Senior Advisor, Economic Mobility

Centers for Civic Impact’s Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) is hiring a Senior Advisor who is core to the implementation of data management, performance management, and advanced analytics technical assistance to numerous local governments across GovEx’s portfolio focused on Economic Mobility. Senior Advisors play a critical role delivering world class client services and resources to city leadership that includes providing direct technical assistance and coaching to cities focused on improving resident outcomes with measurable impact, facilitating trainings, and developing resources GovEx defines economic mobility as the following:

Economic Mobility:

What is considered the American Dream — a promising education, a job that pays a living wage, homeownership, and retirement — is attainable only for some in the United States. Economic mobility — or the prospect of improving one’s income relative to the income of one’s parents — is hindered by a historical inability of underserved populations to accumulate and transfer wealth. Those who do not have the wealth of upper-income families are not able to recover from shocks like the Great Recession as quickly. For other families, events far smaller than a recession can jolt the household. Income and wealth are not the whole story behind these gaps and GovEx aims to work with City leaders stakeholders to evaluate existing policies and use data and evidence to improve economic mobility for individuals and families.

Senior Advisors provide support to the Practice Manager – Economic Mobility in coordinating and implementing technical assistance projects and efforts with public sector leaders and mid-level staff, including coordinating efforts with mayors’ offices, city leadership, and other stakeholders. GovEx Senior Advisors are subject matter experts experienced in government operations, program, and service delivery, who guide the research and analysis necessary to determine a client’s capabilities to use data and evidence in decision-making and operational functions. Senior Advisors work hand-in-hand with city leadership to build and advance its data management, performance, and data analytics practices.

This position reports to the Practice Manager – Economic Mobility, working closely to properly scope, develop appropriate project plans, develop a theory-of-change for projects, using data and evidence to select metrics, evaluate disparate impacts and policy interventions that lead to measurable results. Senior Advisors will collaborate with internal and external partners and staff responsible for training, applied research, technology, knowledge management, monitoring evaluation, and communications.

The selected candidate must possess a proven track record of success in the public sector, be a subject-matter-expert in Economic Mobility. Senior Advisors must have experience coaching and/or providing technical assistance to  mayors or c-suite leaders. We are seeking a highly skilled visionary with a strong knowledge and background in policy and data practices. In addition to real-world experience working in the public sector with mayors and c-suite leaders, the Senior Advisor must be a strong leader with excellent management and communication skills.

Civic Impact is committed to working with communities that are focused on ending legacies of structural, entrenched racism and oppression. Senior Advisors must be willing to think about reimagined government, knowledge, and engagement models through the lens of dismantling these legacies.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

Coaching & Technical Assistance (55%)

• Provide direct, on-the-ground technical assistance to government practitioners implementing data management, performance management, and data analytics programs
• Work with Practice Manager to scoping, develop project plans and technical assistance day-to-day operations, including coordinating with internal staff, holding weekly meetings, and working with external partners
• Serve as a subject matter and political context expert, particularly in relation to Economic Mobility, Healthy Communities, and Operations & Infrastructure
• Support the Practice Manager in developing a repository on best practices and new trends in the data usage by governments researching policy interventions
• Collaborate with the Training team to develop curriculum and resources to support workshops, trainings, and courses
• Facilitate on-site and virtual trainings and workshops held with academic, government, or nonprofit partners
• Supervise data analysis and maintenance
• Support the Practice Manager in development of materials presenting trends and results seen among GovEx’s public sector clients
• Supervise data analysis and maintenance
• Other duties as assigned

Internal & External Relations (35%)

• Manage day-to-day relationships and communications with cities and other stakeholders
• Facilitate city-to-city collaborative learning and other peer networking opportunities
• Identify and recruit new government partners for technical assistance and training
• Work in collaborative teams
• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to implement grant deliverables, timelines, outcomes, and impact

Project Management (10%)

• Lead technical assistance projects assigned by the Practice Manager, with support from the Practice Manager and Deputy Director in coordinating and implementing technical assistance projects, including regular meetings with external partners on deliverables, timelines, outcomes, and impact
• Assist Practice Manager and Deputy Director in aligning service delivery model with priority areas
• Support the Practice Manager and Deputy Director to develop short-term and long-term strategies and objectives, and detail the progress and status of various priorities with partner organizations, funders, and staff
• Assist Practice Manager in defining clear goals for technical assistance and measuring progress towards those goals in coordination with Civic Impact’s Monitoring & Evaluation team
• Identify new opportunities to improve internal processes that allow the successful implementation GovEx’s service delivery model into the OA

Minimum Qualifications (Mandatory):

GovEx Senior Advisors are energetic, engaged professionals with outstanding writing and interpersonal skills with:

• Master’s Degree in related discipline
• One year related experience
• Demonstrated ability on significant graduate project or additional doctoral education may substitute for experience to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or PhD in related discipline
• Five years related
• Experience working in public policy, public administration, non-profit or a related field
• Undergraduate Degree required, Graduate Degree in Public Administration, Public Policy, or a similar field is preferred

Special Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Capacity to thrive in relationships with leaders in the civic sector
• Ability to represent GovEx, Civic Impact, and its partners before mayors and other government officials
• Strong understanding of quantitative research methods, and the ability to work with and understand, complex datasets
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and manage external stakeholders and workflows
• Proficiency using Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, and WordPress
• Familiarity with learning management systems, particularly TalentLMS
• Experience conducting analysis using Excel, R, Tableau, or other visualization tools
• Experience using project management and collaboration tools such as Slack
• Excellent written, presentation, and research skills
• Commitment to a collegial workplace
• Capacity to work independently and in a result-oriented work environment
• Familiarity with in Python, SQL, JavaScript and/or R, and GIS software
• Knowledge of how to create data visualizations in D3.js, RStudio, or Tableau
• Familiarity with Amazon Web Services
• Familiarity with Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) such as ArcGIS or QGIS