long-term disability, optional life insurance for self, spouse and children, medical and dependent care reimbursement plans, access to membership in credit union and employer provided parking.
  
• Special project/grant employees are generally eligible for the same benefits of regular full-time employees; however, retirement, life insurance and participation in health plans vary depending upon funding and authorization.
  
• Temporary/seasonal and part-time employees are generally only eligible for employer provided parking and access to membership in credit union.
  
• Retirement

If you are hired October 5, 2010, or after to a position with City of Norfolk Retirement System benefits, you will be required to contribute five percent (5%) of your salary toward your retirement benefit. This will be a pre-tax payroll deduction.
If you are hired January 1, 2022, or after to a position with Virginia Retirement System (VRS) benefits, you will be required to contribute five percent (5%) of your salary toward your retirement benefit. This will be a pre-tax payroll deduction.

• The Tuition Assistance Program is established to encourage employees toward continued self-development and education. Permanent full-time and permanent part-time classified, unclassified permanent, full-time special projects, and constitutional employees who have completed six months continuous service will be eligible to apply. The applicant's school of enrollment must be an accredited institution.

NOTE:
The benefits described above are broad generalizations. The specific benefits that an employee may be eligible for are governed by City regulations, as applicable to job type.
Non-City
Positions listed with a job type designation of "Non-City" are not subject to the benefits descriptions above. Refer to the content of the job posting for information regarding these positions.
01
The following Supplemental Questions are specific to the position for which you have applied to assist the hiring manager in screening applications for specific experience being sought. Please be specific in answering these questions as they will be used to evaluate which applications will be given further consideration in the process. Do not answer "see resume" or "see application" as these are not valid answers. Please note that if you are invited to be interviewed by the department, your responses to the following questions may be subject to verification.

• I understand and will answer the following supplemental questions completely and thoroughly.

02
Are you a current or previous City of Norfolk employee?

• Yes - I am a current City of Norfolk Employee
• Yes - I am a previous City of Norfolk Employee
• No - I am not a previous or current City of Norfolk employee

03
If you were referred for this position by a current City of Norfolk employee, please provide the employee's full name, department, and job title. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
04
Please provide an explanation of any periods of unemployment that are 30 days or longer. Indicate N/A if you have not experienced any periods of unemployment.
05
Please select the highest level of education you have completed.

• High School Diploma/GED
• Vocational/Technical Degree
• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree or higher

06
Have you ever worked in the economic development or in a closely associated field (e.g., workforce development, urban planning, commercial real estate, banking, small business assistance, or in a B2B sales role)?

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

07
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience working in economic development or a related field that supports existing businesses within a community, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
08
Do you have experience developing, administering, or working on a Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) program or related initiative that systematically outreaches to existing businesses, encourages additional investment (hiring, growth, sales, building expansion, etc.), and identifies trends among businesses served?

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

09
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience working a business retention and expansion program or related initiative that systematically outreaches to existing businesses, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
10
Have you worked with or administered economic zones (e.g., Enterprise Zone, Technology Zone, Tourism Zone, Arts Zone, etc.)?

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

11
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience working with or administering economic zones, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
12
Do you have experience interacting with city departments to help business owners through city processes related to physical construction and other local issues (e.g., working with city staff on issues such as public land, leases, business parks, transportation, permitting, site plan, zoning, etc.)

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

13
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience interacting with city departments to help business owners through city processes related to physical construction or other local issues, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
14
Do you have experience collaborating with outside economic development partners and stakeholders, vendors and other agencies (e.g., state economic development agency, regional economic development organization, port authority, economic development authority).

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

15
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience collaborating with outside economic development partners and stakeholders, vendors, and other agencies, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
16
Do you have experience administering or brokering economic development services, incentives, grants, loans or other products to encourage economic growth?

• Yes
• No, but I have related experience
• No, I do not have experience in this area

17
If yes, or if you have related experience, please briefly describe your experience in detail brokering economic development services, incentives, grants, loans or other products to encourage economic growth, including how many years of experience you have in each area mentioned or related experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
18
Have you completed any economic development academic or professional association coursework, certificates, including training related to the economic development field or subspecialties, such as: (IEDC, BREI, or NDC, training courses and/or credentials: CEcD, BREC, BREP, EDFP, CWDP, etc.)

• Yes
• No, but I have related training
• No, I do not have training in these areas

19
If yes, or if you have related training, please briefly describe any training courses or certificates you have obtained. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
20
Can you please briefly describe your approach to building relationships with existing businesses (or existing customers), communicating appreciation, and encouraging additional investment within the community (or sales)? If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
21
Please indicate your level of experience working in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database to support the client's needs.

• No experience
• Novice (limited experience)
• Intermediate (practical experience)
• Expert (extensive experience and training)

22
What CRM system have you worked with in a previous position if any?

• None
• Hub Spot
• Salesforce
• Oracle
• Microsoft Dynamics
• Propertyware
• PIPEDRIVE CRM
• Other

23
Do you have any additional experience or training that you feel would make you effective in this position? If yes, or if you have related experience, please describe your experience. If not, please indicate by typing "N/A."
24
Please indicate your veteran status. (A copy of your long form DD-214 may be required)

• I am not a Veteran
• I am a Veteran
• I am a Disabled Veteran

Required Question