The city of San Diego is on the hunt for a military veteran to lead a new effort to recruit veterans to the city workforce and serve as a community liaison to the more than 300,000 service members and veterans in the region.
The new veteran engagement program coordinator role is the result of a partnership between the city and the Wounded Warrior Foundation, a non-profit that assists and advocates for veterans.
The Wounded Warrior Foundation is contributing $50,000 of the job's $131,000 salary. Jose Ramos, the foundation's vice president of government and community affairs, said it's the first such partnership in the nation.
"We're very proud to stand up what I believe is the first of its kind national partnership between a municipality and a non-profit organization ... focused primarily on building a strong community in support of our nation's active duty and veteran forces," Ramos said.
A recent military economic impact report found military spending through the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security account for almost 25% of the region's economy.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said about 15,000 service members leave the military in San Diego every year, but due to the high cost of living, many are unable to stay. He said he hopes whoever ends up in this new role will help more of them stay.
"What we want that person to do is to help us to recruit," Gloria said. "And really encourage them to come work for the city of San Diego.”
The San Diego City Council approved the new job on Oct. 31.
The position will fall under the city's human resources department but work closely with the mayor's office.
Gloria said it's a unique opportunity for someone to forge and define a brand new role for the city.
"The agency they'll have is they're literally making up the work as they go, recognizing that San Diego is very comfortable experimenting in the space," Gloria said. "Because what we're going to get at the end of the day are highly trained individuals who can serve our neighborhoods."
The city is looking for a post-9/11 veteran with a service-connected disability who's separated from the military in the last six years. The job posting is live on the city's website.
