International Relations Officer

Department: Community Relations Department

Salary: $126,009.00 - $181,137.64 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

Charlotte, North Carolina is the 14th largest city in the United States. The City of Charlotte local government serves 2.9 million people within the Charlotte Metro area, where approximately 980K reside within Charlotte. The rapid growth within the international business sector and international community contributes to the 1.8% growth rate, making Charlotte one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. Nearly 18% of Charlotte residents were born outside of the United States, and there are over 160 different languages spoken in the Charlotte Metro region. We work hard to ensure that the community remains a certified Welcoming City, and a remarkable place to live, work, learn and play for all.

The Charlotte City Council's vision states that Charlotte is America's Queen City. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The International Relations Manager role is integral to building collaborative partnerships across various metro area communities where together that vision becomes a reality.

This position is community-facing, tasked with developing and executing a strategic plan that advances the City's international and public diplomacy efforts, while strengthening engagement with the growing international community and international business sector.

The primary duty of this role is to lead the City's Office of International Relations, working collaboratively across city departments to establish and execute a strategic plan that keeps Charlotte a welcoming, collaborative, and accessible city. This work will interact regularly with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee and the Charlotte International Cabinet. Success depends on direct, sustained relationships with Charlotte's international community: this position must be personally known and trusted, present where international residents and organizations gather, and connected to community associations, faith leaders, business groups, and informal networks.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as staff liaison to the Community Relations Committee's (CRC) international relations committee: build agendas, conduct research, shape policy recommendations, carry out committee priorities, and report on outcomes.

• Attend and regularly report to the Charlotte International Cabinet, keeping the Cabinet informed of city efforts to address international community priorities, emerging issues, and progress on Cabinet-endorsed initiatives.

• Align international relations strategy and program priorities with broader city efforts, including Neighborhood Engagement, Community Affairs, Fair Housing, ADA, Dispute Settlement, and Language Access.

• Build and maintain direct, trusted relationships with international residents, community organizations, business and civic associations, faith leaders, and informal community networks across the metro area.

• Proactively identify and engage international populations not currently connected to City government, ensuring hard-to-reach communities have a seat at the table when City policies, programs, and services are shaped.

• Regularly gather input from international community members and organizations to understand their needs and priorities and follow through in a way that builds and sustains trust over time.

• Serve as a trusted broker of relationships, resources, and opportunities between the international community and City government.

• Track emerging issues and trends in Charlotte's international communities and translate them into strategic recommendations for executive leadership, City Council, and the Community Relations Committee.

• Serve as a trusted advisor and partner to executive leadership and community leaders with respect to City of Charlotte programs, services, and international community engagement.

• Serve as the City of Charlotte's Liaison to the Charlotte International Cabinet; may also serve on various community boards to support and achieve international community and economic goals.

• Support the Office of Economic Development during business recruitment or expansion efforts through presentations, data requests, and support of hosting company representatives.

• Identify strategies to address community-based policies and programs necessary to harness international relations within the community.

• Ensure policies, procedures, budget decisions, program design, and other City functions are evaluated using an objective community-based perspective as part of the decision-making process.

• Assess existing community-based programs, services, and initiatives to identify opportunities to maximize efforts.

• Facilitate collaboration of agency task forces, teams, and working groups; build effective partnerships and engage with external organizations and stakeholders, both public and private, to support and achieve broad community goals.

• Collaborate with community-oriented organizations and coalitions for the advancement of welcoming initiatives amongst residents.

• Work with the appropriate internal City departments to identify opportunities to improve City practices and policies related to external services.

• Work with external groups/agencies to identify under-resourced geographic areas of investment and development that can be addressed with changes in the City's external-facing policies and practices.

• Promote upward mobility by aligning community initiatives with other City of Charlotte led community-facing strategies, such as Corridors of Opportunity and Small Business and Workforce Development.

• Develop annual work plans, budgets, and performance measures for the international relations program, and supervise assigned staff.

• Exercise discretion and tact when dealing with sensitive, complex, and confidential issues and situations.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Demonstrated, hands-on experience building and sustaining direct relationships with international communities, with credibility and trust to be seen as a genuine advocate and point of connection to City government.

• Knowledge of principles and best practices for international engagement and effective collaboration in both workplace and community settings, processes and procedures associated with development and implementation of international relations, principles and best practices of change management, and best practices for community engagement and training.

• Experience using data and performance metrics to measure programs, projects, and initiatives at an organizational-wide and departmental level.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences through an assortment of mediums, including written reports, presentations, and open-discussion settings.

• Demonstrated ability to build trust, lead, and work collaboratively with others by setting clear goals and effectively communicating responsibilities and deadlines.

• Previous supervisory experience required, to include team building, leadership development, and performance management.

• Demonstrated experience in program development, management, and measurement.

• Knowledge of local government structure and ability to work within legal, administrative, budget, communications, and public-records requirements.

• Ability to communicate in languages other than English is desired yet not required.

• Must be able to attend meetings in-person, including in community settings where international residents gather (community centers, places of worship, community events, international business districts).

• Must demonstrate the ability to build direct, trusted working relationships with individuals, organizations, and community leaders within Charlotte's international community.

• Must be able to travel as needed to attend meetings and required events.

• Must demonstrate effective conflict management skills.

• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with demonstrated credibility and trust within Charlotte's international community.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience engaging with international organizations, businesses, governmental entities, and community partners is preferred. Bachelor's degree in political science, international affairs, planning & development, public policy, public administration, psychology, or a related field with 7 years of related work experience, or a master's degree with 5 years of related work experience preferred.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree and 7 years of related work experience, or a master's degree with 5 years of related work experience required.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email [email protected].

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.