Vice President Research
12 - 15 years
Richmond, VA
Full-time
Hybrid
1 month ago
About the role
Position Overview
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) seeks a Vice President, Research to provide strategic, operational, and cultural leadership for VEDP’s Research Division. This is a highly collaborative, player-coach leadership role requiring a combination of strategic thinking, operational management, analytical capability, organizational judgment, and people leadership. The Vice President must be capable of contributing substantively to high-profile initiatives and analytical work while also building effective systems, strengthening processes, supporting team development, and ensuring the division operates effectively at a high level across a large volume of concurrent workstreams
.
The Vice President will interact professionally, collaboratively, and strategically with colleagues across all divisions of VEDP, helping align Research capabilities with organizational priorities and continuously evolving how the division delivers value to internal and external stakeholder
s.Core Responsibilit
iesLeadership & Division Manage
ime.Strategic Insight & Ana
nity.Operational Excellence & Service De
forts.Technology & Data
needs.Organizational Per
iatives.Cross-Functional Collaboration & Organizational Pa
nability.Experienc
abilities.Personal
ectivenes
s.
EducationBachelor’s degree in economics, business, public policy, statistics, geography, information systems, communications, management, or related field required. Advanced degre
e preferred.
CompensationSalary will be competitive and commensurate with experience and qu
alifications.References and Backgrou
nd InformationIt is VEDP’s policy to complete an extensive background and reference check of candidates. Once strong mutual interest has been established, candidates are asked to provide a list of references that should include, but not be limited to, a supervisor, peer, subordinate, and client/stakeholder reference, as applicable. Candidates will be asked to sign an authorization to release information for the purpose of background investigation, which may include verification of education, credit check, criminal, and driving records. Should an offer be extended prior to the completion of these checks, the offer will be contingent on successful completion of the reference and back
ground checks.Appl
ication ProcessBeing authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment. VEDP uses the E-Verify system and does not provi
de sponsorship.
All candidates must apply through our website https://www.vedp.org/careers. Applicants must submit a resume and cover letter. A valid Virginia driver’s license and ability to obtain a passport is required. Application deadline: Op
en
Until Filled.
EOE
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) seeks a Vice President, Research to provide strategic, operational, and cultural leadership for VEDP’s Research Division. This is a highly collaborative, player-coach leadership role requiring a combination of strategic thinking, operational management, analytical capability, organizational judgment, and people leadership. The Vice President must be capable of contributing substantively to high-profile initiatives and analytical work while also building effective systems, strengthening processes, supporting team development, and ensuring the division operates effectively at a high level across a large volume of concurrent workstreams
.
The Vice President will interact professionally, collaboratively, and strategically with colleagues across all divisions of VEDP, helping align Research capabilities with organizational priorities and continuously evolving how the division delivers value to internal and external stakeholder
s.Core Responsibilit
iesLeadership & Division Manage
- mentLead and manage a multidisciplinary division of approximately 25 staff spanning analytics, client communications, business presentations, GIS, application development and Salesforce administrat
- ion.Provide clear direction, priorities, and expectations for the division while fostering a collaborative, high-trust, mission-oriented cult
- ure.Provide ongoing coaching, performance management, professional development, and organizational support for direct reports and broader team memb
- ers.Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, responsiveness, curiosity, and continuous improvem
- ent.Promote thoughtful cross-team collaboration and avoid operational silos across the divis
- ion.Ensure effective allocation of staff resources, workloads, budgets, and operational priorities across teams and initiati
- ves.Help shape and strengthen organizational culture by modeling maturity, professionalism, sound judgment, authenticity, and collaborative leaders
- hip.Identify opportunities to strengthen organizational structure, workflows, processes, and team effectiveness over t
ime.Strategic Insight & Ana
- lysisServe as a strategic thought partner to VEDP leadership on issues related to economic development, competitiveness, industry trends, business climate dynamics, and organizational stra
- tegy.Provide high-level analytical support, strategic framing, and problem-solving support for executive leadership, major initiatives, and priority proj
- ects.Help strengthen VEDP’s ability to deliver distinctive insights, communicate Virginia’s competitive advantages, and support informed decision-making for both internal and external stakehol
- ders.Maintain situational awareness regarding major projects, organizational priorities, and pipeline activity to ensure Research Division efforts remain aligned with business needs and organizational object
- ives.Support the development and continuous refinement of Virginia’s industry, competitiveness, and business value proposition materials and related strategic resou
- rces.Help ensure the Research Division delivers clear, compelling, and strategically aligned support that helps VEDP solve problems, support business investment efforts, and communicate effectively with clients and stakehol
- ders.Represent VEDP credibly in select interactions with the Board of Directors, administration officials, partners, and the broader economic development practitioner commu
nity.Operational Excellence & Service De
- liveryLead efforts to continuously improve how the Research Division delivers services and support across the organiz
- ation.Strengthen operational processes, quality assurance, workflow coordination, prioritization approaches, and service delivery models across
- teams.Continue strengthening the division’s consultative, strategically aligned, and high-value partnership model across the organiz
- ation.Work closely with internal stakeholders to define service expectations, ensure appropriate intake and prioritization processes, and strengthen alignment between organizational needs and Research capabil
- ities.Ensure high-quality, timely execution of project support deliverables and analytical products supporting VEDP’s business development and marketing ef
forts.Technology & Data
- SystemsProvide strategic oversight for VEDP’s Salesforce CRM platform, GIS capabilities, application development efforts, and related technology-enabled operational
- tools.Partner with technical teams and organizational stakeholders to help translate business needs into effective operational and technology sol
- utions.Foster a culture of innovation and thoughtful experimentation around technology, analytics, automation, and operational impro
- vement.Help ensure technology and data resources are aligned with organizational strategy, operational priorities, and user
needs.Organizational Per
- formanceSupport the use of organizational metrics, operational analytics, and performance reporting to strengthen decision-making and organizational effect
- iveness.Oversee Research Division support for organizational surveys, pipeline analytics, operational reporting, and other performance management init
iatives.Cross-Functional Collaboration & Organizational Pa
- rtnershipBuild strong collaborative relationships across VEDP divisions and with external partners where app
- ropriate.Partner closely with Marketing, Lead Generation, Business Investment, Economic Competitiveness, Talent, External Affairs, and other teams to support integrated organizational ob
- jectives.Help bridge communication and operational gaps between technical teams, analytical teams, and business-facing f
- unctions.Support organizational initiatives requiring cross-functional coordination, strategic analysis, operational problem-solving, or executive-level communication
- support.Help ensure the Research Division remains highly responsive, collaborative, and solutions-oriented while maintaining focus on long-term effectiveness and sustai
nability.Experienc
- e RequiredAt least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in research, analytics, economic development, strategy, consulting, operations, technology-enabled business functions, or relat
- ed fields.Significant leadership and people-management experience overseeing multidisciplinary teams and complex operational
- functions.Strong strategic thinking, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving cap
- abilities.Experience managing or partnering closely with analytical, operational, and/or technology-orien
- ted teams.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively for executive
- audiences.Strong organizational judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to balance competing priorities and operate effectively in fast-moving env
- ironments.Experience operating in a fast-paced, client-service-oriented or project-driven en
- vironment.Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and building collaborative relationships across teams and sta
- keholders.Operational management experience, including process improvement, workflow management, resource allocation, and organizational coo
- rdination.Comfort working with metrics, operational reporting, CRM systems, organizational analytics, and performance management
- concepts.Strong presentation and executive communication cap
abilities.Personal
- AttributesStrong emotional intelligence, maturity, and interpersona
- l judgment.Authentic, collaborative leader
- ship style.Strategic and systems-orient
- ed thinker.High degree of initiative and acco
- untability.Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving, high-profile en
- vironments.Comfortable balancing strategic thinking with operational
- execution.Strong organizational instincts and soun
- d judgment.Curious, thoughtful, and intellectual
- ly engaged.Innovative and technology-savvy with an interest in operational improvement and practical applications of emerging tools and te
- chnologies.Strong relationship builder capable of leading through trust, credibility, and col
- laboration.Ability to maintain composure and perspective unde
- r pressure.Commitment to continuous improvement, team development, and organizational eff
ectivenes
s.
EducationBachelor’s degree in economics, business, public policy, statistics, geography, information systems, communications, management, or related field required. Advanced degre
e preferred.
CompensationSalary will be competitive and commensurate with experience and qu
alifications.References and Backgrou
nd InformationIt is VEDP’s policy to complete an extensive background and reference check of candidates. Once strong mutual interest has been established, candidates are asked to provide a list of references that should include, but not be limited to, a supervisor, peer, subordinate, and client/stakeholder reference, as applicable. Candidates will be asked to sign an authorization to release information for the purpose of background investigation, which may include verification of education, credit check, criminal, and driving records. Should an offer be extended prior to the completion of these checks, the offer will be contingent on successful completion of the reference and back
ground checks.Appl
ication ProcessBeing authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment. VEDP uses the E-Verify system and does not provi
de sponsorship.
All candidates must apply through our website https://www.vedp.org/careers. Applicants must submit a resume and cover letter. A valid Virginia driver’s license and ability to obtain a passport is required. Application deadline: Op
en
Until Filled.
EOE
Skills
Government Administration