Vice President, Regional Partnerships

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR GREATER PHILADELPHIA•Philadelphia, PA

10d•$120,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President of Regional Partnerships is a senior leader responsible for developing and maintaining the civic and operational infrastructure through which the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership pursues its regional economic growth mission. The VP is accountable for the depth and continuity of the Partnership’s relationships with subregional economic and workforce development organizations and civic institutions. To that end, the VP is responsible for the effective functioning of the Partnership’s regional operating infrastructure – the collaborative processes, committees, and communications that drive support for implementation and keep strategic partners informed, aligned, and accountable across jurisdictional lines. This is a field-facing, relationship-intensive role with significant operational responsibility. The VP manages the Partnership’s collaborative pursuit of federal, state, and philanthropic funding; oversees the contracting and granting structures through which regional strategy is implemented in a distributed manner across partner organizations; and communicates the Partnership’s progress and impact to county partners, funders, and civic audiences. The ideal candidate brings established relationships across Greater Philadelphia’s civic and governmental institutions and a track record managing complex multi-partner initiatives that span organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. The Partnership is actively building its leadership team and introducing several new roles following its recent launch. At this time, this position will report to the Executive Director.

Requirements

10-15+ years of relevant experience in public affairs, civic engagement, economic development, or a related field.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field (e.g., Public Affairs, Political Science, Public Policy, Business Administration, Urban Planning, or Communications).
Demonstrated track record building and managing relationships with government officials, civic institutions, community stakeholders, and business leaders across a complex, multi-jurisdictional landscape.
Experience with federal, state, and philanthropic funding ecosystems relevant to economic and workforce development, including coordinating multi-partner funding responses and managing grant processes.
Excellent written and verbal communications skills, including experience developing materials for public and partner audiences and representing complex collaborative work credibly in external settings.
Entrepreneurial mindset with strong creative problem-solving skills and comfort operating and building in a fast-paced, evolving environment
Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and related productivity and collaboration tools, including artificial intelligence tools to support efficiency and productivity

Nice To Haves

Established relationships with Southeastern Pennsylvania civic institutions and intermediaries, such as county economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, workforce boards, community colleges and universities, and industry-specific support organizations.
Knowledge of the Greater Philadelphia region’s civic, political, and economic landscape, including the institutions, networks and dynamics that shape regional economic development.
Experience in economic development, workforce development, or regional planning.
Experience managing contracts, grants, and subawards, including compliance monitoring and implementation oversight.
Experience working in a cross-functional or matrixed organizational environment, coordinating across multiple internal functions to align and sequence parallel workstreams.
Familiarity with one or more of the Partnership’s priority industries (e.g., Biomedical Engineering and Production, Precision Manufacturing, and Enterprise Tech) and the regional economic context in which they operate.

Responsibilities

Maintain the Partnership’s working relationships with subregional economic and workforce development organizations and civic institutions that allow the Partnership to coordinate and act across jurisdictional boundaries.
Develop and maintain the formal infrastructure that holds the coalition of economic and workforce development leaders that helped launch the Partnership together, including operating agreements and collaborative structures with clear roles and durable institutional commitments.
Sustain a consistent and visible presence across the five-county region, representing the Partnership at civic, government, and community events in ways that reinforce its commitment to each county and its stakeholders.
Communicate the Partnership’s progress and impact to county partners, funders, and civic audiences, developing materials that tell a consistent story about the Partnership and support shared visibility around milestones and announcements.
Facilitate and/or staff Partnership committees and working groups to advance shared regional growth priorities, including identifying and convening participants, preparing materials, driving productive discussions, and ensuring follow-through on commitments between meetings.
Manage the information flows that keep the Partnership's county and civic partners informed, aligned, and accountable, including committee communications, progress updates, and coordination across the regional network.
Support the Executive Director and partners with briefing materials and talking points for public engagements as needed.
Identify an active pipeline of emerging federal, state, and philanthropic funding opportunities aligned with the Partnership’s agenda, and proactively brief internal leadership and county partners on implications and response options.
Lead the Partnership’s regional “resource collaborative" for coordinated pursuit of funding opportunities aligned with the Partnership’s priorities by organizing multi-partner responses, including navigating lead applicant identification, aligning on content and funding distributions, and managing grant writing and submission from inception through award.
Oversee the contracting, subaward, and regranting structures through which the Partnership’s regional strategy is implemented by partner organizations, establishing clear scopes and deliverables, monitoring performance, ensuring compliance with funder requirements, and maintaining financial reporting and accountability across the distributed network of implementing organizations.
Maintain a regular cadence with the Executive Director and other Vice Presidents to inform and align organizational planning and activities.
Coordinate with business development, sector strategy, and research leads to align funding opportunities, partner engagement, and convenings with the Partnership’s industry priorities and sector activation efforts.
Work with marketing staff and consultants to ensure consistency across partner-facing materials, internal and external communications, and regional narrative.
Surface county, civic, and funder intelligence to relevant internal functions, so that on-the-ground political and relationship realities inform how the Partnership plans and acts.