Job Description

Opportunity Austin (OA) is one of the top economic development organizations in the United States. OA promotes job creation and prosperity in the five‐county greater Austin region. The Economic Development team consists of industry recruitment, business retention & expansion, research, and admin/operations. The Team collaborates with other OA department team members on shared initiatives.

The VP Economic Development is responsible for the recruitment of new industries/businesses to the Austin Region and provides leadership to the team and assumes duties in the absence of the SVP Economic Development.

**This is a full time position, in office Mon-Thurs, and as schedule allows remote on Friday.**

Essential Functions

The VP Economic Development performs a variety of functions to ensure the overall success in meeting the goals of the Economic Development Team.

• Work closely with the SVP Economic Development to execute in the refinement and/or development of recruitment and business retention initiatives strategies to achieve the 5.0 Strategic Plan, goals, and metrics.
• Lead recruitment efforts for high-value prospects in specified industry sectors, with emphasis and solid experience in life sciences but also corporate headquarters, advanced manufacturing, software/IT, defense/aerospace, space tech, digital media, and financial services.
• Generate prospect leads in target industry sectors, especially life sciences.
• Manage business community and ecosystems as well as be a subject matter expert in specific key sectors.
• Provide leadership and guidance to Economic Development team members on best practices.
• Aid hosting visiting international delegations and coordinate with other Austin Regional organizations.
• Maintain files utilizing in-house database for prospect activity tracking.
• Cultivate relationships with national brokers, site selectors and others for lead generation.
• Compile regional responses to Requests for Information.
• Host prospects and organize tours/meetings providing a first-class customer service experience.
• Organize marketing recruitment trips in domestic and international markets and coordinate. participants including Opportunity Austin investors and regional economic development partners.
• Work with regional economic development partners in the recruitment of companies.
• Provide presentations to all size groups (including PowerPoint and other platforms).
• Conduct at least 15 Business Retention surveys annually in targeted industry sectors.
• Coordinate with Communications/Marketing for press items related to new relocations.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with companies recruited and act as a local resource as they grow.
• Responsibilities and duties may extend beyond those listed.

Position Qualifications

• Valid Texas driver’s license and ability to drive a Suburban.
• Bachelor’s Degree and above and/or equivalent work experience.
• Over five years’ experience in economic development, sales, real estate or related field.
• Knowledge of economic development principles, including marketing, recruitment of business, finance and incentive negotiations, and real estate deal development.
• Strong computer skills and experience with Microsoft Office suite (PowerPoint, Excel, Word)., a must.

Competency Statements:

This position requires an individual who possesses the following qualities and skills and has a desire to be part of an energetic, fast-paced team:

• Ability to handle leadership role and make sound decisions.
• Professional, “can-do” demeanor.
• Energetic, highly motivated, self-starter.
• Team player with positive attitude.
• Excellent organizational skills with ability to multi-task and work on a variety of types of projects and requests with short deadlines.
• Able to manage multiple prospects simultaneously (recruiters individually handle approximately 30-35 projects at any given time and as a team host about 150 prospects annually).
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Open to taking directions and learning new skills.
• Good interpersonal skills and works well with others.
• Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, Word).
• Knowledge of social media for lead generation.
• Able to learn new software platforms such as CoStar, Tracker, HubSpot, Salesforce, and others.
• Ability to handle highly confidential information.

The Company has reviewed this job description to ensure that essential functions and basic duties have been included. It is intended to provide guidelines for job expectations and the employee's ability to perform the position described. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all functions, responsibilities, skills and abilities. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. This document does not represent a contract of employment, and the Company reserves the right to change this job description and/or assign tasks for the employee to perform, as the Company may deem appropriate.

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