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Assistant to the City Manager (Champaign, IL)

Who: City of Champaign, City Manager’s Office

What: The City of Champaign seeks qualified candidates on a local government management career trajectory for the position of Assistant to the City Manager in the City Manager's Office. It is expected the successful candidate may pursue other career advancement opportunities after 3-5 years in this position.
The position is an ideal opportunity for an aspiring City Manager to gain exposure to and get a start in public administration and operations at the local government level. The position provides professional support to the City Manager and City departments, manages assigned programs, coordinates projects, and provides customer service to the public. Responsible for conducting research, making policy and ordinance recommendations, analyzing processes to identify efficiencies and support innovation, grant research and administration, making public presentations, assisting with public communication, including preparing press releases and handling media inquiries, and responding to citizen complaints, as well as serving as the City Manager's representative as requested. The ideal candidate should demonstrate a commitment to an advanced career in local government management through their education and professional experience.
Qualifications:

  • A bachelor's degree with major coursework in public administration, public finance/accounting, urban planning or related discipline. 
  • Minimum of two years of full-time experience in municipal government, community development, social services or a closely related field (internship or fellowship experience counts). 
  • An equivalent combination of work experience and education that demonstrates the required knowledge, skills, and abilities will be considered. 
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills and ability to communicate in a respectful, responsive and timely manner with coworkers, elected officials and the public by phone, email, mail and in-person. 
  • Experience with academic or business writing including the preparation of written studies, reports, plans or policies. 
  • Experience with research or policy analysis. 
  • Available for meetings and emergency response, as needed, outside of normal work hours. 

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Master's degree. 
  • More than two years of municipal government experience. 
  • Experience with financial management or budget preparation. 
  • Municipal or local government experience. (planner) 
  • Experience working in a City Manager's Office. (CMO internship) 


Find the full job posting and apply online here.