Description
The
Economic Development Manager serves as a primary business development officer responsible for executing the City’s business retention program, cultivating new investment opportunities, and managing the business development and prospect pipeline.
This position requires strong personal initiative, external relationship building, disciplined pipeline management, and consistent follow-through. The Manager is expected to proactively engage existing businesses, identify needs and challenges, cultivate prospective investment opportunities, and maintain accurate project and performance data within CRM and project management systems.
The Manager operates with independence in executing assigned responsibilities within established departmental strategy, priorities, workflows, and decision authority. This is an externally focused, performance-driven role requiring accountability for activity, follow-through, and measurable outcomes. This position reports to the Assistant Director of Economic Development.
The City of Lynchburg is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and encourages all to apply.
Essential Duties
- Execute the City’s strategic Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) program, with primary responsibility for existing business engagement, actionable intelligence, issue identification, and measurable follow-through.
- Conduct targeted business engagement aligned with established annual visitation goals and departmental priorities, ensuring interactions result in documented follow-through and appropriate coordination.
- Serve as a primary day-to-day point of contact for existing businesses, identifying business needs and challenges and coordinating appropriate resources and responses.
- Identify and cultivate new investment prospects aligned with established priority industry sectors and support the advancement of recruitment projects under the direction of departmental leadership.
- Manage and maintain the qualified business development and prospect pipeline within CRM and project management systems, including activity, project status, next steps, and outcomes.
- Prepare prospect materials and data responses, coordinate site tours, and monitor commercial property inventory and proactively market strategic sites.
- Support incentive compliance and grant tracking with accuracy and timeliness.
- Track business development activity and deliver monthly performance metrics and quarterly KPI reports aligned with departmental goals.
- Other duties as required.
Additional Duties And Responsibilities May Include The Following
- Other duties to provide direct or indirect service to businesses and citizens may be assigned.
- When unusual situations occur and/or the City Manager declares a State of Emergency, all City employees may be required to accept special assignments and perform as needed to ensure appropriate service delivery.
Candidate Profile
The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate
- High initiative without constant direction.
- Ability to work independently within established priorities and decision authority.
- Professional maturity in cross-functional and external-facing environments.
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities.
- Confidence in external relationship management.
- Sound judgment regarding when to act, coordinate, or escalate.
- Strong ownership of commitments and follow-through.
- Accountability for measurable activity and outcomes.
Minimum Education And Experience Required
QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Minimum Qualifications
- 3–5+ years of experience in economic development or a complementary field such as business development, sales, commercial real estate, workforce development, government relations, account management, or other externally facing roles involving relationship management and representation of organizational interests.
- Demonstrated ability to independently initiate and execute assigned work, manage multiple priorities, and deliver measurable outcomes.
- Experience working directly with businesses, clients, community partners, or other stakeholders in a relationship-driven environment.
- Experience with CRM, project management, or comparable systems used to manage pipelines, track activity and project status, and ensure follow-through.
- Strong written, verbal, organizational, and analytical skills.
Operating Environment & Expectations
Work is performed within the City’s established operational framework, including defined workflows, reporting structures, and decision authority. This role requires consistent use of CRM systems, adherence to project management processes, and alignment with departmental communication and coordination standards.
Additional Requirements
- Possession of a valid driver's license issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia and an acceptable driving record according to City criteria.
- Must successfully complete IS100 and IS700 National Incident Management (NIMS) training within 90 days of employment.
- May also be required to complete higher levels of NIMS training as determined appropriate for the position.
The City offers an array of benefits combined with direct salary/wages in order to establish a total compensation package that supports the City's goals of attracting, rewarding, and retaining employees who are both representatives of the community and are also able to deliver exceptional services.
- Employees in full-time positions are eligible for the following benefits:
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Retirement through the Virginia Retirement System (VRS); the City’s contribution is based on a rate determined bi-annually by the VRS Board and employees pay 5% of base pay (pre-tax) towards their VRS benefit
- Life insurance at no cost to the employee
- Optional benefits such as 457 deferred compensation, Roth IRA, flexible spending accounts, etc.
- Eligibility for parental leave and tuition assistance
- Paid Time Off
- Employees in hourly and part-time positions may be eligible for benefits depending on the position
Employees of the City of Lynchburg may also be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program for federal student loans
Additional information about City benefits can be found on our website and in the Employment Policies & Procedures
01
DMV Release Notice: This position requires a valid driver's license and acceptable driving history. I hereby certify that I have read the DMV Record Release Notice, and give the City permission to obtain my driving record.
- Yes
- No
- I do not currently possess a Virginia Driver's License
02
Please provide your driver's license number so that your driving record can be obtained.
03
(Current Out-of-State applicants and applicants who have had an Out-of-State Drivers License at any time in the last 3 years): I agree to provide, WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF MY APPLICATION, a copy of my driving record from that state where I am currently licensed or have been licensed within the past 3 years. I will contact Human Resources within 2 weeks if I am unable to obtain my out of state driving record in that time. I understand that my application may not be considered for this position until I submit my out of state driving record. You can email this information to human.resources@lynchburgva.gov, or fax to 434-845-4304 or mail this information to Human Resources, 900 Church Street, Lynchburg VA 24504. Include the name of the position for which you are applying. If you have a driving record less than 30 days old you can upload as an attachment to your application.
- Agree to provide record within 2 weeks of application date
- Do not agree (I understand I will no longer be considered for this position if I disagree.)
- Not applicable (I have not had an Out-of-State Driver's License during the past 3 years.
- Required Question
