Senior Program Manager - Economic Mobility and Opportunity (Strategic Communications and Outreach)

Who We Are

Founded more than a century ago, ICMA is the premier professional association for local government leaders, managers, staff, and stakeholders, serving more than 13,000 members globally. As a membership association, we provide research and knowledge resources, professional development and training, peer to peer engagement, and technical assistance. We are also a major implementing partner for many grant and contract funded programs on emerging and prevailing topics and challenges to create stronger communities.

At ICMA, we take the concept of local government leadership, management, and innovation further into the future. Through our mission and passion to advance professional local government, we help communities deliver innovative services, empower resident engagement, enable economic development, strengthen leadership, uphold ethics, and provide forward-thinking management.

We ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace by welcoming people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives and by learning from each other, individually and collectively.

A Great Opportunity

ICMA is seeking a Senior Program Manager (SPM) to help support an emerging portfolio of programming focused on helping local government leaders promote upward economic mobility for residents of their communities. The position will be responsible for overseeing a suite of strategic communications and outreach activities, primarily through a foundation-funded initiative on economic mobility and opportunity (EMO). The SPM will also potentially help on other projects within ICMA's "thriving communities" portfolio of programs. The position will also lead and support efforts to design and position ICMA to capture additional programmatic support from federal agencies, foundations, and partnering organizations for prime and sub-awards that complement and advance ICMA's mission to create more sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities.

The Senior Program Manager, Economic Mobility and Opportunity (Strategic Communications and Outreach) reports to the Director of Research.

What You'll Do

1. Lead the strategic communications and outreach activities for ICMA's economic mobility and opportunity programming, including:
   • Development of an overall communications strategy aligned with grant commitments
   • Authoring and developing articles, reports, and other content consistent with strategic objectives
   • Leveraging ICMA's existing communication and outreach channels such as e-newsletters, social media, podcasts, and educational sessions to fulfill grant commitments and raise awareness of EMO issues among ICMA's audience
   • Providing subject matter expertise for articles, media inquiries, and other external requests for content or information
   • Identifying innovative approaches to reach local government audiences and provide tools, technical assistance opportunities, training, and peer to peer networking
   • Regularly monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of communication and outreach efforts and making results-informed decisions to continuously improve and refine strategies
2. In coordination with the director, provide oversight to measurement, learning, and evaluation workstream of funded project activities, including liaising with external evaluation partners
3. With the project director and other staff, serve as a key representative of the ICMA team to an EMO community of practice made up of peer organizations working on complementary efforts
   • Help maintain effective relationships with other partners in the EMO community of practice (i.e. National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, the Urban Institute, African American Mayors Association, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed officials, et al)
   • Ensure ICMA's commitments to shared measurement are met
4. Support communication, reporting, and other interactions with the program's primary funders
5. Help implement the start-up and implementation of national EMO convenings of local government, community, private sector, and other stakeholders
6. Assist in the development of workshops, educational sessions, and peer-to-peer engagements focused on EMO
7. Coordinate with other existing ICMA programs and staff working on related projects to identify and leverage synergies, opportunities for innovation, and efficiencies in supporting communities and local governments
8. Contribute to efforts that position ICMA for additional funding from federal agencies, foundations, and corporate sponsors
9. Support ICMA's research team and the Local Government Reimagined initiative with subject matter expertise as needed in developing national surveys, case studies, and other knowledge resources
10. Support ICMA's Global Program Management team's portfolio of activities focused on creating thriving communities
11. This position may involve formal supervision and informal direction of other program team members.

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree (Master's degree preferred but not required) in a related field
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience; experience working with or for local governments is highly desired
• Substantial experience leading strategic communication and outreach efforts for mission-driven work
• Experience leading the development, implementation, and/or administration of multiple programs
• Experience developing proposals for grants and external funding, and with management and reporting on funded projects

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Existing subject matter expertise related to economic mobility and opportunity and ability to quickly expand understanding of additional content areas such as housing and community development, health and well-being, early childhood, post-secondary education and workforce development, justice and public safety, financial security, and other related topics
• Demonstrated ability to self-direct and manage multiple projects with shifting priorities simultaneously, and to shift between working independently and as part of a team
• Demonstrated resourcefulness and ability to think critically, navigate through challenges and uncertainty, and exercise sound judgement
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, including in developing and delivering presentations
• Strong knowledge of leading standards and best practices for measuring and analyzing impact of communications activities
• Strong planning, analytical, and conceptual skills
• Interpersonal skills required to effectively engage and collaborate with diverse stakeholders, project partners, and with team members and other ICMA staff in a primarily virtual work environment
• Highly proficient in use of Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint; and in use of virtual collaboration and meeting platforms
• Fluency in a second language, particularly Spanish, is desired

Physical Requirements/Work Environment

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work is typically performed in a home office environment consistent with ICMA's current "virtual first" approach; however occasional in-person work at ICMA's headquarters location in Washington DC, or other locations may be required
• Work may require domestic travel up to 10% of time for on-site delivery of technical assistance to communities as well as for business development, presentations, and other activities

What We Can Offer You:

• Remote work environment
• A collegial working environment where teamwork and individual contributions are valued
• A competitive salary
• A comprehensive benefits package that includes employer sponsored health, dental, life, disability, and employee assistance benefits
• Paid time off to include vacation, sick leave, holidays, and floating days
• Generous retirement plan
• Opportunities for ongoing professional development

This position is based out of ICMA's headquarters, located in Washington, D.C. At this time, all ICMA staff are working remotely. The selected individual must be able to work the core business hours from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm EST. Our office will remain operational and accessible for staff to use on a voluntary basis.

A high-speed Internet connection is required. Personnel will provide the Internet service at their own expense. The internet connection must be of sufficient bandwidth to allow the team member to efficiently perform their regular job functions.

The selected candidate must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

EEO Statement:

At ICMA, we strive to promote and sustain a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging every day. ICMA is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring or promotion, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status, or on any other basis or characteristic prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local law. We proudly support and encourage people with military experience (active, veterans, reservists, and National Guard) as well as military spouses to apply for ICMA job opportunities.