Chief Strategy Officer en City of Charlottesville, VA

About the Department

The Chief Strategy Officer is a senior level position that serves as a member of the City Manager’s Cabinet. Performs complex professional and administrative work with responsibility for demonstrating the innovative, empowering, and collaborative workplace culture desired in a fast-paced, challenging environment. This position, and designated analytics team, use evidence-based insights to analyze issues important to the service delivery and effectiveness of the city organization. The body of work aims to catalyze innovation to positively impact the lives of the Charlottesville community.

The position requires considerable initiative, judgment, and independent decision-making to develop, execute, and evaluate citywide initiatives aimed at implementing the Council’s strategic priorities.  The work will be carried out with transparent decision-making and accountability, ensuring that priorities are set and communicated openly, and that staff and partners understand not just outcomes but the process behind them.

The Chief Strategy Officer will be an openly disciplined, empathetic, strategic advocate, and empowering leader who models the organizational excellence performance standard. This role reliably visions, ideates, and strategizes with the City Manager to produce and deliver results as an engaged and accountable team and serves as a trusted advisor to and analyst for the City Manager.  Reports to the Assistant to the City Manager.

• For a general summary of benefits offered by the City, please click the 'benefits' tab on this posting, or visit https://www.charlottesville.gov/1047/Employee-Benefits.
• The City of Charlottesville manages its own retirement system which offers both a defined benefit and a defined contribution option.  While the City does not participate in VRS, the City has a Portability Agreement with VRS and there are certain provisions that must be met. For questions pertaining to the Portability Agreement, please contact the City's Benefits Administrator at 434-970-3462.

Position Duties

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations will be considered to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The essential functions of the job are not limited to those listed in the job description.  The City retains the discretion to add to or change the duties of the position at any time.

• Leads a performance management effort within the City Manager's Office by fostering a culture where feedback is seen as growth, not criticism, and where data insights are shared openly across teams.
• Supports the operations of City departments through collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing measurements that support routine dashboard analytics reporting.
• Supports the facilitation of the strategic planning tracking process through the engagement of City Council, City Manager’s Office, LEADTeam, and city staff identified as City Strategists.
• Supports City department managers and other key decision-makers in regular meetings to identify opportunities for efficiency improvements and to track the implementation of improvement plans by clarifying when to guide, when to decide, and when to collaborate to avoid assumptions in authority and execution.
• Builds systems and capacity within departments to streamline processes and help constituent-facing staff work more effectively in delivering work to positive impact lives daily while equipping staff with tools, independence, and safe spaces to innovate, not just comply with systems.
• Coordinates the Biennial Community Survey, a longitudinal study of the broad sentiment of the respondent community citizens; provides assessment and presents results to LEADTeam for performance improvement planning and ensures results are communicated transparently to both staff and community, building trust in how feedback informs strategy.
• Provides leadership and management direction to planning and executing team building, professional development and annual retreats for executive and senior level staff that emphasize curiosity, dialogue, and reflection to strengthen trust and respect across executive teams.
• Works collaboratively with staff in the City Manager’s Office and key personnel performing critical functions in support of the City Manager’s vision for organizational excellence.
• Works as a strategic partner with executive management team to assist with defining action plans and developing ideas/strategies to fill business process gaps that impact the organization's mission and strategic plan.
• Manages and monitors annual action plans of departments and offices in support of Council's strategic priorities; ensures that departmental goals are incorporated into performance objectives and provides direction and oversight for department-level work plan reporting.
• Highlights process transparency in decision-making.
• Uses feedback and data as growth tools, not as criticism.
• Clarifies roles of guide/decide/contribute in performance management.
• Connects surveys, analytics, and advocacy to long-term community outcomes.
• Responsible for appropriate use and maintenance of City equipment, tools and other resources, including work time.
• Regular and reliable attendance.

• Performs additional duties to support operational requirements as apparent or assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience: Candidates may qualify by demonstrating the required knowledge and skills outlined for the job through experience(s) other than formal education such as college.

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in Sociology, Public Administration, Political Science, or a closely related field. AND a minimum of 4 years in a managerial, supervisory, or program administration capacity.

• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of the specific requirements listed above.

• Required to successfully pass a pre-employment background check and pre-employment drug screen.

• A Master’s degree is strongly preferred.
• Five (5) years of increasingly responsible professional experience in two or more of the abovementioned areas (sociology, public administration, political science) are preferred.

• Comprehensive knowledge of analysis, strategic planning, and measuring performance.
• Comprehensive knowledge of general laws and administrative policies governing municipal practices and procedures.
• Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of effective personnel management, interpersonal communication, human relations, budget management, and strategic planning.
• A subject matter expert with whom other managers and professionals throughout the organization may consult in matters of management decisions, law, budget, operations, programs, or other areas of specialized knowledge and expertise.

• Advanced: ability to read and understand complex written materials such as books, reviews, scientific or technical journals, abstracts, financial reports, and/or legal documents. Ability to effectively analyze facts and provide oversight and direction of information for assessments.

• Advanced: ability to develop materials such as researched editorials, journals, speeches, manuals, or critiques. Ability to prepare detailed recommendations or reports from analyzed data, information, and assessments. Ability to tailor writing to specific audiences and explain complex thoughts and ideas in writing.

• Intermediate: ability to deal with number systems; simple formulas, practical application of fractions, percentages, ratios/proportions and measurement.

• Advanced: Ability to foster and maintain good working relationships with City Officials, employees, and the general public. Excellent oral and written communication. Requires competent public speaking and presentation skills and ability to present facts and recommendations effectively. Makes recommendations regarding policy development and implementation. Contact may involve support of controversial positions or the negotiation of sensitive issues or important presentations.  Evaluates customer satisfaction, develops cooperative associations, and utilizes resources to continuously improve customer satisfaction.

• Requires Administrative Direction: normally completes work with substantial discretion and within broad parameters defined by general organizational requirements and accepted practices. Uses a wide variety of inter- and intra-departmental resources to address problems and to carry out decisions. Resolves issues using discretionary judgment in the absence of any explicit protocol. Overall results determine job performance.
• Anticipates and identifies potential problem situations and develops strategies or policy for resolution. Makes final decisions on conflicting priorities and resource needs, communicating reasoning behind decisions openly to foster clarity and trust.
• Identifies and addresses gaps in the organization's current state performance and the desired future state performance needed to meet the changing demands of the customer and the business environment.
• Heads or directs efforts to improve processes, procedures, methods, technologies, tools, equipment, terminology, standards, performance measures, and outcomes of work teams, units, and specialty areas on an organizational level.

• Skilled: comprehensive, practical knowledge of a technical field with use of analytical judgment and decision-making abilities appropriate to the assigned and apparent job responsibilities.  Intermediate computer skills using Microsoft  Office applications and organization systems/software.

• Oversees budget preparation of assigned areas, portfolios, divisions, or office budget.  Reviews and approves expenditures of significant budgeted funds for assigned areas or does research and prepares recommendations for organization-wide budget expenditures.

• Manages, monitors, and directs the work performance of assigned areas, portfolios, office and/or staff. Evaluates program/work objectives and effectiveness, establishes organizational goals and realigns work and staffing assignments in one or more areas of assignment.

• Disciplined, empathetic, strategic advocate, and empowering leader who models the organizational excellence performance standard.
• Effectively coach, mentor, and inspire colleagues by modeling self-awareness and openness to feedback in leadership practices.
• Ability to engage with a diverse set of stakeholders and be committed to working collaboratively with other senior colleagues to craft a common vision and direction.
• Ability to set strategic objectives for the achievement of multi–functional, department–wide, or organization–wide priorities.
• Ability to assess multiple, complex, tasks or projects and service demands and develops processes to address them.
• Effective time management and organizational skills, sometimes under strict time constraints.
• Independently performs multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Effective teamwork, leadership, and coaching abilities.
• Effectively works with sensitive and confidential issues and information.
• Tact, diplomacy, and resourcefulness in resolving problems and managing stressful situations.  
• May require dealing with angry, frustrated and/or upset individuals.
• May require additional hours outside of normal schedule, which may include evenings, nights, holidays, and/or weekends.

Other Qualifications

Physical Demands:

• Light Work: exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to lift, lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.
• Must constantly operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine and computer printer. Must be able to move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Must be able to communicate information and ideas so others will understand.  Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• Ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

• Typically requires use of standard office equipment and telephone, and related software and hardware; and any other equipment as appropriate or as assigned.  

• Work is performed in an office environment where there may be exposure to computer screen for extended periods of time, monitor glare and dust.
• The noise level is usually moderate.