Cambridge City Manager Preliminary Screening Committee Nominations Sought

Dear Community Member:

Thank you for your interest in the search process for the new Cambridge City Manager.

As we anticipate great interest in our City Manager position, we are assembling a 19-member Preliminary Screening Committee, facilitated by our consultant GovHR USA, to screen resumes and conduct preliminary interviews with the highest-qualified candidates. The Preliminary Screening Committee will determine who from this candidate pool will be the finalists to be presented to the City Council for their consideration.

Preliminary Screening Committee composition:

(4) City Council members

(3) Resident representatives (who have demonstrated advocacy in support of community needs)*

(2) Business related representatives (with demonstrated partnership experience, ideally from a large and a small business)

(1) Representative from the Cambridge School Committee or a senior School Department administrative representative

(1) Public Safety representative (Police/Fire departments)

(1) Person with demonstrated knowledge of municipal finance

(1) Health and Human Services/Public Health representative

(1) Representative with knowledge of City Planning and Development (experience in urban design and transportation issues preferred)

(1) Higher education/institutional partner

(1) Public art and/or recreational representative

(1) Affordable housing advocate

(1) Non-profit community representative

(1) Representative who advocates for the quality of our community’s civic and social well-being

* Please note: The total number of resident members will be significantly higher as many of the designated category representatives will be Cambridge residents.

Criteria for Preliminary Screening Committee Membership:

Committee members will be selected by their ability to represent one or more of the identified constituency groups. All applications will be reviewed and the goal is to select a broadly representative and diverse group of committed participants. Experience with executive recruitment is highly desirable.

Availability is a key criteria. Participants must commit to the each of the following three (3) predetermined days. Day one will be Thursday, August 25 for participant training. The group will convene again for two consecutive days on September 12 and September 13 to conduct candidate interviews. Meals will be provided. The Cambridge location for the training and interviews has yet to be determined.

This phase of the City Manager hiring process is strictly confidential and as a result all Preliminary Screening Committee participants will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
  
How to become a member of the Preliminary Screening Committee:

To be considered for Committee membership, applicants can either self-nominate or an applicant can be recommend for consideration. All applications for participating on the Preliminary Screening Committee must be submitted by 5:00pm, Friday, August 12, 2016.

The online application for self-nomination can be found on the City Manager Search webpage, www.cambridgema.gov/citymanagersearch and must be submitted no later than 5:00pm, Friday, August 12, 2016.

Paper applications are available upon request from the Cambridge Personnel Department, located at Room 309, Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA 02139, or by calling 617-349-4332. Completed paper applications must be submitted to the attention of Sheila Keady Rawson, Personnel Director, by 12 noon on Friday, August 12, 2016.

If you would like to recommend a participant for consideration or have questions, please email managersearch2016@cambridgema.gov or call Sheila Keady Rawson at 617.349.4332.
We appreciate your interest and extend our gratitude for your support of this search process. Community involvement and participation like yours is critical to selecting the right and best new City Manager for our great city.

Thank you,
David Maher
Cambridge City Councillor
Chair, Government Operations, Rules and Claims

Submit a Self-Nomination