Chief of Staff / Director of Strategic Initiatives bei City of Wilmington, NC

About the Department

The City of Wilmington is seeking a dynamic, forward-thinking leader to serve as Chief of Staff in the City Manager’s Office. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of our community by advancing citywide priorities, improving government performance, and ensuring that services are delivered with excellence to our residents.

As Chief of Staff, you will serve as a strategic partner to the City Manager—turning vision into action, aligning departments around shared goals, and leading high-priority initiatives that have a direct impact on the community. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys problem-solving at the highest level, and is passionate about making government more effective, transparent, and responsive.

Why Join Us?
Working for the City of Wilmington means being part of a team dedicated to serving the community and making a lasting difference. As Chief of Staff, you will have a seat at the table with senior leadership, the opportunity to lead meaningful change, and the ability to see your work positively impact residents every day.

If you are a collaborative leader who can see the big picture while driving results, we invite you to bring your expertise to Wilmington and help us shape a stronger, more vibrant future for our city.

Position Duties

• Partner with executive leadership to translate strategy into action, ensuring initiatives are delivered on time and with impact.

• Lead organizational change and process improvements that enhance city operations and resident satisfaction.

• Facilitate executive decision-making by gathering data, presenting options, and building consensus.

• Drive collaboration across departments and resolve conflicts to keep projects moving forward.

• Streamline services and implement best practices that make government more efficient, accountable, and innovative.

• Manage assigned departments and staff, fostering accountability, collaboration, and a high-performance culture.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in a related field (e.g., Business, Public Administration, Public Policy, Leadership).  Extensive executive leadership experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirements. 
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible executive leadership experience, ideally in local government. 
• Strong knowledge of municipal operations, budgeting, and public policy. 
• Extensive proven ability to manage multiple complex projects, set priorities, and deliver results on time and within budget.  
• Proven experience successfully leading and directing cross-functional teams to deliver a variety of large-scale public sector initiatives. Examples could include, but need not be limited to, capital project delivery, public-private partnerships or other complex real estate transactions, affordable housing strategy, strategic planning and implementation, etc. 
• Direct, proven experience initiating and/or implementing culture change-related initiatives and/or process improvements on at least a department-wide, but preferably an organization-wide, scale.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with elected officials, staff, and diverse stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and project management tools; performance measurement systems a plus.

Other Qualifications

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Exerting up to 10 lbs. occasionally or negligible weights frequently; sitting most of the time.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

This position generally requires work in an office setting.  This positions is considered essential and may be required to work before, during and after inclement weather events to support city operations.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received, and the posting will remain open until the position is filled. Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to apply early for priority consideration.