Community Liaison

Work for Indiana

Begin a fulfilling career with the State of Indiana by joining one of the largest employers in the state, offering a range of opportunities across 60+ agencies. At the state, you'll find competitive compensation, a robust benefits package and a commitment to work-life balance. Most importantly, you'll have the chance to make a real and measurable impact on the lives of Hoosiers across Indiana.

OCRA works with local, state and national partners to provide resources and technical assistance to aid communities in shaping and achieving their vision for community and economic development.

The CL serves the state of Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) and the Lt Governor as the front door to state government for local leadership. They represent the interests of Indiana, the Lt Governor, and OCRA. The CL serves as a two-way conduit of knowledge and expertise seeking to understand the needs and priorities of the communities they serve and offers technical assistance, convenes partners, and presents resources in the form of both programmatic and financial offerings from OCRA, state, federal, and other partners.

The CL provides excellent customer service and responsive communication to local and regional level contacts of all disciplines. They are well versed in the technical requirements of all programs and financial solutions.

The salary for this position traditionally starts at $53,222.00 but may be commensurate with education or work experience.

• Serve as front door to state government by growing and maintaining working relationships with local and regional leaders including, but not limited to elected officials, local economic development officials (LEDOs), chambers of commerce, community foundations, Main Street organizations, regional planning organizations, professional consultants, other state and federal agencies, and the general public regarding agency activities and services
• Achieve all in person meeting metrics as set by the agency within designated region
• Enter community interactions weekly through electronic portal to track the number of in person meetings, phone calls and emails with key customers
• Provide and present a regional summary to central office staff
• Participate in all OCRA Staff meetings, internal and external trainings, workshops, and agency sponsored events
• Maintain a working knowledge of all OCRA programs
• Provide technical assistance to communities in the engagement of agency programs
• Foster a culture of innovation, committed to meeting current and emerging customer needs.
• Effectively and proactively communicate with design professionals, builders and developers, attorneys and local community officials and staff on the status of major projects and initiatives.
• Respond to all inquiries relating to specific projects and/or requests for other (programmatic) information.
• Evaluate issues regarding municipal public works and make recommendations to assist communities in achieving their goals and priorities
• Seek, document, highlight, and disseminate community economic development best practices.
• Provide neutral facilitation services for fact-finding, asset mapping, and problem solving for communities and appropriate organizations.
• Identify, link, and convene local and regional groups with common missions and interests to move their communities forward.
• Utilize internal and external resources, technology and continuous improvement techniques to report metrics, improve process, create more capacity and deliver greater value
• Review project development plans (preliminary engineering reports, comprehensive plans, feasibility studies, etc.) for compliance with technical requirements, regulations and standards.
• Discuss proposed project details with diverse community stakeholders to evaluate program eligibility and competitiveness ahead of application submission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Successful candidates will have a demonstrated combination of education and experience that provides the knowledge, skills, and ability needed to perform the…