Chief Equity Officer

The City of Tacoma is seeking an experienced and passionate leader to serve as its next Chief Equity Officer. As a key member of the City's Executive Leadership Team, this highly visible position leads the development and implementation of proactive diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, education, policies and programs while working closely and collaboratively with other departments within the City and the Tacoma community. The next Chief Equity Officer 's first priority will be to join the City Council, Mayor, City Manager, and other City executives in leading Transforming Tacoma - a City initiative and commitment to engage in comprehensive change to meet the anti-racist goals and outcomes outlined in City Council Resolution 40622.

The successful candidate will lead the team in the Office of Equity and Human Rights to execute on the City’s Equity and Empowerment Framework by developing and implementing programs, policies, strategies, and education focused on eliminating disparities, building community capacity, and creating an organizational culture that will guide the City toward equitable outcomes in policies, programs, practices and delivery of services to community.

The officer’s collaboration and coordination with others will be crucial to sustaining progress, eliminating structural and systemic barriers for marginalized communities and cultivating an environment for organizational change.


ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Manages the day-to-day operations of the Office of Equity and Human Rights, including supervision, development and evaluation of staff; effective deployment of resources; budget development and planning; and allocation and prioritization of work assignments
• Designs and guides the strategic direction, goals and priorities for the Office of Equity and Human Rights
• Provides expert technical guidance and education to City leadership and elected officials on equity and social justice issues, development of policies, and analysis of proposed legislation and regulations
• Collaborates with City of Tacoma businesses and organizations to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws and policies at the City, State and Federal level
• Develops and implements programs designed to address community, human and social needs of the City through studies, collaboration and cooperation with public and private sector organizations
• Develops contractual relationships with public and private sector organizations to obtain funding for assistance in carrying out human rights and human services activities
• Provides support and direction to the Human Rights Commission, the Human Services Commission, the Commission on Disabilities and other relevant groups

An equivalent combination to: graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of  seven (7) years of progressively-responsible leadership experience with a preferred focus area of human rights; diversity, equity, and inclusion; equal employment opportunity, human resources or related field. Two years of the related experience must be in a supervisory role.  
  

The successful candidate will possess the following competencies:

Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.

Plans and Aligns:  Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals.

Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.

Manages Conflict: Handling conflict situations effectively, with a minimum of noise.

Builds Networks:   Effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.

Values Differences: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.

Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.

Courage: Stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.

Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.

About the Office of Equity and Human Rights
A division of the City Manager’s Office, the Office of Equity and Human Rights was established in 2014 to make equity a consistent guiding principle across the entire organization and to advance efforts in the five key goals in the City’s Equity and Empowerment Framework:
 

1. The City of Tacoma Workforce reflects the Community it Serves
2. Purposeful Community Outreach and Engagement
3. Equitable Service Delivery to Residents and Visitors
4. Support Human Rights and Opportunities for Everyone to Achieve their Full Potential
5. Commitment to Equity in Policy Decision Making