Manager, Economic Development - Cochrane, AB, Canada - Town of Cochrane

Description

Town of Cochrane

Manager, Economic Development
The Town of Cochrane is located in the breathtaking Bow Valley corridor in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. With a population of over 30,000 people, and growing steadily every year, Cochrane is a thriving town, surrounded by world-famous ranch country. Our western heritage is reflected in the Town's architecture and our friendly people. The Town of Cochrane welcomes innovative and skilled individuals to join our team of over 250 employees.

As Alberta's fastest growing municipality, The Town of Cochrane is excited to recruit for the position of Manager, Economic Development The team of professionals in this department ensure Cochrane development is thoughtful, safe and follows all regulations. Healthy growth in a community relies on strong connections. We believe in the importance of these connections for Cochrane and for our collective Economic Development.

Reporting to the Director, Community Growth, this position is responsible for working collaboratively with Administration, Senior Leadership Team, Council, and the Cochrane business community. The Manager of Economic Development provides leadership and direction to the Economic Development Department, networks and engages with interest holders in the Cochrane business community and advises Senior Administration and Council on economic development goals and objectives, including but not limited to developing, implementing, and sustaining an Economic Development Strategy that aligns with the organization's guiding policies. In addition to managing and maintaining the processes to support, retain, expand, and attract business investment in Cochrane, this position is responsible for managing all projects within the Economic Development portfolio, and processing of business licenses. Ensure alignment with an economic development strategy that supports the relevant goals and objectives of all interest holders including Council and Administration using a proactive, collaborative, and inclusive approach.

You will bring ideas on work activities, sponsor and manage projects, as well as seek input from internal and external interest holders with technical knowledge and competency in related areas. You are comfortable working with established objectives and processes, and have an interest in exploring new, faster, or better approaches to elevate efficiency and effectiveness of processes designed to accomplish the goals and objectives of Economic Development, Community Growth and Cochrane.
If you have completed a post-secondary degree in economics, business administration, marketing or a relevant related field and have five years of experience in municipal or community economic development, we welcome your application to the Manager, Economic Development position.

Why should you consider working for us?
Our employees enjoy many benefits including competitive public sector pay, comprehensive health and dental benefits package, professional learning and development opportunities as well as the opportunity work with other talented public servants with extensive municipal government experience.

As an organization, the Town of Cochrane has a focus on investing in people . A dynamic, innovate and fast growing community, Cochrane is not a boring municipality. We are growing into an organization with a focus on transparency , critical thinking, curiosity, reflection, and innovation . We support experimentation as part of the growth process and strive for continuous improvement . We are municipal employees, and we are accountable to all the residents of the Town of Cochrane. Want to be a part of this exciting time? As the Manager, Economic Development, you will:

• Develop, implement, manage, and sustain an approved Economic Development Strategy for Cochrane.
• Support Council and Administration to set its goals, objectives, and policies that foster economic growth in the community through job creation, investment attraction and retention/ growth of existing businesses.
• Develop and implement a monitoring & reporting process to provide the Director of Community Growth and other relevant interest holders with periodic updates on Cochrane's economic environment, Economic Development Strategy and related objectives.
• Provide training, coaching, leadership, and support to the Economic Development Department while ensuring the effective management of department employees.
• Participate in all assigned regional economic development initiatives, ensuring that Cochrane's interests are represented.
• Ensure alignment with all corporate divisions to coordinate municipal services, strategies, policies, and/or approval processes to support business development in accordance with municipal economic development strategies, goals, objectives, and policies.
• Lead the preparation and administration of economic development plans, programs, and strategies to attract new business opportunities to the community, and to ensure retention of existing businesses while increasing the quantity and quality of local job opportunities.
• Establish and maintain an up-to-date informational database, including confidential, demographic and market research materials that can be leveraged for new business attractions and reporting on the health of the local economy.
• Provide marketing, promotional, and statistical information to new and prospective businesses.
• Provide thorough and complete information to assigned site selection requests in a confidential manner.
• Maintain and cultivate relevant professional relationships with peers at other orders of government, intergovernmental affairs, financial and educational institutions, community and business groups, partner organizations and interestholders (Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Cochrane etc.).
• Represent Cochrane at assigned conferences and workshops as well as networking with various service clubs, associations, committees, or Boards – sometimes outside of regular business hours.
• Develop, manage, monitor, and support annual business and budget planning exercises related to Economic Development.
• Participate as a member of the Cochrane wide management team and contribute to leadership and management practices across the organization.
• Ensure the timely processing of, and monitoring & reporting on, Business License applications.

We value self-driven professional development and will be looking for a candidate who has advanced their education and leveraged their experience to ensure technical and human-centered excellence. For this position, a degree in Economics, Business Administration, Marketing or a relevant related field, supplemented by 5-7 years of experience in a progressive Economic Development role, including demonstrated experience in a leadership role is required. We are excited to learn about what you can bring to the table in terms of your qualifications and passion for Cochrane If many of these characteristics and skills describe you, we want to meet you:

• Ability to communicate effectively with peers, employees, and external interest holders, using excellent written and oral skills.
• Ability to demonstrate tact, political acumen, when meeting with citizens and interest holders.
• Ability to effectively provide technical information and advice to all levels of employees in the department, as well as customers and interest holders.
• Understanding the application of local, provincial, and federal bylaws, regulations, and legislation.
• Ability to balance the competing priorities of customer service, and Triple Bottom Line (Social, Environmental and Economic) consideration.
• Shifting workload, resources, or duties to facilitate changing business priorities and team member workloads.
• Ability to proactively understand and mitigate the concerns of citizens and interest holders through effective problem solving, education, negotiation, and mediation skills where relevant and appropriate.
• Financial Planning & Management.
• Strategic planning, implementation, and sustainment.
• Program & project management.
• Municipal economic development strategies and tactics.
• Benchmarking, data analytics, economic reporting, and accountability reporting on key performance and economic indicators.
• Leadership, coaching and mentoring.
• Ability to foster, maintain and enhance effective relationships with all levels of the public, governments, financial institutions, and external community focused organizations.
• Proficiency in all Microsoft Office software applications
• Operational Planning & Management
• Motivation to advocate for own professional development.
• Strong mediation, facilitation, conflict resolution and collaboration skills.
• Federal and Provincial grant application experience.

Cochrane is committed to providing a healthy and safe work environment for all its employees. As a Cochrane employee, you must take reasonable care to protect your health and safety and that of others present at worksites, perform work safely, follow all relevant health and safety legislation, directives and procedures and attend all identified orientations and training.

Still interested? Here's how to apply:

• Qualified individuals are encouraged to submit your resume, and a letter stating how your experience match the required qualifications, skills, and abilities for this position.
• All qualified candidates will be requested to complete an online suitability survey.
• Applications for this position will be accepted at until 9PM MST on May 23rd, 2024.
• Annual salary range from $124,713 - $133,232.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All applicants must be legally entitled to live and work in Canada. #J-18808-Ljbffr