Initial Posting Date:
04/22/2026Application Deadline:
05/13/2026Agency:
Oregon Business Development DepartmentSalary Range:
$7,537 - $11,657Position Type:
EmployeePosition Title:
COBID Manager (Grants, Loans, Programs Manager 2)Job Description:
Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, is currently hiring a COBID Manager (Grants, Loans, Programs Manager 2) within the Innovation and Business Resources Division, Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) section.
Are you passionate about bringing prosperity to all Oregonians and building strong communities through partnership? Do you have experience leading a program and managing a team of professionals? This position supports the mission of Business Oregon to invest in Oregon businesses, communities, and people to promote a globally competitive, diverse, and inclusive economy.
The incumbent in this position will serve as Manager of the COBID team, which includes the functions of supervising 12-member staff; managing the workload associated with seven business certification programs and associated outreach and engagement and reporting; managing the statewide COBID Advisory group; serving as a certification and contracting expert in high level policy discussions with internal and external stakeholders.
Note: We are committed to fostering a supportive work environment that promotes work-life balance and flexibility. This is a hybrid position that may have the ability to work from home, with the expectation of an occasional in-office presence as needed to support business operations.
This recruitment will be used to establish a list of qualified candidates to fill the current positions and may be used to fill future vacancies.
Here’s what you will do:
Maintain expertise in business certification statutes, rules and policies at the federal and state levels.
Act as Administrative Rules Coordinator, responsible for establishing, revising and adopting rules related to the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)/ Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)/Women Business Enterprise (WBE)/Emerging Small Business (ESB)/Veteran Business Enterprise (VBE)/Oregon Small Business Enterprise (OSBE) certification programs.
Assign and manage workload; provides consultation and training to staff on all aspects of the certification process.
Develop and implement administrative rules, long and short-range plan and objectives, and program policies and procedures to carry out the responsibilities of the COBID team.
Engage in strategic discussions with nationwide counterparts related to national trends and challenges and serves as a strong leader and advocate for COBID programs and COBID certified businesses.
Coordinate annual FHWA and ODOT audits, prepare audit reports, respond to audit findings and recommendations and represent COBID at annual FHWA audit close-out meeting.
Establish and provide leadership for a Statewide COBID Advisory Group.
Supervise staff in their development of a sophisticated and intentional outreach strategy/marketing plan targeted at businesses and partners with the goal of increasing awareness of COBID program and increasing the number of certified firms in Oregon.
Serve as point for COBID team for outreach with elected officials – including the Legislature.
Manage the COBID Team that includes Compliance Specialists, Policy Analysts, Outreach staff, and Administrative personnel. Responsible for team budget, development of team policies and procedures, performance measures, personnel administration, and management of staff.
Minimum Qualifications:
Six years of supervision, management, or progressively related experience; OR three years of related experience and a bachelor's degree in a related field.
Requested Skills:
The ideal candidate will possess a combination of some or all the following skills.
If you have these requested skills, let us know in your application materials! It's how we will choose who will move forward! You do not need to have all these skills to be eligible for this position.
Certification Program Knowledge: COBID Manager serves as authority for certification program information at the state and federal level. Should possess deep knowledge of certification programs – including statute and rule.
Strategic Partnerships: Must have strong track record of developing and maintaining strategic partnerships, including those with elected officials, government agencies, community partners and businesses.
Policy Making: Experience working with elected officials to develop and implement policy and budgetary objectives.
Budget management/development: Has experience managing annual budgets and experience developing budgets.
Program Evaluation: experience utilizing quantitative and qualitative data for program evaluation and planning purposes.
Management of Advisory Groups: Experience managing external advisory groups.
Partner Development and Engagement: Experience building and maintaining relationships with partners, experience making presentations to partners, including the state legislature.
Intergovernmental Agreements: Experience authoring intergovernmental agreements that are mutually beneficial and actionable.
We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet every one of our requested skills listed.
What Business Oregon does:
Business Oregon is the economic development agency for the state of Oregon. We have about 200 people on our team, and we work with communities and businesses. We use our programs and expertise to help businesses grow, so they can in turn add jobs, diversify the economy, and increase Oregon prosperity. We work with communities to enhance and expand infrastructure and community safety with projects such as water/wastewater systems, seismic rehabilitation for schools, or rural broadband development. This also sets the stage for future business development. Our mission is to invest in Oregon’s businesses, communities, and people to promote a globally competitive, diverse, and inclusive economy, all carried out with an agency strategic plan.
Through a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility we can advance towards our vision of prosperity for all. As the state of Oregon’s economic development agency, Business Oregon advances socio-economic justice by applying an equity lens to our programs, partnerships, and investments, ensuring that our decision-making and resource allocation reflect the needs of all Oregonians. By embedding diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility into our agency’s culture and practices, we work to expand access, dismantle barriers, and promote equitable economic opportunities across the state.
The Business, Innovation and Trade Division promotes business growth, retention and job creation by removing barriers to industry growth and addressing common industry needs. Within the Business, Innovation and Trade Division sits the Innovation and Business Resources Division. The Innovation and Business Resources Division includes four teams: the Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) team, the Business Finance team, the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Team and the Economic Equity team.
The Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) is responsible for the certification of businesses under seven distinct programs: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and the Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE), a federally-mandated program for firms seeking contracting opportunities with recipients of federally funded transportation related moneys; Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women Business Enterprise (WBE), and Veteran Business Enterprise (SDVBE) state programs for minority, women, and veteran business owners seeking contracting opportunities with state, county, city, and special jurisdictions; Emerging Small Business (ESB), a race and gender-neutral state program for firms seeking contracting opportunities on projects specifically designated for ESB participation and the Oregon Small Business Enterprise (OSBE) certification, which was established in 2026. COBID publishes on-line directories of certified DBE, ACDBE, MBE, WBE, VBE, ESB and OSBE firms. The directories are used by prime contractors, public jurisdictions, private sector firms and others to solicit women, minorities, veterans, and emerging small businesses for participation in specific projects with contracting goals. COBID also conducts public awareness activities pertaining to certification programs. COBID acts as resource/referral service for information needed by minorities, women, service-disabled veterans, and small businesses.
How to Apply
Please Note: Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM PDT/PST on Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Complete the following required steps:
Fill out the application. If you are a current State of Oregon employee, you must apply through your employee Workday account through the Jobs Hub.
Attach your current resume and cover letter. Your cover letter should clearly demonstrate how your experience and training relates to the qualities that are listed under the “requested skills” section above.
Your cover letter must be limited to no more than two (2) pages.
Generic cover letters that do not address the qualities that you have under the “requested skills” section may receive lower scores than those that addressed the requested skills.
Clearly demonstrate in your resume and cover letter how you meet all the minimum qualifications and requested skills listed above.
Failure to submit the required resume and cover letter may remove your application from consideration.
Complete the questionnaire. After you submit your application, please go to your Workday inbox and respond to the public records request authorization, and gender identity questionnaire.
Answer the checkbox-style questions in the questionnaire. This screen will come after you submit your application, which completes the process. If you are a current State of Oregon employee, the tasks will come to your Workday inbox.
Warning – Workday will timeout after 15 minutes of inactivity and will not save your application progress unless you use the “save for later” function. If you need to take a break, please be sure to click the save for later button to save your progress. You will find your unfinished application in your Workday inbox.
Veterans, Disabled Veterans & State Servicemembers
Eligible veterans and Oregon National Guard servicemembers (current and former) who meet the qualifications of the position will be awarded candidate preference. For more information, please visit Veterans Resources. Be sure to submit your documentation prior to the close date of this posting to have the preference considered. Click on the Veterans, Disabled Veterans & State Servicemembers link for additional information. The task to upload your documents will be available after you submit your application. For privacy reasons, please do not attach your military service document(s) to your application or combine it with any other required document attachments.
What’s in it for you:
Work/life balance, generous benefit package, 11 paid holidays a year, 3 paid personal days, flexible work schedules, paid leave, employer contribution retirement plan (PERS), and so much more. Learn more about working at Business Oregon and the benefits we offer.
Planning for your future. Pension plan, and deferred compensation packages.
Deepening employee engagement by connecting and building strong teams, using enhanced communications, transparency, mentoring, and coaching.
Care for our people and culture. At Business Oregon, we value community and foster a sense of belonging for our employees. We invest in our employees’ well-being including training and professional development, addressing burnout and other efforts that contribute to healthy, whole employees.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you’re employed by a government agency, you may be eligible. Learn more.
Additional Information:
Business Oregon does not offer visa sponsorship. Within three days of hire, all applicants will be required to complete the US Department of Homeland Security's Form I-9, confirming authorization to work in the United States. Learn more.
Hiring a successful candidate will be contingent upon the results of a criminal background check. Adverse background data may result in immediate disqualification.
This recruitment will be used to establish a list of qualified candidates to fill the current position and may be used to fill future vacancies as they occur.
Per the Pay Equity Law passed in 2017, a pay equity analysis will be conducted to determine what pay step the successful candidate will be offered. The analysis will be based on the relevant experience, education, training, and certifications documented in the application materials.
This is a full-time management service, exempt position and is not represented by a union.
This is a PERS qualifying position. Employees new to the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) will get a 6.95% base salary increase and will pay a 6% employee contribution to PERS, after an initial six-month waiting period.
Are you looking to live in and experience Oregon? Learn more about life in Pendleton, Salem, and Portland.
Need help?
We invite you to contact the recruiter for application questions or job-specific questions.
The recruiter for this position is Caroline LeQuieu, Human Resources Analyst. If you contact the recruiter, please include the job requisition (REQ) number at the top of this job post.
Email: caroline.lequieu@biz.oregon.gov
Phone (call or text): 503-779-8071
It is our policy to provide reasonable accommodation for all applicants who may need it. Should you need assistance or accommodation, please contact the recruiter at caroline.lequieu@biz.oregon.gov to discuss how we can best meet your needs.
Business Oregon is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.
Helpful Links & Resources
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