Innovation And Strategy Director

Innovation and Strategy Director

Salary Range: $83,283-$136,469 Exempt (DOQ)

The Innovation and Strategy Director will work with City departments in the development and delivery of innovative solutions that support an engaged workforce, build a high-performance culture and enhance organization effectiveness. This newly created position will work to develop and inspire the development and implementation of data-driven best practices in municipal government, generate novel ideas and foster a culture of Innovation and process improvement. The Innovation and Strategy Director will refine and promote the concepts of the High Performance Organization (HPO) model and help design systems, processes, and structures that contribute to organizational excellence, positive organizational culture and exceptional public service.

Responsibilities:  

• Support best practices which involve researching and analyzing data, trends and new ideas in local government to forecast future changes in practices, processes, and programs. Produce analytical reports to assist with decision-making and assessment of project impacts.
• Collaboratively establish City leadership philosophy and facilitate city-wide and departmental training to align with the model.
• Design, facilitate, and lead training workshops for team building, leadership, continuous process improvement, and communication to support HPO (or similar) implementation.
• Manage the workplace engagement survey including survey distribution, delivery and explanation of results, and working with departments to develop improvement initiatives to address results.
• Work closely with City’s Equity and Engagement Director to develop strategies for support and implementation of the Racial Equity Action Plan initiatives and the incorporation of a racial equity lens and related considerations in all organization development strategies.
• Proactively provide support to senior leaders through team and organizational assessment, interventions and executive coaching. Coach and guide champions in each department to develop needed competencies, including training design and delivery.
• Design and facilitate interventions for complex issues in collaboration with inter-departmental teams of subject matter experts to address citywide improvement priorities.
• Help employees generate ideas by setting up and running idea generation platforms in formats such as jam sessions, hackathons and internal or external crowdsourcing, including but not limited to a focus on strategic technology solutions.
• Facilitate the work of the City’s Vision Team to create an environment of values focused leadership where everyone in the organization has leadership opportunities, participates on teams and is valued.
• Operationalize employee-facing priorities of the City’s strategic plan and the organization’s Vision, Values, Philosophy, and Guiding Principles.
• Collaborate with Human Resources division to ensure that HR processes such as recruitment and performance evaluation align with promoting a culture of innovation among all employees and the HPO principles.
• Coordinate Decatur’s employee leadership academy where employees work in teams to develop a creative and innovative capstone project that addresses a City problem.
• Direct seed funding for bold ideas that may cross department lines.
• Develop and equip managers in their role as change agents and leaders of innovation in their respective departments.
• Attend community events, City Commission and other public meetings, staff meetings, conferences, and other meetings as directed by the Assistant City Manager.

   Competencies & Skills: 

• Ability to research, analyze, and interpret data and use data to tell a story and solve problems.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization. 
• Ability to build relationships through trust, collaboration, and direct communication.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with diverse staff to promote trust, collaboration and partnership between departments
• Excellent writing, public speaking and facilitation skills are vital. 
• Must be comfortable working independently and making recommendations to the Assistant City Manager and City Manager. 
• Proactive and independent with the ability to take initiative. 
• Ability to multi-task and deal with competing priorities effectively.
• Open to change, abstract concepts and new information and ideas and adaptable to the same.
• Results Orientation (practical project and time management, sense of urgency, and deadline-driven).
• Must encourage and foster cooperation and teamwork.

Required Education and Experience:  

• Bachelor’s degree in public or business administration, or related field.
• Master’s degree in related field is preferred.
• Requires 5-7 years of experience in local government or related field.
• Experience with coordinating innovation or strategic planning activities preferably in a public setting.

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

The City of Decatur is committed to having a workforce that reflects diversity at all levels and is an equal opportunity employer. Therefore, qualified applicants are considered for employment, and employees are treated during employment without regard to actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, familial status, or veteran/military status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.