Senior Project Officer

Overview

Responsibilities

• Develops, pilots, and scales initiatives and programs that strengthen the state’s innovation ecosystem and increase competitiveness in focus industries; these efforts may include: contributing to the development of sector and issue-focused strategies and programs, identifying and engaging key companies and broader stakeholders, conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses, defining program implementation plans, impact metrics, budgets, etc.
• Develops industry expertise for EDA through project-based research and analysis; these efforts may include: tracking industry trends at the state, regional, and national level, identifying which key industry issues state government could help to resolve, providing industry and policy updates to internal government stakeholders
• Works with Sector Leads to manage relationships with key industry stakeholders and acts as an industry-development advocate; these efforts may include representing the Authority at industry events, conducting company reseach, and acting as a company liason within EDA

• Helps mentor new Project Officers within the OET
• Demonstrates a leadership and ownership mindset within the OET alongside Sector Leads and other Project Officers, including suggesting new ideas for how to improve the division
• Supports the development and achievement of OET department goals; reviews and evaluates own performance against key metrics
• Helps to institutionalize best practices; defines and implements needed systems and policies
• Supports on other OET strategic initiatives as necessary
• Performs duties to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism
• Promotes teamwork and communication to encourage an interactive, cooperative, collaborative, and customer- focused work environment among division, EDA staff, and external customers
• Performs other duties and special projects, as assigned.

• Demonstrated proficiency in creative and analytical problem solving, including structuring issues, framing solutions, and executing complex analyses with limited errors and oversight
• Strong ability to synthesize findings and propose actionable solutions
• Strong written (presentation, memos, and emails) and oral presentation skills
• Ability to work on small project teams tackling complex and challenging work
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing; proficient in grammar, spelling and editing; and foster communications with business professionals and EDA staff

• Ability to engage credibly and thoughtfully in conversations with industry and government leaders
• Comfortable engaging in the technical detail of an industry and related supply chain development
• Knowledge and understanding of economic development, sector development approaches, innovation-focused development, and public policy and governance
• Ability to quickly master an understanding of EDA’s exisiting programs and services

• Demonstrated ability to self-motivate and self-lead own work planning and execution with a strong results orientation
• Ability to prioritize workload, must be highly organized, detail-oriented, handle various tasks simultaneously and work independently within limited time constraints with little supervision
• Exceptional history of strong performance and consistent high-quality delivery on commitments
• Ability to adapt to changes in work environment and manage competing demands

• Ability to build strong relationships and contacts within the industry
• Track record of consistently meeting private sector customer service-level expectations
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality and deal effectively and diplomatically with business professionals and EDA staff

• History of sound decision making and ability to understand implications of decisions
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills, including ability to influence and engage team leaders and peers
• Demonstrates respectful behavior and promotes teamwork and communication to encourage an interactive, cooperative, collaborative and customer focused work environment among division, EDA staff and external customers. 
• Strong ethical orientation, including exercising sound financial stewardship
• Commitment to and passion for EDA’s mission and inspires a sense of shared purpose
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and the ability to learn new software packages

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in a relevant field such as business, finance, policy, planning, energy, engineering, or environmental studies
• Seven years of industry-facing experience in a government agency or related field (or) three to five years of experience in a fast-paced, project-based professional services environment that emphasizes team work, problem solving, and communication (e.g., management consulting, investment banking, legal field, large-scale project management, etc.)
• Experience in program development, public policy development and basic financial principles

• Minimal
• Ability to work outside normal business hours, as needed

• As necessary to events, meetings, businesses, etc.

• Valid driver’s license

• Must comply with the “New Jersey First Act” which requires employees hired after September 1, 2011 to reside in New Jersey. Non-New Jersey resident employees must relocate to New Jersey within one year of their date of hire and provide proof of residency to Human Resources.
• Must complete an Outside Activity Questionnaire (disclosure of outside office or employment) on an annual basis.
• Foreign degrees/transcripts must be evaluated by a reputable evaluation service at your own expense and must be submitted prior to a start date. If this cannot be provided within 21 days of an offer the offer will be rescinded.