Why Tumwater?
Tumwater is more than just a city, it’s a vibrant community rooted in history and filled with opportunity. Located at the southern gateway to the Seattle-Tacoma metro area, Tumwater offers the perfect blend of small-town charm and big-picture vision.
Surrounded by the natural beauty of Puget Sound, prairie landscapes, rivers, and evergreen forests, we’re just over an hour from ocean beaches, the Olympic Peninsula, and Mount Rainier. Whether you’re into hiking, kayaking, brewery-hopping, or live music, you’ll find easy access to it all.
Here in Tumwater, we’re building a future that’s highly livable, connected, and inclusive. With safe neighborhoods, excellent schools, and a deep sense of civic pride, it’s not just a great place to live, it’s a great place to grow your career.
The Opportunity:
As our Economic Development Coordinator, you’ll work to foster healthy economic growth and redevelopment in Tumwater. In your work, you will promote our community’s many assets, such as our strong local business community, our established brownfield redevelopment program, our stellar workforce development programs, and a historical legacy and focus on award winning artisan brewing and distilling. With the Assistant City Administrator, you will serve as one half of the City’s Economic Development team, where you will be a local champion for sustainable growth in Tumwater.
- Support the development, implementation, and progress toward the City’s Economic Development goals, objectives, policies, priorities and strategies.
- Support the City’s work on brownfield redevelopment initiatives to stimulate and revitalize the local economy, including those associated with the former Olympia Brewing facility, the former WSDOT Headquarters building, and other sites.
- Collaborate with stakeholders to review and update the City’s economic development plan.
- Liaison with the business community to promote job creation and retention, tax base growth, redevelopment, and other objectives.
- Support Tumwater’s various economic development initiatives, including craft brewing and distilling efforts, brownfield redevelopment, Tumwater Craft, and others.
- Collaborate with other communities and regional partners to foster and promote a desirable business environment.
- Provide research and analysis on business, community, and economic trends to support, develop, and monitor programs and projects that strengthen the City’s economic base.
- Facilitate contracts and activities to meet the City's tourism goals; coordinate business assistance programs; conduct special projects; and prepare and administer federal and state grants relating to economic vitality.
- Serve as a City liaison to the business community by developing and engaging in productive relationships with community organizations and business partners involved in economic development and tourism activities.
- Collaborate with City departments on projects, goals, and other economic development efforts.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills and abilities required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Thorough knowledge of:
- Issues, strategies, and techniques of economic development, specifically related to brownfield redevelopment.
- Federal and State economic development and brownfield programs, including grant funding.
- Principles and practices of economic development, brownfield redevelopment, real estate development, zoning and land use regulation, municipal finance, commercial lending, and contract/agreement development and administration.
Skills in:
- Data analysis and recommendation development for leadership.
- Strong writing, public speaking, and interpersonal communication skills.
- Project management, including project planning and forecasting, task tracking, and budget management.
- Grant writing and administration.
- Consultant selection, contracting, and administration.
Ability to:
- Work effectively as part of a team with other staff, economic development partners, elected officials, consultants, and the private sector.
- Analyze data, plans, proformas, and trends relating to economic development and brownfield redevelopment.
- Prepare written reports and make presentations to a variety of audiences, including city elected and appointed officials, the public, community and business groups, the media, and community partners.
- Handle multiple issues and projects simultaneously.
- Manage sensitive and confidential information while still complying with City policy and public records requirements.
- Market and promote the City based on defined objectives.
- Collect, store and monitor relevant data in compliance with public records retention policies.
- Mediate, balance, and facilitate different points of view to achieve established goals.
- Negotiate and administer contracts and agreements.
- Develop and maintain positive and constructive relationships with co-workers, organizational partners, elected officials, businesses, and others involved in brownfield redevelopment and economic development.
Minimum Qualifications:
The qualifications defined below may have been gained through paid or unpaid activities. Please ensure any relevant experience defined below is outlined in your cover letter, resume, and/or applicant profile.
A combination of skills, abilities, experience, and education may be substituted to demonstrate that you are qualified for this position. We are invested in acquiring the best and most innovative candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one from a less traditional background. Don’t let doubts stop you from applying for this position. If you have transferable experience, please tell us about it or contact us with questions about the required qualifications and how your experience relates to them.
Option 1: Five (5) or more years of experience in brownfield redevelopment, land use, urban, regional, environmental, or natural resource planning, and/or program development.
Option 2: A bachelor’s degree in a closely related field and three (3) or more years of experience in brownfield redevelopment or community and economic development.
All experience must include practical skills in:
- Project Management, including project planning and forecasting, task tracking, and budget management.
- Principles and practices of environmental studies, issues, and operations.
- Decision making in accordance with implementation policies and federal and state statutes.
- Writing business correspondence, drafting documents and reports, and writing concise, and accurate meeting summaries.
- Meeting coordination and facilitation.
Training/Licenses/Certifications: Must possess or have the ability within a reasonable time to obtain a Washington State Driver’s License.
Preferred/Desired Qualifications: Experience in planning, real estate development, business or public administration, or related field.
The City of Tumwater is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.
The City of Tumwater is committed to wellness, safety, the environment and racial equity.
