Sr. Policy Advisor
About the Company
At the City of Atlanta, we are passionate about building and improving our community. Our police officers, firefighters and building inspectors keep our citizens safe. Our Public Works staff keeps our City clean and helps maintain, build and improve our City’s infrastructure. Our City planners help envision and shape future City growth. Our Parks & Recreation professionals enhance our quality of life.
Our engineers help keep our drinking water clean, the largest airport in the world (by passenger volume) operating and our buildings maintained. Along with the host of Finance, Procurement, and Human Resources professionals whose support is vital, we are the City of Atlanta! If you are seeking a meaningful role where you can make a real difference improving and growing our City, we welcome you to explore the job opportunities we have to offer.
About the Job
The Senior Advisor to the Mayor, Community Revitalization, will work to advance the Mayor’s goals for catalytic revitalization of target disinvested neighborhoods across Atlanta. The Senior Advisor is responsible for leading this initiative, including overseeing project implementation, ensuring the progress and completion of capital projects, building community ownership, and managing key stakeholder relationships. The Senior Advisor must be a master facilitator, working collaboratively and swiftly across multiple departments, agencies, and sectors. A key component of the work is supporting the engagement of numerous working groups that focus the efforts of City departments, external agencies, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, development partners, and neighborhood leaders to implement the program in accordance with community goals.
Responsibilities
Lead the implementation of the high-priority, cross-functional place-based neighborhood revitalization strategy
Build an internal organizational framework and approach to strategy implementation that ensures regular, proactive, and strategic integration of broad mayoral priorities, maximizes community impact, and fully integrates racial equity and community inclusion
Guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of cross-functional initiatives involving multiple City departments and agencies, overseeing working groups, developing and approving project plans and project managers, and tracking collaborative progress
Serve as an expert resource for key internal leaders whose departments are critical implementers of strategy components (e.g., Commissioner of City Planning, Commissioner of Transportation, etc.)
Serve as external spokesperson and surrogate for the Mayor and the Chief Policy Officer relating to this work
Oversee a small team responsible for maintaining master project management/ tracking system for all major projects, programs, and initiatives contained within the strategy
Support other high-priority mayoral programs and initiatives as needed by supplying a unique perspective and familiarity with the perspectives of stakeholder served by the team’s initiatives and using it to evaluate other programs and policies
Develop and implement authentic, frequent community and resident engagement strategies, in and surrounding target neighborhoods, in collaboration with key stakeholders
Manage the ongoing implementation of the initiative’s comprehensive communications plan, in collaboration with key stakeholders
Qualifications
Education & Experience:
Undergraduate or equivalent experience in public policy, urban planning, community development, public administration, or related field
10+ years of progressive experience in a related field
Master’s degree in public policy, urban planning, community development, public administration, or related field with 15+ years of progressive experience is preferred
Equivalent professional experience may be considered for substitution for the required degree on an exception basis
Knowledge & Skills:
Expertise in community development, neighborhood revitalization, community engagement, public administration, racial equity, economic mobility, and/or public policy principles
Extensive experience building public policy and/or cross-sector initiatives, especially relating to neighborhood revitalization, racial equity, and/or community development
Demonstrated experience successfully delivering large-scale, complex projects on time and within budget
Demonstrated success in the development, management, and implementation of major, high visibility, high impact strategic projects involving diverse stakeholders and sometimes competing priorities
Adept facilitator and team leader, with the ability to motivate and hold accountable diverse, cross-functional teams
Ability to work collaboratively to arrive at constructive solutions
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Strong and synergistic leadership skills
