What does a community development specialist do?
A community development specialist is in charge of designing and developing affordable housing programs for home buyers and shelter plans for the homeless. They typically work at government agencies, often functioning in collaboration with social services. Among their other responsibilities include performing extensive research and analysis, liaising with external parties and plan providers, finding sponsorships and fundings, and developing assessment reports. They may also assist clients by answering their inquiries, assisting them with filling out forms, gathering requirements, and explaining the extent of procedures.
Community development specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real community development specialist resumes:
- Manage all aspects of donor prospecting, cultivation, stewardship, and budget/vendor/consultant management for special events and individual giving.
- Prepare and edit donor stewardship and proposals, physician presentations, and leadership communications independently and in conjunction with communications teammates.
- Create community partnerships in addiction ministry and education resulting in ecumenical collaboration surrounding the issues of addiction and recovery.
Community development specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Community Development Specialists are proficient in Event Planning, Community Outreach, and Lead Generation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Creativity, and Instructional skills.
We break down the percentage of Community Development Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Event Planning, 19%
Organize and manage local special event planning.
- Community Outreach, 19%
Create community outreach events and connections to bring interested community members and potential donors into closer contact with the department
- Lead Generation, 13%
Manage relationships to assist in sales lead generation for the local Microsoft Business Development team.
- Non-Profit Organization, 11%
Vetted local non-profit organizations to be recipients of large software grants.
- Economic Development, 5%
Advanced knowledge of various Federal programs available to staff for economic development.
- Technical Assistance, 4%
Provide technical assistance in areas of community planning, capacity building and collaborative building.
"event planning," "community outreach," and "lead generation" are among the most common skills that community development specialists use at work. You can find even more community development specialist responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a community development specialist to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what community development specialists do because "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." Additionally, a community development specialist resume shows how community development specialists use analytical skills: "collected childhood education data for community advisory board. "
Creativity. Another essential skill to perform community development specialist duties is creativity. Community development specialists responsibilities require that "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." Community development specialists also use creativity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed logistics for training programs (e.g., shipping/receiving/repairing of equipment, processing work orders, monitoring inventory). "
Instructional skills. community development specialists are also known for instructional skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to community development specialist responsibilities, because "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs." A community development specialist resume example shows how instructional skills is used in the workplace: "created and delivered training programs using addie instructional design methods on internal group health systems, medicare and medicaid regulatory requirements. "
Communication skills. A big part of what community development specialists do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to community development specialist responsibilities because "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical community development specialist tasks: "managed all public communications including strategic planning, media relations, community outreach, crisis manage- ment and budget development. "
See the full list of community development specialist skills
The three companies that hire the most community development specialists are:
- Community Medical Services3 community development specialists jobs
- MSA Professional Services3 community development specialists jobs
- Fifth Third Bank2 community development specialists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable community development specialist resume templates
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Community development specialist vs. Trainer
A trainer is responsible for instilling knowledge and process techniques for a specific business role. Duties of a trainer include facilitating engaging classes, identifying areas of improvement and opportunities for the learner, evaluating skills and attending to the learner's challenges, organizing training materials and scheduling training sessions, and submitting timely reports to the management on progress. Trainers are required to have excellent public communication skills and extensive product knowledge to provide effective learning methodologies and maintain strategic project management.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a community development specialist are more likely to require skills like "event planning," "community outreach," "lead generation," and "brand awareness." On the other hand, a job as a trainer requires skills like "pet," "training programs," "leadership," and "bonds." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Trainers earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $51,822. On the other hand, community development specialists are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $50,329.The education levels that trainers earn slightly differ from community development specialists. In particular, trainers are 6.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a community development specialist. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community development specialist vs. Certified trainer
A certified trainer is responsible for creating a customized fitness program for clients to improve their body functions, including their cardiovascular stability, balance, flexibility, and overall wellness for a healthy lifestyle. Certified trainers determine the clients' fitness goals, monitoring the clients' progress, and adjusting training plans as needed. They also monitor their clients' food intake, encouraging them to follow strict diet procedures to maintain nutritional standards and practice health disciplines. A certified trainer must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills and extensive knowledge of the fitness industry.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that community development specialist responsibilities requires skills like "event planning," "community outreach," "lead generation," and "brand awareness." But a certified trainer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "safety procedures," "food safety," "customer service," and "food preparation."
Certified trainers earn lower levels of education than community development specialists in general. They're 9.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community development specialist vs. Team trainer
A team trainer is responsible for developing the skills of employees by implementing new strategies and techniques to increase operational efficiency and maximize productivity. Team trainers conduct skill-up training sessions, adhering to the business' and clients' needs, and provide engaging and interactive discussions for the participants, evaluating their progress through a series of activities and practical applications. They also handle training budgets, creating comprehensive reports to ensure that all the training materials meet the budget goals.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, community development specialists are more likely to have skills like "event planning," "community outreach," "lead generation," and "brand awareness." But a team trainer is more likely to have skills like "excellent guest," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "guest service."
Most team trainers achieve a lower degree level compared to community development specialists. For example, they're 13.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community development specialist vs. Facilitator
A facilitator is responsible for assisting a group event or program, ensuring that the participants coordinate well. Facilitators also monitor that the objectives of the event are smoothly delivered and organized. An effective facilitator requires having strong communication and leadership skills to manage the participants' concerns and inquiries, including active participation in group discussions and designing engaging activities and processes. Facilitators also assist with planning and finalizing the timetable and setting the specific house rules and regulations for everyone's compliance.
Types of community development specialist
Updated January 8, 2025











