Chief of Staff Innovation & Technology

About the job

Department: Innovation and Technology Department
Salary: $145,541.00 - $209,213.74 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
Position Title: Technology Services Officer
Working Title: Chief of Staff

The Chief of Staff is a senior leadership role that serves as the right hand to the Deputy Director of Innovation and Technology in driving operational alignment, strategic execution, and cross-functional coordination across the department. This role helps translate executive priorities into actionable plans, ensures key initiatives move forward, and provides the structure, communication, and follow-through needed to support department-wide execution.

The Chief of Staff serves as a trusted partner to the Deputy Director and a key connector across Innovation and Technology divisions, City departments, external partners, and vendors. The role provides leadership for special projects, executive communications, budget and procurement coordination, and partnership support, while ensuring the Deputy Director has the information, insight, and operational support needed to make timely decisions.
Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Execution & Operational Alignment
• Partner with the Deputy Director to translate department priorities into actionable plans, timelines, and follow-up.
• Lead coordination of cross-functional initiatives that require input, alignment, or execution across multiple teams.
• Track progress on key priorities, identify risks or barriers, and elevate decision points to the Deputy Director.
• Strengthen operating rhythms, including leadership meetings, executive updates, project reviews, and department communication cadences.
• Lead special projects or priority assignments on behalf of the Deputy Director, ensuring work is well-organized, clearly communicated, and completed on schedule.
• Lead engagement with division-level leaders to support cross-divisional alignment, elevate department-wide issues, and serve as a connection point between senior leaders and the Executive Leadership Team.
• Ensure follow-through on decisions made by the Deputy Director and Executive Leadership Team by tracking commitments, owners, timelines, and outcomes.

• Budget, Procurement & Resource Management
• Support leadership oversight of the Innovation and Technology budget portfolio by coordinating budget updates, tracking key issues, and preparing materials for decision-making.
• Coordinate with finance, procurement, and division leaders to support budget planning, forecasting, expenditure tracking, and resource discussions.
• Provide leadership and coordination for procurement-related activities, including contract tracking, renewal planning, vendor follow-up, and procurement status reporting.
• Identify budget or procurement risks, process gaps, delays, or decision points that require leadership attention.
• Help ensure purchasing, contracts, and vendor activity are aligned with department priorities, timelines, and City requirements.

• Executive Communication & Briefing Support
• Develop executive-level communications, presentations, memos, talking points, and briefing materials for the Deputy Director.
• Synthesize complex information into clear, concise updates, recommendations, and decision points.
• Support department-wide communication efforts, including leadership updates, town halls, employee communications, and executive reporting.
• Ensure communications are aligned with department priorities, leadership direction, and the Deputy Director’s voice.
• Prepare the Deputy Director for key meetings, presentations, partner discussions, and strategic conversations.
• Coordinate responses to urgent, sensitive, or high-priority matters on behalf of the Deputy Director, ensuring timely follow-up and alignment with City protocols.

• External Partnerships & Strategic Engagement
• Support the Deputy Director’s external partnership efforts with civic, academic, nonprofit, technology, and private-sector partners.
• Coordinate partner meetings, agendas, briefing materials, follow-ups, and next steps.
• Help identify opportunities to connect partner capabilities with department priorities, innovation initiatives, pilot opportunities, and community-facing programs.
• Track partnership commitments, timelines, and outcomes to ensure follow-through and visibility.
• Support planning and coordination for external convenings, site visits, panels, and strategic engagement opportunities.
• Help prepare materials for elected officials, executive leadership, community stakeholders, and external partners as needed.

• Process Improvement & Team Coordination
• Identify opportunities to improve internal processes, meeting rhythms, documentation, and information-sharing practices.
• Support change management efforts by helping teams understand new processes, expectations, timelines, and decision points.
• Coordinate across teams to clarify ownership, reduce duplication, and improve follow-through.
• Build strong working relationships across Innovation and Technology, City departments, vendors, and external partners.
• Help foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, responsiveness, and service-oriented leadership.
• Coordinate with City Manager’s Office, Budget, HR, Finance, Procurement, Communications, and other central functions to advance department priorities.

Qualifications & Skills

• Minimum Qualifications
• High School Graduate or Equivalent and eleven (11) years of related work experience
• OR
• 2 Year College Degree and nine (9) years of related work experience
• OR
• Bachelor's Level Degree and seven (7) year of related work experience
• OR
• Master's Level Degree and five (5) years of related work experience
• or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience that provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the essential job duties.

• Preferred Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, Communications, Information Technology, Finance, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in strategic operations, project leadership, executive support, budget coordination, procurement, communications, or organizational execution.
• Experience leading cross-functional work in a complex organization.
• Strong executive presence, judgment, discretion, and ability to work with senior leaders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare polished executive-level materials.
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations, action plans, and decision points.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders.
• Experience supporting budget, procurement, vendor, or resource planning processes.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships, drive follow-through, and move work forward through influence.

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 Careers@ci.charlotte.nc.us .

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.