Economic Development Assistant Jobs in British Columbia

As a central hub in the Metro Vancouver area, the City of New Westminster delivers a broad spectrum of urban services to over 92,000 residents. New Westminster is rich in history with a viable and thriving economy and has a population representative of the diversity of the region. The City is staffed by talented and dedicated employees who work together to achieve its strategic vision. We have earned a proud reputation for civic leadership, service delivery, and outstanding employee relations.

We have an exciting opportunity for a temporary full-time Economic Development Assistant. You'll join a small, close-knit team that supports local business growth and a healthy local economy. This role leads the City's Business Licensing function day to day, while also providing research and administrative support to the Economic Development program. It's a good fit for someone who enjoys variety and can move comfortably between front-line service, regulatory processing, and project support.

This is a 1-year temporary contract, with a possibility of extension up to 18 months.

Your responsibilities will include:
Act as the front-desk point of contact for business licensing inquiries, providing information and interpretation of departmental procedures, policies, and bylaws to applicants and the public. Draft correspondence responding to licensing and bylaw-related enquiries.
Lead the processing of business licence applications and renewals, including review of applications for completeness and preliminary compliance; circulating to staff as appropriate; maintain and ensure accuracy of data in associated systems and databases; verify fees for processing, and issue approved business licenses. Identifying system processing issues or areas for improvement.
Provide research and support for economic development projects and initiatives. This can include completing basic research, municipal scans, industry trends; generating and summarizing relevant data; and, creating and formatting associated economic development documents, reports, and presentations.
Provide a variety of administrative support for departmental programs and activities. This may include organizing meetings, site visits, and events; assists in developing and posting content to the City's website to promote business initiatives, events and opportunities.
Perform other duties related to the position as assigned.

We're looking for someone with many of the following:
Completion of a post-secondary program in business administration, planning or other relevant field, plus sound related work experience in research or project support; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
Considerable knowledge of modern office practices, standard software applications, and recordkeeping procedures, along with strong written communication and numerical skills.
Some knowledge of the bylaws, policies, and regulations governing business licensing; an interest in local business trends and the local economy is an asset.
Some knowledge of basic research techniques, and of methods used in statistical analysis; and the ability to identify relevant sources of information.
Ability to make decisions in accordance with applicable bylaws, departmental policies and procedures.
Ability to gather, assemble, extract, organize, interpret, and summarize data and narrative information from a variety of sources.
Ability to prepare narrative and statistical reports, graphs and charts from information gathered.
Ability to maintain complex records and provide a variety of administrative support as required.
Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with internal and external contacts, including colleagues, the business community, general public, and other contacts; and to effectively interpret and explain applicable bylaws, policies, and procedures.
Strong communication, organizational, and time-management skills, with the ability to problem-solve and manage multiple priorities.
Ability to pass and maintain a satisfactory Police Information Check.