Special Projects Manager - City Manager's Office

City of Aurora; United States; On-site; USD 122,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive total compensation

General Employees Retirement Plan

On-site fitness center

Educational programs to assist career

Job summary

The City of Aurora is seeking a Special Projects Manager who will oversee designated projects with significant city and community impact. You will plan, administer, and complete assigned projects across departments, coordinating with stakeholders to ensure timely delivery.

Reporting to the City Manager’s Office, the role requires a bachelor's degree, at least 7 years in project management, and strong analytical and leadership skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science or related field.
• 7 years progressively responsible experience in project management.
• Colorado Driver's License with a good driving record.
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Ability to lead cross‑functional teams and drive process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Perform a wide range of duties to assist executive management in managing and coordinating city initiatives, policies, and projects.
• Lead special projects including identifying, verifying, analyzing, and implementing process improvements to reduce complexity.
• Support projects and strategic planning from inception to delivery, across departments.
• Establish short, mid, and long-range financial plans and project budgets; manage budgets.

Skills

Project management

Analytical skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree (Business Admin / Public Admin / Political Science)

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office (Project, Visio, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)

Job description

Job Location

15151 E Alameda Pkwy Aurora, Colorado 80012-1555 City of Aurora, Colorado

It is an exciting time to work for the City of Aurora, we're growing and looking for dedicated and collaborative individuals to join our team of talented and valued employees.

Excellent organizations have a set of principles, or core values, that are used to implement their mission and vision. Those values represent the touchstone for the organization, guiding the decisions of the individuals and the organization. At the City of Aurora, we demonstrate our excellence by modeling the CORE 4 Values of: Integrity, Respect, Professionalism, and Customer Service, and we welcome all who share these values to apply.

Why Work for Aurora?

• Make a difference in the lives of real people every day
• Diverse community
• Competitive total compensation package
• Well‑Funded
• General Employees Retirement Plan
• Light rail station minutes away
• On‑site fitness center and overall employee well‑being programs
• Internal educational programs to assist with career advancement
• Access to innovation workspaces

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Salary commensurate with experience. The hiring range for this position is $121,500 - $151,875/annually. The deadline to submit applications is November 2, 2026. Please note, The City of Aurora will conduct ongoing screenings of applications on a first come, first‑serve basis; as soon as we determine to have a qualified pool of applicants, this position may close quickly and without notice.

• Perform a wide range of duties to assist executive management in managing and coordinating city initiatives, policies, and projects.
• Lead special projects which may include identifying, verifying, analyzing, and implementing process improvement opportunities to eliminate unnecessary complexity.
• Support projects and strategic planning from inception to delivery, working cross‑departmentally providing technical and analytical support.
• Establishes and guides short, mid, and long‑range financial plans and strategies including preparation and effective management of project budgets.
• Partner with executive management to identify strategic opportunities and translate them into actionable project plans.
• Conduct research, data analysis, and feasibility assessments to support project decisions.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to align on objectives, deliverables, and timelines.
• Participates in the city’s development and strategic planning initiatives.
• Serve as a catalyst for a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
• Identify market trends, emerging technology, and process variations as part of establishing continuous improvement in collaboration with departments.
• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

OVERVIEW OF POSITION / DEPARTMENT

Reporting to the City Manager’s Office, the Special Projects Manager will oversee designated projects and initiatives having significant city and community impact. The position will be responsible for planning, administering and completing assigned projects, which may cross several functional areas and departments. Assignments may vary in length and complexity but are generally not permanent. This role will not supervise staff but will delegate to, and collaborate with, individuals supporting a project.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & WORKING CONDITIONS

An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience that demonstrates required knowledge, skills, and abilities may be considered.

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Political Science or directly related field
• Experience: 7 years progressively responsible experience in project management
• Licenses and Certifications: Colorado Driver's License with a good driving record.
• Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree in public administration, political science, business administration or related field preferred Professional experience in local government, public administration, urban planning, or within a preferred public sector environment
• Knowledge: Understanding of public sector budgeting, financial management, regulatory requirements, and strategic planning principles including capital plans and operational plans. Applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations affecting the work of the municipal government
• Abilities: Ability to set‑up, facilitate and lead service improvement sessions with a range of business stakeholders Strong interpersonal skills for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with employees, department leadership, elected officials, other governmental agencies, and the public Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office, including Project, Visio, Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint Leads teams with empathy, ensuring a positive, inclusive, and collaborative work environment Ability to design and implement framework of continuous improvement Identifies and facilities team‑based solutions Communicate effectively both orally and in writing including synthesizing complex information into useful format for decision‑makers and tailoring messages to various audiences. Gather, correlate and analyze facts and devise solutions to administrative and technical problems Ability to work various shifts, nights, holidays, and weekends Adapts quickly to a changing environment, demands, business needs, and shifting priorities High level of integrity and ability to handle sensitive and confidential information
• Skills: Strong analytical, project and people management skills, including a thorough understanding of the City of Aurora policies, procedures, and processes to interpret business needs and translate them into operational requirements. Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to interact professionally with a diverse group of Consultants, Executives, City leaders, Directors, Managers, staff, and subject matter experts. Strong emotional intelligence and active listening skills with proven ability to collaborate in cross‑functional teams.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Essential Personnel: When a local announcement of emergency or disaster is declared by the city, all City of Aurora employees may be required to work as essential personnel.

Physical Demands: Sedentary physical work requiring ability to lift a maximum of 10 pounds. Occasional walking and standing. Vision to read and interpret reports and other written documents. Speech communication and hearing to maintain communication with employees and citizens.

Work Environment: Works primarily in a clean, comfortable environment. Equipment Used: This position may require the incumbent to use personal equipment (e.g. vehicle, cell phone, tools, etc.) in the course of their employment.

The city of Aurora will implement furlough days (unpaid days off) for most employees in 2026. The scheduled furlough dates are January 16, April 10, July 2, and December 24.

For Veterans preference: Please show all of your employment history, including military service and related documentation (DD214) on the application.

The City of Aurora is an equal opportunity employer.

We are required by state and federal agencies to keep certain statistical records on applicants. It will not be used in any way to discriminate against you because of your sex, race, age, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, disability or military status, gender identity, unless related to a bona fide occupational qualification as defined by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunity Commission.

Despite the changes in Colorado law, the City of Aurora maintains a drug‑free workplace. A positive test of marijuana is grounds for disqualification and ineligibility for employment with the city for one year or termination once hired.

Drug Testing, Thorough Criminal Background Check, and Employment References: As a condition of employment, all applicants selected for employment with the City of Aurora must undergo a thorough criminal background check. Applicants selected for safety‑sensitive positions are required to complete and pass a drug screening as a condition of employment. Safety sensitive positions include Civil Service positions within Police and Fire Departments and positions where their job responsibilities have direct and substantial responsibility that would impact the health and safety of others. Employment references will be conducted on finalists for City of Aurora vacancies.

Excellent organizations have a set of principles, or core values, that are used to implement their mission and vision. Those values represent the touchstone for the organization, guiding the decisions of the individuals and the organization. At the City of Aurora, we demonstrate our excellence by modeling the CORE 4 Values of: Integrity Respect Professionalism Customer Service And we welcome all who share these values to apply.

Why Work for Aurora?

• Rewarding public sector work impacting a large and diverse community
• Growing city and employee population
• Competitive total compensation package
• Rich benefits package with low employee costs
• Generous paid leave program
• 100% funded Employee and Family Care Leave Program
• Retirement pension plan and 457b plans available
• Subsidized recreation center pass, on‑site fitness centers and wellness programs
• Continued education and career advancement opportunities

Learn more about city of Aurora benefits.

Notice Regarding Automated Processing and Fraud Prevention

As part of our recruiting and application security processes, we may use automated tools and technologies to help detect fraudulent activity, protect applicant accounts, and support the administration of employment applications. These tools may collect and process information associated with your application activity, including:

• Number of job requisitions applied to
• External application session duration
• Geolocation country code
• IP address
• Device/browser fingerprinting information (including JA4 fingerprint data)

This information may be used by Workday’s Fraudulent Job Application Prevention capabilities to generate an application risk or fraud assessment score. These tools are designed to support application security, fraud prevention, and recruiting operations and may be considered during the processing or review of applications. Meaningful human review remains part of our hiring and recruiting process.

For additional information regarding our processing of applicant information, please review our Privacy Notice or contact [e-mail].

Leaving blanks or omitting previous employment may result in your disqualification from employment.

City policy requires that selected candidates provide documentation in the form of official transcripts of the highest level of education attained by the candidate that is listed on their application materials.

Applicants who hold a Commercial Driver’s License will also be required to undergo alcohol testing using an Evidential Breath Testing Device.

The city of Aurora uses E‑Verify to determine if employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.

Know your rights! The city of Aurora is an equal opportunity employer.

No applicant for employment or employee shall be discriminated against because of age, race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, disability or military status.

The city shall develop and maintain a plan for diversity. Through its staff, the city shall periodically analyze its employment related practices and its plan for diversity to ensure compliance with this policy.

If you need assistance or reasonable accommodation for completing this application, please feel free to contact our office at: 303.739.7225 or visit us at 15151 E. Alameda Pkwy., Suite 3500, Aurora, CO 80012.