COLORADO SMART CITIES ALLIANCE [Organization Description]

The Colorado Smart Cities Alliance [The Alliance], launched in March 2017, is an early stage startup not-for-profit organization. As a growing multi-jurisdictional collaboration of public, private, research, non-profit and academic sector leaders, we are committed to accelerating the adoption of smart city technologies and policies to enhance the quality of life and improve economic opportunity for Colorado’s citizens and businesses. The Alliance accomplishes this goal in the following-ways: 

  • Reimagining the Public-Private Partnership: Enabling a living laboratory of collaborative design, development, and testing of technologies aimed squarely at providing tangible solutions to the biggest challenges facing our shared community
  • Hosting quarterly “Civic Labs” events around the state to identify and share challenges, expertise and solutions and provide deep-dive explorations into common challenges or problems.
  • Creating and maintaining an annually updated shared repository of intelligence, white papers and best practices for Smart City exploration and implementation.
  • Developing a vibrant ecosystem of resources, networks of solution providers and events, as well as a corresponding marketplace to facilitate public-private partnerships.

More information at www.coloradosmart.city

THE POSITION

The Colorado Smart Cities Alliance aims to attract a top-talent, dynamic Executive Director who will:

  • Work with the Executive Board to set the strategic direction, governance structure and operating plan for The Alliance and its members.
  • Expand The Alliance membership to ensure a robust pipeline and regular cadence of viable technology and project pilots across the State.
  • Build a sustainable revenue base for The Alliance by way of soliciting member commitments, diversified funding streams and new business models.
  • Coordinate across The Alliance members to ensure effective and timely deployment, monitoring and evaluation of cutting-edge smart city projects. 
  • Work with The Alliance members to convert insights from successful demonstrations into scalable statewide solutions.
  • Promote the insights and lessons learned from The Alliance at the state and national levels to inform a smart city policy framework and agenda(s).
  • Grow and evolve The Alliance in line with rapidly evolving industry, economic and statewide trends with an eye toward replicating the model in other regions.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Report to and collaborate with the Executive Board to shape the organization’s one and five-year vision, strategy and operating plan.
  • Provide overall leadership of The Alliance, collaborating with the Executive Board in setting clear strategies and targets for the organization and ensuring proper and timely execution. 
  • Serve as the Chief Development Officer for The Alliance; cultivate funding relationships and establish diversified funding streams to ensure a sustainable revenue base.
  • Effectively and efficiently manage day-to-day operations of the Alliance. Inspire a culture that promotes professionalism and integrity. Ensure clarity of objectives for performance measurement, team development and succession planning.
  • Lead the development and implementation of the educational and policy-making activities of The Alliance statewide. This includes establishing and maintaining effective partnerships with other organizations and individuals whose interests are aligned with The Alliance’s long-term success.
  • Nurture strategic relationships with public, private and academic sector entities to ensure the continued growth of Alliance membership and the successful delivery of Alliance outcomes.
  • Establish and maintain strong working relationships with the Executive Board, keeping the Board well-informed of The Alliance’s performance and events affecting the organization.
  • Serve as the chief spokesperson for The Alliance and for Colorado’s smart city initiatives to help grow the organization’s brand and impact both statewide and nationally.
  • Stay abreast of industry, technology, economic and statewide trends and adapt The Alliance mission, strategy, scope and structure accordingly.  

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

The Alliance seeks a well-rounded Leader with proven strategic-planning skills and broad management competencies. The candidate must be a well-seasoned manager, ideally with experience engaging large organizations and smaller, more entrepreneurial businesses, public sector leaders, as well as non-profits. Our candidate will be an outwardly focused executive individual who also has a background of successful day-to-day operation of a commercial business, government agency, trade association or non-profit. S/he will have the personal confidence and experience to work effectively with an array of corporate, government, non-profit, and other entities.

The successful candidate will be a high-impact, inspirational leader with a personal passion for the Alliance mission and for developing the team around him/her. The successful candidate must develop credibility with the Executive Board by providing overall leadership and effective strategy execution resulting in the continued growth and scale of The Alliance.

A successful candidate should possess the following qualifications and experience:

  • 3+ years of executive leadership experience and serving in a lead fundraising role, ideally for a not for profit organization or an organization bridging public and private stakeholders.
  • A track record of success in managing and growing a commercial, association, government entity or non-profit to a significant scale. 
  • A broad understanding of technology and policy as they relate to urban challenges. A track record of success in some aspect of smart city practices is important.
  • A strategic, creative and big picture thinker; experienced in setting a clear vision and a strategic plan for an organization, thinking commercially and driving an organization to execute successfully and within realistic budgets. Candidate should be experienced in developing and executing strategic alliances.
  • Experience in leading an organization from being a smaller entity to a more mature, well-established organization responsive to changing mission requirements.
  • Excellent team leadership experience having managed diverse commercial, technical or politically oriented teams.
  • Experience communicating and promoting an entity’s unique and compelling value proposition to members, partners, investors, elected officials, donors, and other influencers.
  • Referenced experience working well with an Executive Board, members, investors, or other stakeholders and benefactors.
  • Highly effective hiring manager, having recruited and retained people of the highest quality.
  • Desired: Deep understanding of Colorado state/local challenges and priorities, accompanied by a broad network of strategic relationships in the state.
  • Located in or ability to relocate to the Metro Denver-area.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

  • Passion for building smart, clean, equitable and resilient cities across the state of CO to improve the quality of life for all residents.
  • Spirit of innovation and experimentation; ability to flex as needed in a highly dynamic industry.
  • Skilled in building influential relationships with internal and external audiences and aligning diverse stakeholders toward a common goal.
  • Acts with a sense of urgency; brings a high level of energy, dedication, and an unrelenting drive to accomplish objectives.
  • Excellent communicator, both written and verbal.
  • Inspiring presence, leads by example. Decisive, but able to gain consensus when appropriate.
  • Mature executive and personal contributor attracting those to team with similar attributes.
  • Inspires a progressive employee and stakeholder-centric culture.
  • A good coach and listener.
  • Solid leadership presence. High powered in style, yet collaborative and diplomatic.
  • Creative, intelligent and thoughtful in approach; intuitive with a history of good judgment.
  • Highest ethical standards, with ability to push back and be aggressive in order to operate at senior level and influence all functions as well as the BOD.

EDUCATION

  • An undergraduate degree, or equivalent years of of experience, is required; a graduate degree (MBA, JD, or other relevant degree) is desirable.

COMPENSATION

  • Package and benefits are competitive and based on experience and other factors.

Salary Range:

  • $90,000 – $120,000 base salary plus additional incentives for reaching negotiated fundraising goals – based on experience and other factors.

How to Apply:

  • Please send a cover letter and resume/CV, combined into one PDF document, to jake@coloradosmart.city