Senior Advisor To The Mayor

City of Cleveland; Ohio; On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

City of Cleveland invites applications for Senior Advisor to the Mayor. This role supports the Mayor and executive leadership in advancing strategic priorities and improving City government effectiveness, reporting to the Chief of Staff.

The Senior Advisor leads cross-department initiatives, designs operating procedures, and fosters accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement across city operations.

Qualifications

• Relevant professional experience in government, organizational management, project management, operations, or a related field.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience working with executive leadership.
• Experience in local government or other large, complex organizations.

Responsibilities

• Manage implementation of high-priority strategic operational initiatives identified by the Mayor and executive leadership to improve operational effectiveness across City departments.
• Develop standardized operating procedures, business process documentation, and governance frameworks.
• Promote adoption of operational excellence tools and methodologies across City government.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Facilitate executive working groups and cross-functional teams.
• Build collaborative relationships across departments to achieve shared organizational goals.
• Represent the Mayor and the City at external meetings, events, and other engagements as appropriate.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to support the Mayor’s priorities and advance strategic initiatives.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Project management

Change management

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Political acumen

Problem solving

Executive liaison

Job description

Senior Advisor to the Mayor

The Senior Advisor to the Mayor supports the Mayor and executive leadership in advancing strategic priorities and strengthening the effectiveness of City government. Reporting to the Chief of Staff, this position leads high-priority initiatives that require enterprise-wide coordination, improves organizational systems and processes, and helps translate executive priorities into effective implementation and measurable results.

The Senior Advisor works across departments to lead high-priority operational initiatives identified by the Mayor and executive leadership. The position helps departments work together, address challenges, improve how work gets done, and ensure important initiatives move forward. The role focuses on citywide priorities and cross-department work rather than managing the day-to-day operations of individual departments.

The ideal candidate is an experienced strategist, project manager, and change leader with a passion for improving public sector performance.

This position will report directly to the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Mayor.

Essential Responsibilities

• Manage implementation of high-priority strategic operational initiatives identified by the Mayor and executive leadership to improve operational effectiveness across City departments.


• Develop standardized operating procedures, business process documentation, and governance frameworks.


• Promote adoption of operational excellence tools and methodologies across City government.


• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.


• Facilitate executive working groups and cross-functional teams.


• Build collaborative relationships across departments to achieve shared organizational goals.


• Represent the Mayor and the City at external meetings, events, and other engagements as appropriate.


• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to support the Mayor’s priorities and advance strategic initiatives.

• Relevant professional experience in government, organizational management, project management, operations, or a related field.


• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.


• Experience working with executive leadership.


• Experience in local government or other large, complex organizations.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.


• Experience leading complex organizational change initiatives.


• Strong project and program management capabilities.


• Knowledge of process improvement methodologies


• Excellent facilitation and stakeholder management skills.


• Strong analytical and data interpretation abilities.


• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.


• Ability to translate executive priorities into actionable implementation plans.


• Sound judgment, diplomacy, and political acumen.

The City's guiding principles are as follows: Placing Clevelanders at the Center, Empowering Employees to Do Purposeful Work, Defining Clear and Pragmatic Objectives, Leading with Trust and Transparency, Striving for Equity in All We Do, and Embracing Change. All City employees are responsible for embracing and carrying out these principles in all that they do.