Business Attraction Program Manager

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills, and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive, and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.   

What We Offer  

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The expected starting pay for this position is $74,276.00 - $95,000.00/year, based on experience and education.  

We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but is not limited to:   

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service   

• 457B Retirement Plan   

• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year   

• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date  

Location   

The City and County of Denver utilizes a hybrid model workplace that balances the responsibilities of public service with the benefits of a flexible work environment. Employees work where needed, at a city site and/or in the community several days a week. In this position you can expect to work on site, three (3) days a week at: Wellington E. Webb Building – 201 W. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80202. This role will require after hours, off-site, and weekend events and functions.  

Please note: Downtown parking expenses are the responsibility of the employee. We offer a flexible spending account option specifically for parking; if you elect this option, you can use pre-tax dollars for parking. We also offer a City-sponsored RTD EcoPass to all City employees– allowing the use of public transportation for free as a City Employee.   

Who We Are 

Denver Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO) serves to support Denver’s businesses, employers, and workforce, creating shared prosperity and sustained economic growth. DEDO has sharpened its focus and enhanced alignment across divisions, ensuring its work is centered on the premise that quality jobs are the most powerful tool to create better outcomes for Denverites. DEDO accomplishes this by making Denver a place that is easy to do business with, fostering job creation, and building an economy that works for everyone. DEDO helps residents gain the skills, training, and credentials needed to secure quality jobs while also supporting, growing, and recruiting local employers. 

DEDO’s work aligns with city priorities including the Vibrant Denver and Family-Friendly initiatives: 

• Growing, strengthening, and supporting Denver’s small businesses 

• Revitalizing and investing in Denver’s downtown economy 

• Ensuring Denver residents have access to high-quality jobs as well as training and development opportunities 

• Making it easier to do business with and in the City and County of Denver 

• Supporting economic growth while implementing anti-displacement strategies 

• Fostering and supporting a dynamic innovation and entrepreneurial sector 

• Recruiting employers from outside markets 

Denver Business Development is focused on growing, strengthening, and supporting Denver’s businesses. This division prioritizes small businesses through 1:1 technical assistance, financing, grants, strategic planning, certification, and connections to additional resources. It also works to attract, retain, and grow businesses in the City and County of Denver. Denver Business Development supports entrepreneurs and startups helping diversify Denver’s economy and build the jobs of the future. It sells Denver on the global stage as a destination for businesses to launch or expand operations, and takes benefit from the city’s highly-educated and talented workforce. The division also serves Denver’s minority and women-owned businesses through small business certification, ensuring opportunity for priority businesses. 

Denver Business Development is hiring for a full-time, unlimited Program Manager to join our Business Attraction Team. This position will perform high-level economic development activities that support the City’s business attraction, expansion, and retention work. This position may require travel up to 10% - 20% of the time.  

The Business Attraction Program Manager reports to the Associate Director for Global Engagement and Business Attraction by supporting and managing domestic and global business attraction efforts, activities, outreach and project coordination. This will include assisting in coordinating the City’s efforts to promote Denver to businesses of different sizes and different industries.  

The Business Attraction team of Denver’s Economic Development and Opportunity (DEDO) includes units focused on domestic business attraction, global engagement, innovation & entrepreneurship, and the Denver Downtown Development Authority. The attraction unit will focus on identifying business prospects, being familiar with citywide assets to promote Denver’s unique attributes, building relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and responding to inquiries in a timely manner with the required follow-up.  

In this role, you will be responsible for supporting business recruitment and retention campaigns, preparing written briefings, drafting speaking remarks for executives and elected officials, in addition to managing robust prospect pipelines, economic business incentive tools and CRM management.     

What You’ll Do 

• Business Recruitment: Conduct research for business prospects. Support preparation of presentation materials. Identify opportunities to lead business recruitment missions or participate in relevant conferences or tradeshow exhibitions. Coordinate logistics for business attraction activities. Actively participate in and respond to any additional downtown Denver economic projects. 

• Identify opportunities, and present value-driven proposals to promote Denver as a destination for business expansion and growth.  

• Guide new and existing businesses through the start-up, scale-up, relocation or expansion process. Provide site selection assistance. 

• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders when responding to RFPs, organizing site visits and when programming speaking engagements for executive leadership team.   

• Maintain a wide and varied network of partners and serve as a liaison with other city departments and agencies to leverage networks and expertise when promoting Denver.   

• Maintain organized records, documents, and project files to ensure accuracy and transparency.  

• Marketing/Communications: Manage Salesforce and ensure frequent entry of relevant data. Draft reports, briefing memos, event flyers, speaking remarks and data points.  

• Work with DEDO’s Mar/Comms team to create social media content and business recruitment campaigns.  

• Maintain updated content on marketing collateral including website information, rankings, and industry overviews.  

• Assist with designing layout and creating content for marketing materials – both printed and electronic versions (including flyers, brochures, invitations, PowerPoint presentations, and website).  

• Establish, enhance, and maintain relationships with local business leaders, commercial brokers, local Chambers, industry associations, business service providers, and Denver International Airport to strengthen understanding of the challenges, opportunities and shared efforts in sustaining our local business environment.  

• Administrative duties including compiling information for monthly reports and tracking monthly prospect information.  

• Regularly attend community events to maintain and strengthen relationships with community partners. This will include after hour events and activities.   

• Conduct market research and analyze data to include in briefing papers, presentations, and for targeting foreign direct investment prospects.  

• Collaborate with other DEDO teams and other city agencies.  

• Respond to and compile information necessary for RFPs.  

• Assist as needed with agency project deadlines and reports with a team-based approach. 

Ideal Candidate Summary  

What You’ll Bring  

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.   

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:   

• Extensive experience with program management working with business growth on a local and international level.   

• A strong collaborative and team-focused mindset, where being adaptable, ease with fast paced and versatile cross-functional mobilization are strong suits.   

• Bilingual skills are strongly desired, as well as cultural competency, and international business and diplomacy decorum.   

• Experience with working at ease with VIP guests, visitors and foreign dignitaries. 

• Well-networked and connected, with a strong familiarity with Denver businesses and the local Denver ecosystem and stakeholders.   

• Professionalism and engagement. Strong desire and preferred experience working with C-suite-level and international businesses. 

Required Minimum Qualifications  

• Education requirement: Bachelor's Degree in Public Administration, Management, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, or a related field. 

• Experience Requirement: Three (3) years of full performance professional level experience developing, implementing, and administering programs. 

• Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education for all classifications. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements. 

• License/Certifications: None 

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume/CV section on the My Experience tab):  

• Resume  

• Cover letter with details about your local and international business relationship experience and your interest in the role.  

Application Deadline  

This position is expected to stay open until Sunday, July 5, 2026. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than July 5th at 11:59 p.m. to ensure consideration.