Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate

Overview

The Office of the Mayor leads the city’s executive function, including enforcement of city ordinances and state laws, supervision and appointment of department and agency leadership, coordination with the City-County Council on financial and budget matters, and setting compensation for city employees.

Role Summary

This role serves residents, neighborhood groups, and local businesses across assigned parts of Marion County. The advocate acts as a community organizer and problem-solver, helping address concerns, improving communication between stakeholders and city government, and ensuring people understand policies, procedures, and ongoing initiatives. The position represents both the Mayor’s Office and neighborhood constituents, and reports to the Director of Community Outreach.

Equal Opportunity

The City of Indianapolis-Marion County is an equal opportunity employer. Hiring decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status. The city emphasizes diversity of perspective and experience among employees and the residents it serves.

Key Duties

• Acts as a bridge between residents, neighborhood organizations, and city departments by explaining policies and procedures across areas such as Business and Neighborhood Services, Public Works, and Metropolitan Development.
• Participates in community meetings to listen to concerns from residents and businesses and, when appropriate, helps resolve them or routes them to the proper official.
• Helps the public understand zoning rules, land-use matters, and how to participate in related processes.
• Works as a liaison on development, zoning, and permit matters with residents, neighborhood groups, the building industry, and other government entities.
• Partners with agencies and staff to solve problems and address operational and organizational issues.
• Shares information about city services, grant opportunities, and resources; also consults with city staff, state officials, and private-sector representatives on neighborhood economic needs.
• Maintains strong relationships with neighborhood leaders and city staff while helping develop future neighborhood leadership.
• Educates residents and organizations about government processes and neighborhood-based organizations, encouraging their participation in civic activity.
• Identifies and works through neighborhood issues collaboratively with city, administration, and community leaders to improve quality of life proactively rather than only reacting to urgent problems.
• Provides phone coverage for the Mayor’s Action Center call center once every quarter.

Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree in Business, Public Administration, Planning, Management, or a closely related field is preferred; one year of directly related experience may substitute for one year of formal education. The role also requires at least two years of directly related work experience.

The successful candidate should be comfortable working regularly with city divisions, professional and trade associations, neighborhood groups, developers, and the general public. Strong communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, planning, organization, time management, and teamwork skills are essential. The position also calls for the ability to understand and interpret code regulations, coordinate multiple projects, handle deadlines, and adapt quickly in a fast-paced setting.

Applicants should be customer service oriented, dependable, self-motivated, detail-focused, and trustworthy. A working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, and Access is required, along with the ability to learn department-specific software. Effective communication in English, and/or Spanish, is needed. The role requires strong oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills and the ability to maintain cooperative working relationships with senior management and key stakeholders.

Working Conditions

Most work is completed in a standard office setting, but the position involves significant travel to outside meetings roughly 70% of the time. Evening meetings are frequent, and some weekend meetings or events are also expected.

Physical Conditions

• Majority of the day is spent seated at a desk.
• May require lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling light items weighing about 5 to 10 pounds.
• May involve long periods of typing or workstation use.
• Requires the ability to hear sounds, see visual cues or signals, and communicate verbally.

Additional Information

If an applicant meets the stated requirements, the application will be forwarded to the hiring agency. After that point, all communication during the interview and selection process will come directly from the agency. Applicants should save the contact details of the person arranging the interview, as City-County HR will not have access to that information and is not part of the interview or selection process. HR will only confirm whether the application was referred. The formal employment offer is issued by HR after the successful candidate is chosen.