Director of Statewide Economic and Community Engagement (Bus Partnerships Leader)

Department

VP UNIVERSITY RELATIONS OFFICE (UA-VPUR-IUBLA)

Job Summary

The Director of Statewide Economic and Community Engagement is responsible for advancing Indiana University's economic engagement mission across IU's regional campuses, IU Indianapolis, and IU Bloomington. Reporting to the Vice President for Government and Community Relations, this role works closely with campus leaders, state and local government officials, economic development organizations, industry partners, foundations, and community stakeholders to develop and execute strategies that support regional economic growth and align with the goals of the IU 2030 strategic plan.

Department Specific Responsibilities

• Serves as a key connector between IU campuses and external partners, helping to identify, pursue, and cultivate partnerships and alliances across the private, public, philanthropic, and not-for-profit sectors.
• Provides primary oversight for IU's work related to the Lilly Endowment Inc. College and Community Collaboration grant, including coordination, implementation, reporting, stakeholder engagement, and alignment with broader university and community development priorities.
• Provides leadership, direction, and accountability for projects and initiatives related to regional economic engagement, community development, grant strategy, and statewide impact.
• Supervises 2 full-time staff members.

General Responsibilities

• Leads and oversees complex business partnerships across multiple teams or functional areas, ensuring services and outcomes align with institutional priorities, operational needs, and compliance requirements.
• Proactively identifies operational risks, partnership gaps, and process inefficiencies across work groups; lead root-cause analysis and implement solutions that improve service delivery and operational effectiveness.
• Serves as a key liaison between internal stakeholders and external partners, facilitating collaboration, managing expectations, and resolving complex operational issues that span multiple units or disciplines.
• Adapts departmental plans, priorities, and resource allocations to address evolving operational demands, institutional initiatives, and capacity constraints.
• Makes budgetary recommendations/proposals based on resource needs and ensures cost containment.
• Researches and stays up-to-date on new industry best practice standards, initiatives, potential funding sources, and partnership options; responsible for the implementation of new protocols/procedures to address business needs.
• Provides people leadership across multiple work groups, including hiring, performance management, coaching, and corrective action, while supporting employee engagement, development, and retention.
• Prepares management reports and summaries for senior administration, executive, steering and advisory committees; act as advisor to executive committees; serves on various university committees, communities of practice, and task forces related to institutional advancement initiatives and partnerships.

Qualifications

Combinations of related education and experience may be considered. Education beyond the minimum required may be substituted for work experience. Work experience beyond the minimum required may be substituted for education.

EDUCATION

Required

• Bachelor's degree In related field

WORK EXPERIENCE

Required

• 4 years In relationship building, outreach, engagement, public relations, or related field
• 1 year of management experience

Preferred

• 5 years of experience in a related field
• 3 years of management experience

SKILLS

Required

• Proficient communication skills
• Highly thorough and dependable
• Demonstrates time management and priority setting skills
• Ability to represent the company with external constituents
• Ability to build strong customer relationships
• Excellent organizational skills
• Demonstrates a high commitment to quality
• Excellent collaboration and team building skills
• Demonstrates excellent judgment and decision making skills
• Builds and manages effective teams
• Effective conflict management skills

Working Conditions / Demands

This role requires the ability to effectively communicate and to operate a computer and other standard office productivity equipment. The position involves sedentary work as well as periods of time moving around an office environment and the campus. The person in this role must be able to perform the essential functions with or without an accommodation.

Additional Information

In-state travel for regional visits and collaboration, as well as attendance at select conferences, will be required, up to 25%.

Work Location

Bloomington, Indiana

This is an in-person position.

Advertised Salary

$141,780 - $146,033 annually, depending upon qualifications.

Benefits Overview

For full-time staff employees, Indiana University offers a wide array of benefits including:

• Comprehensive medical and dental insurance
• Health savings account with generous IU contributions
• Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts
• Basic group life insurance paid by IU
• Voluntary supplemental life, long-term disability, critical illness, and supplemental accidental death and dismemberment insurance
• Base retirement plan with generous IU contributions, subject to vesting
• Voluntary supplemental retirement plan options
• Tuition subsidy for employees and family members taking IU courses
• 10 paid holidays plus a paid winter break each year
• Generous paid time off plans
• Paid leave for new parents and IU-sponsored volunteer events
• Employee assistance program (EAP)

Learn more about our benefits by reviewing the IU Benefit Programs Brochure.

Job Classification

Career Level: Sr. Operational

FLSA: Exempt

Job Function: Development and Advancement

Job Family: Bus Partner and Corp Relations

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Posting Disclaimer

This posting is scheduled to close at 11:59 pm EST on the advertised Close Date. This posting may be closed at any time at the discretion of the University, but will remain open for a minimum of 5 business days. To guarantee full consideration, please submit your application within 5 business days of the Posted Date.

If you wish to include a cover letter, you may include it with your resume when uploading attachments.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Indiana University is an equal opportunity employer and provider of ADA services and prohibits discrimination in hiring. See Indiana University Notice of Non-Discrimination here which includes contact information.

Campus Safety and Security

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, containing policy statements, crime and fire statistics for all Indiana University campuses, is available online. You may also request a physical copy by emailing IU Public Safety at iups@iu.edu or by visiting IUPD.

Contact Us

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Telephone: 812-856-1234