Business Manager I

Job Description:

Business Manager I

Description

Position posted until filled:

Reports to: Senior Policy Advisor to the Mayor, Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives

Salary: $65,000 to $85,000 annually. (commensurate with experience)

SUMMARY:

The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office seeks a business manager to support the functions of senior leaders and their teams within the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. The successful candidate will be a self-starter, with exceptional project management, administrative, financial, and communications skills. This position will provide crucial administrative and operational support for the small, but nimble, team within the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. The successful candidate will be primarily responsible for executing business and operational activities across the team’s 5+ divisions, overseeing internal administrative processes, coordinating between City departments to ensure the Office’s goals are met, and providing executive assistance to the Mayor’s Senior Policy Advisors.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office seeks a business manager to support the functions of senior leaders and their teams within the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. The successful candidate will be a self-starter, with exceptional project management, administrative, financial, and communications skills. This position will provide crucial administrative and operational support for the small, but nimble, team within the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. The successful candidate will be primarily responsible for executing business and operational activities across the team’s 5+ divisions, overseeing internal administrative processes, coordinating between City departments to ensure the Office’s goals are met, and providing executive assistance to the Mayor’s Senior Policy Advisors. The successful candidate will have experience working in an office environment, performing administrative duties, and providing support to executives.

Housed within the Mayor’s Office and reporting to the City’s Chief Policy Officer, the Office of the Chief Policy Officer is charged with driving meaningful progress and tangible results on the Administration’s top priorities, in partnership with City departments and external partners. Early in his administration, Mayor Andre Dickens announced the creation of this new team to lead implementation of his policy agenda under the leadership of Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Chief Policy Officer, Courtney English. This team utilizes its unique position within City government to address Atlanta’s most pressing equity challenges swiftly, strategically, and proactively. The Office includes teams focused on affordable housing, youth development and education, neighborhood empowerment and place-based change, and strategic partnerships and strategic initiatives.

As a Business Manager within this Office’s team, your work will touch each of the office’s divisions, providing the operational and administrative support critical to implementing the team’s work. Assignments typically will include working directly with the Senior Policy Advisors and their teams to swiftly procure goods and services, complete human resources activities, and develop, manage, and track multiple budgets. Additionally, this person will provide Executive Assistance to several senior team members, coordinating scheduling, maintaining calendars, completing required City of Atlanta operational procedures, serving as a liaison between City departments and Office teams on business processes, and managing the prioritization of tasks and projects for Office teams. Examples may include fielding requests for meetings and drafting communication on behalf of an advisor, overseeing the necessary procurement steps to purchase goods or services for the Team, coordinating and managing Team events, and coordinating the steps needed to finalize legislation put forth from our Office.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in project management, administrative support, operations, executive-level communication, accounting, logistics, and/or business operations. They are detail-oriented team players willing to roll their sleeves up and dig in at a moment’s notice. The successful candidate will operate with excellence in high-stakes, high-pressure environments and be adaptable to managing multiple priorities and tasks.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives, the Business Coordinator’s key responsibilities will include:

• Executive Assistance: Provide administrative and operational support to the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. The amount of support needed may vary between divisions and projects, depending on current capacities, staffing, and project needs. Initial activities and assignments may include:
  • Provide scheduling support to Senior Policy Advisors, including scheduling meetings and communicating with external parties. Exercise discretion in committing time and evaluating needs.
  • When needed, manage Advisors’ travel logistics and activities, including accommodations, flights, and other rentals.
  • Coordinate calendars and prioritization in partnership with the Executive Assistant to the Chief Policy Officer and other key internal colleagues.
• Budget and Procurement Management: Manage critical financial and procurement processes for the Office of the Chief Policy Officer. Critical responsibilities will include:
  • Execute required procurement processes in accordance with City code and project timelines, in coordination with Senior Policy Advisors and their teams and with relevant internal departments.
  • Project-manage the team’s budget(s), including coordinating development of the annual budget, performing regular accounting and compliance functions, working with team leadership to ensure appropriate and balanced resourcing across divisions, and managing funding allocations. These responsibilities include maintaining financial records, funding source information, and tracking expenses.
  • Liaise with relevant business management, financial, and procurement staff, building healthy relationships and maintaining cutting-edge knowledge of City procedures and policies.
• Administrative Support:
  • Provide support in task management for Team leaders, monitoring upcoming deadlines and prioritization of tasks.
  • Maintain an overarching, high-level project management system for the Chief Policy Officer and team, providing a “quick glance” overview of the team’s projects, portfolio, and any gaps or areas of concern.
  • Track the team’s overall KPIs and evaluation metrics on an ongoing basis.
• Events Management: Support the execution of internal and external events for the Team. Past examples include mayoral convenings and partner summits, Team retreats, and other large-scale events. Activities will include:
  • Identify and gather necessary resources and stakeholders to execute the event.
  • Manage internal processes and resources necessary to produce the event (e.g., internal and external communications, invitations management, security plans, registration systems, vendor management, event design and décor, logistical plans, etc.).
  • Support the management of the day-of event production.
  • Manage after-event reports, evaluation, and follow-up communications.
• Assist in the onboarding, training, and ongoing assistance to the Team on business policies and practices.
• Manage human resources-related processes, including facilitating required processes for hiring and onboarding new employees, providing equipment, legislation, etc.
• Attend and set-up meetings as needed, including notetaking and follow-up where appropriate.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate is ready to work in a high-energy, openly collaborative, and team-oriented work environment. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in business management, administrative support, finance or accounting, business operations, and/or events management. You may be a good fit for this role if you fit some combination of the following characteristics:

• You have shown that you can manage or support the delivery of both medium and large-scale projects on time and within budget.
• You are an adept project manager, able to motivate and hold accountable diverse, cross-functional teams.
• You have previous work experience on fast-paced teams with multiple priorities and objectives, and you know how to prioritize multiple simultaneous, sometimes conflicting work streams.
• You are extraordinarily organized and detail-oriented, with a proven track record of moving projects successfully from vision to fruition.
• You are comfortable interacting with high-level executives and operating in a fast-moving, sometimes ambiguous environment.
• You are a values-driven leader who shares our commitment to equity, resilience, and to serving the most vulnerable among us.
• You know how to read and work with people, facilitating large, diverse groups to reach creative solutions that work for everyone. You can get along with anyone, building relationships with a wide variety of personalities.
• You can manage your own time well, prioritizing the most urgent tasks and supporting others to do the same.
• You have a resourceful, can-do attitude that seeks to find solutions with constrained resources.
• You take the initiative to find new or better ways of delivering on project goals. You’re a self-starter who looks for opportunities to contribute and seeks out growth opportunities.

Additionally, the ideal candidate brings experience and expertise in any combination of the following to the role:

• Government procurement and budgeting processes
• City legislative processes
• Budget and financial management
• Maintaining calendars and scheduling requests
• Medium- to large-scale project management
• Events planning and production
• Organizational development and operations

Minimum qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s degree or comparable experience
• Approximately 2-4 years or more of executive assistance or business management experience; with a strong preference for experience in supporting a senior executive or team.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills with an ability to anticipate challenges and develop solutions on deadline.
• Ability to maintain financial records with accuracy and facilitate basic accounting and budgeting practices.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Enterprising, resourceful results-oriented approach to work.
• Ability to prioritize among competing needs and opportunities and manage multiple projects or work streams at the same time.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and an aptitude for learning new software and systems, including productivity tools.
• Ability to thoughtfully communicate, both verbally and in writing, with and respectfully engage diverse stakeholders to meet an objective.