Role Overview:

The VP of Partnerships will lead Civic Marketplace’s trusted relationships with association partners, key City Managers and local government leaders, through genuine consultative engagement and problem solving that addresses real civic challenges, and translate opportunities into impact & revenue generation for the company to meet its impact and commercial goals, marrying purpose and profit.

They will work closely with the President to pick up, shape, and advance early stage opportunities, guide pilots and partnership concepts into actionable programs, revenue generation and build the foundation for a repeatable, trust based civic engagement approach that drives lasting impact. The role demands strong commercial acumen to translate partnerships into monetization opportunities, and will have a clear profit sharing and performance based compensation plan.

Key Responsibilities:

Partner Engagement & External Relationship Ownership

• Build, manage, and expand relationships with City Managers, local government executives association executives and board members.

• Build on and get signed partnership opportunities and ensure a fast sales motion which generates both impact and revenue given both our purpose and profit missions.

• Facilitate ongoing discovery of local government needs, pain points, and innovation opportunities.

• Represent Civic Marketplace at relevant civic sector events, roundtables, and conferences hosted by our partner associations.

• Maintain regular touchpoints with City Managers and local government associations to deepen trust and stay informed.

Opportunity Creation & Early Pipeline Development

• Identify, scope, and qualify new partnership opportunities - both those passed from the President and ones generated through your own network and outreach.

• Develop clear opportunity briefs and early stage concept notes to define goals, partners, stakeholders, and resource needs.

• Translate into term sheets and signed partnership agreements and support roll-out with a fast paced impact & sales motion to ensure we have a high speed velocity to win.

• Support process handoff to Customer Success team to ensure smooth transition from concept to execution..

• Maintain oversight of early-stage partnerships pipeline, tracking status, next steps, blockers, and outcomes.

• Own updates and reporting on early opportunities for leadership visibility including use of digital CRMs and trackers such as Hubspot and Asana.

Innovation & Pilot Program Leadership

• Co-design and lead pilot programs with city partners to test new Civic Marketplace offerings (e.g., multi-city procurement pilots, regional cooperative models).

• Develop frameworks and templates for repeatable pilots and partnership rollouts.

• Document learnings and best practices from pilots to inform future initiatives.

• Collaborate with Product and Customer Success to align pilots with platform capabilities and agency readiness.

Internal Sales & Partnerships Strategy Development

• Work with the President to refine Civic Marketplace’s approach to civic partnerships, providing insight on what resonates with City Managers and local government leaders.

• Contribute to the creation of outreach materials, messaging frameworks, and talking points tailored to city decision makers.

• Inform the development of Civic Marketplace’s partnership playbooks

Cross-functional Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

• Act as an internal subject matter expert on local government needs and priorities.

• Ensure field insights are shared with Product, Customer Success, and Marketing teams to improve Civic Marketplace’s offering and messaging.

• Work closely with the rest of the team to align on priorities and keep projects moving.

• Proactively communicate challenges, risks, and ideas to leadership to support timely decisions.

Leadership Development & Succession Planning

• Represent CM as a thought leader across national, regional and state events

• Serve as a trusted partner to the President, able to pick up complex conversations, represent Civic Marketplace externally, and maintain continuity.

• Shape the foundation for future team growth by defining how relationship-based sales and partnerships should operate.

• Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and mentoring for future roles in Civic Partnerships, Sales Enablement, and Customer Success.

• Be prepared to evolve into a broader senior leadership role over time, with potential for direct team management.

What You Will Own

• Direct ownership of relationships with City Managers and civic decision makers.

• Early stage partnership pipeline development and tracking.

• Ideation, scoping, and initial framing of innovation pilots and regional collaborations.

• Communication of opportunity status and progress to internal and external stakeholders.

• External representation of Civic Marketplace’s vision and mission in trusted settings.

• Continuous improvement of Civic Marketplace’s approach to high trust, consultative civic engagement.

Required Experience & Competencies

Experience:

• Deep experience in local government leadership, ideally a former City Manager or senior local government executive.

• Experience working with and understanding of elected official dynamics.

• Experience designing or supporting cross-local government collaborations, pilots, or regional programs.

• Commercial mindset and able to ‘sell’ into local governments by building trusted long term relationships

• Experience leading change in a local government setting

• Track record as an innovative thought leader

Competencies:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to craft clear concept notes and opportunity briefs.

• Comfort operating independently and guiding projects from concept to handoff.

• Strong consultative problem solving skills; able to co-create ideas and pilots that meet local needs.

• Proven ability to build high trust relationships with local government and association leaders.

• Alignment with Civic Marketplace’s mission to make procurement smarter, more inclusive, and compliant.