Economic Development/Community Development Specialist

Website: smartgrowthamerica.org

Additional Info:

 

Smart Growth America is hiring an Economic Development/Community Development Specialist to provide direct assistance on triple-bottom line community revitalization in urban and rural communities around the country, and to work on the associated local, state and federal policy issues surrounding revitalization. The Specialist will principally work with Smart Growth America’s Vice President for Economic Development, as well as across a number of programs includingLOCUS, the Governors’ Institute on Community Design, and others. This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of policy and hands-on community level practice.

Position description
An ideal candidate will have experience, expertise, and a passion for smart growth issues. We are looking for an excellent writer, communicator, technician, and constituency builder, and someone with a comprehensive view of the human, physical environment, and institutional aspects required for successful revitalization. The ideal candidate will be both a practitioner and a policy wonk, someone who can take lessons from specific experiences and translate them into a larger approach and ideas for new policies and programs. In this position these abilities and talents will be put to working directly with communities to formulate and implement revitalization strategies, while also working to develop federal, state and local policy ideas and initiatives that will support and advance revitalization efforts.

Responsibilities
The Specialist’s primary responsibilities include:

• Delivering, through short and long term engagements, technical assistance in communities to help them advance their revitalization efforts;
• Analyzing local market, demographic, regulatory and other factors affecting revitalization, and participating in the creation, drafting and presentation of revitalization strategies;
• Constructing and conducting revitalization trainings; and
• Extracting lessons from revitalization efforts and using these as the basis for developing policy and program ideas to advance at the local, state and federal level.

Requirements
Candidates should have a good working knowledge of government programs related to housing, economic development, workforce development, and transportation. In addition, successful candidates will have:

• Excellent writing and speaking skills;
• A talent for working with a variety of constituencies;
• Understanding of or experience with asset-based development, arts-based placemaking, participatory development, economic gardening, or social capital creation;
• Understanding of and experience with transit-oriented development;
• An ability to work in teams;
• Dedication to achieving smarter growth;
• 2-5 years experience in a related field.

Compensation, location and time frame
Salary commensurate with experience. Benefits include health insurance, 401(k), and paid vacation and sick time. This is a full-time position based in Washington, DC, and reports to the Vice President for Economic Development.

To apply
Please send a cover letter, resume, and two writing samples (no more than two pages each) to jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org with “Economic Development/Community Development Specialist” in the subject line. Applications will be accepted immediately on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Equal Opportunity Employment
Equal opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at Smart Growth America. Employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law