The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is seeking a Rural Community Revitalization (RCR) Program Manager to lead the state’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative.

The goal of the initiative is to make rural Iowa communities attractive places for people to live and work. The RCR Program Manager will be responsible for providing the overall direction, coordination, implementation, execution, control and completion of specific objectives outlined for the initiative, including developing, designing, implementing and overseeing a long-term strategy and plan for revitalizing rural Iowa communities statewide based on findings and recommendations of the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Task Forces and analysis of data and information, state and federal laws, rules and regulations and state and federal programs.

The RCR Program Manager will develop a plan with clear scope, goals and deliverables and collaborate with partners and stakeholders, including teams within IEDA, other state agencies, and public and private entities that are engaged in rural community and economic development or leadership development, to determine how best to assist rural Iowa communities to thrive by addressing challenges that exist in rural Iowa.

In addition, the program manager will advise the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and IEDA Director regarding issues and strategies related to rural economic and community development and policy related to revitalizing rural Iowa communities. Finally, the candidate will work with IEDA staff and
resources to create and execute a plan to market and promote RCR initiatives and will represent IEDA’s programs to rural Iowa economic development organizations and communities.

The successful candidate will have significant knowledge and/or experience in rural economic and community development, experience collaborating with organizations and entities to achieve a desired result, project management experience, critical thinking and problem-solving skills and will be adept at planning and organizing and coalition-building. Additionally, the candidate must be well organized and able to execute on multiple fronts simultaneously, as well as be adaptable to changing circumstances. Strong written and oral communication and presentation skills are necessary for this position and travel is required.

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in one or more relevant fields and the equivalent of five years of full-time professional level experience such as program administration, development, management or operations is required. Substitution of experience of the caliber and scope indicated above for the required
undergraduate college education on the basis one year of qualifying experience is equivalent to one year of undergraduate education.

The position will be housed in Des Moines, Iowa, at the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Salary range is $70,324.80-$107,785.60. Send cover letter and résumé no later than April 30, 2019 to: Melissa.harshbarger@iowaeda.com

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