Montgomery County Government

About the Position

The expected salary range for this role on hire is $77,629 to $119,129.

WHO WE ARE

The Community Engagement Cluster is a dynamic community-facing team responsible for strengthening relationships between residents, community organizations, and businesses. With a focus on making Montgomery County inclusive and accessible to all constituents, the Community Engagement Cluster is responsible for creating and maintaining a two-way dialogue between the various facets of County Government and the community where concerns can be translated into action across the administration.

The Community Engagement Cluster’s Silver Spring Regional Services Office Director is currently recruiting for a Community Project Manager (Program Manager II) for one of the five regional areas. The selected Program Manager II will primarily report to the Silver Spring Regional Services Office Director but may be asked to support other regions. The employee in this job works independently under the general direction of one of the five Regional Services Office Directors.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for someone to join our Silver Spring team who:

• Understands local government and has a passion for cultivating relationships and building consensus among diverse communities and sectors.
• Possesses general knowledge of County, State, and/or Federal structures, organizations, policies, and functions.
• Has strong interpersonal skills with the ability to successfully build consensus and navigate challenging conversations with people from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds.
• Demonstrates the ability to manage and lead a project from beginning to end with minimal oversight.
• Independently develops, researches, and analyzes data, and prepares special/technical reports.
• Represents the Regional Services Office in public meetings, community events, celebrations, and grand openings.
• Conducts presentations and basic training sessions in a classroom setting to adult audiences on topics including small business resources, place-based management approaches, and a myriad of other topics which benefit residents and businesses.
• Has advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications specifically Excel spreadsheets and tables to gather and interpret data; ability to work across various software platforms including grants databases, budgeting tools (Basis, Oracle/Business Intelligence), and creative design (Canva, Adobe).

What You'll Be Doing

This position will assist the Silver Spring Regional Services Office Director (RSOD) with duties associated with coordination and facilitation of economic/community development and placemaking-related activities occurring in the respective regional communities. Employees will serve as connectors and “On the Ground Coordinators and Points of Contact” (to the Regional Services Office Director) between the County and regional communities, working with various governmental agencies and departments, businesses, real estate professionals, developers, Urban District operations and other key stakeholders. Essential functions of this position include:

• Cultivate and manage relationships across diverse communities, businesses, civic groups, and non-profits to provide a direct bridge between government and the region.
• Facilitate and manage regular public engagement meetings and workshops to foster relationship building, collaboration, and to gather input on economic/community development and placemaking/placekeeping efforts under the direction of the RSOD.
• Advise the RSOD on real-time and mission-critical economic/community development activities and policy issues.
• Provide general technical assistance and guidance to businesses and community members seeking to navigate government services/programs.
• Assist the RSOD with internal advocacy efforts that provide for more responsive and collaborate government services including helping identify and resolve economic, housing, and transportation development impacts and impediments.
• Design and implement policies/strategies that serve regional constituency at the direction of the RSOD.
• Establish and strengthen relationships with local businesses; in partnership with the RSOD and the County’s Business Advancement Team, conduct outreach visits and engage with businesses that promote a environment conducive to economic growth and expansion in the area.
• Conduct ongoing analysis of public policy gaps, propose new directions, and plan to produce an improved community.
• Develop, identify, mediate, resolve, and implement effective strategies to promote economic development.

This position requires the ability to attend meetings or perform work at locations outside the office.

Presentations, trainings, meetings, communications, and events often occur during evenings and/or weekends. Thus, evening and weekend work is required.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience: Five (5) years of experience in a program/specialization area related to government and/or community and business development.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree.

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred Criteria, Interview Preferences

All Applicants will be reviewed by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) for minimum qualifications. The applications of those individuals meeting the minimum qualifications will be reviewed to determine the extent, relevancy of training, and experience. ??

Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• Direct community outreach experience liaising with residents and business owners to:
  1. connect them to vital information and resources,
  2. inform, progress, navigate, and troubleshoot complex issues and processes involving local government,
  3. support the strategizing and planning of actions to strengthen businesses within the community (i.e., expanding services, physically relocating).
• Experience working in underserved or marginalized communities in direct service roles; history of working with multicultural communities, and demonstrated ability facilitating among diverse, and often divergent, perspectives on a myriad of community topics of interest.
• Demonstrated ability to digest complex, interconnected information and provide recommendations for enhanced decision making.
• Demonstrated general knowledge of County, State, and/or Federal structures, organizations, policies, and functions.
• Experience distilling laws and practices to stakeholders in a way which can be easily received and implemented.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position.

Montgomery County Government(MCG) is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should email OHR at Hiring@montgomerycountymd.gov. Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

MCG also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference.

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria or interview preference status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on the Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for an interview.

This will establish an Eligible List that may be used to fill both current and future vacancies.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code. Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.

Leave Benefits

Our generous leave package starts with non-MLS permanent and term employees earning 15 days of sick leave and 15 days of annual leave in their first year, as well as up to three additional personal days each calendar year. Positions in MLS earn 35 days of paid time off each year. In addition, we offer all employees 10 paid holidays. Our leave policies adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, and we provide six weeks of paid parental leave for new parents.

Retirement Benefits

All permanent and term positions are eligible for robust retirement plans. Public safety positions are eligible for a defined benefit pension plan in which they are vested after only five years. Employees in non-public safety positions can participate in retirement plans that contribute up to 12 percent of their annual salary. All employees can also participate in a supplemental retirement plan, the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, to contribute even more to their retirement goals.

Tuition Assistance & Student Loan Forgiveness

Montgomery County employees are eligible to participate in the Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Participants who meet all requirements may qualify for forgiveness on the remaining balance on their Direct Loans after making 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time in a qualifying public service position. To learn more about PSLF, please visit the Student Loan Repayment Benefits page. Our tuition assistance program allows you to receive up to $2,130 annually in tuition assistance to help you achieve a degree that supports your career path.

Free Mass Transit Benefit

County employees are entitled to use the RideOn Bus service for free with a valid County-employee ID. This benefit can be used any time of the day or evening, including weekends. We also offer a pre-tax flexible spending account to reduce the cost of other mass-transit options such as MARC trains and Metro.

Reduced Child and Health Care Costs

Working for Montgomery County also entitles permanent and term employees to participate in healthcare and childcare Flexible Spending Accounts. These plans allow eligible employees to save on a pretax basis for healthcare and dependent care costs incurred during the plan year.

Employee Wellbeing

We deeply care about your holistic wellness. Our award-winning wellness program, LiveWell, will support you in improving and maintaining your physical, mental, financial, social, and intellectual well-being.

Learn more about our wonderful benefits available to you once you join our team. Montgomery County Benefits

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