Assistant Director, Head of DEI

About the Department

The City of Bellevue is looking for an Assistant Director, Head of DEI. This Assistant Director role will lead, inform, oversee, develop, organize and evaluate citywide internal and external diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and programs in order to strengthen and continue to build a culture of equity and inclusion, foster and recognize continuous learning, and demonstrate a commitment to our core values. The core values include exceptional public service, stewardship, commitment to employees, integrity, innovation, and diversity, equity & inclusion. 

The primary focus of this position is to serve as a strategic partner with the city's leadership and management teams on internal and external DEI work, while supporting community members, employees, and people who interact and do business with the city.  The work is performed through demonstrated expertise and experience in systems and culture change, building equitable processes in a collaborative, adaptive and relationship focused manner. 

This position reports to the Director of Human Resources & DEI, with a dotted line to a Deputy City Manager and is a member of the Human Resources (HR) Leadership Team. This role serves as a member of the city's Operations Policy Team, a team of the city's Deputy and Assistant Directors. The successful candidate will be a strategic, collaborative, innovative and visionary leader with proven experience in leading, supporting and championing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and systems change management processes, internally and with the community. 

Position Duties

Background:

Bellevue's long commitment to DEI began with the city's original 1993 Diversity Action Plan. The work continued for the next two decades.  In 2014, the City Council adopted the vision statement "Bellevue welcomes the world. Our diversity is our strength. We embrace the future while respecting our past." In addition, the council adopted the Diversity Advantage Plan, a 60-point plan that was created with wide participation from employees and the community. Since the adoption of the plan, Bellevue's cultural, racial, and language diversity continued to grow. More than half of Bellevue residents are people of color and 41% were born outside of the United States. A progress report in 2017 on the Diversity Advantage Plan highlights that collectively, Bellevue continues to find new ways to build inclusion into our community and economy and strengthen equitable access to basic needs, such as public safety, education, and human services. More recently the city has adopted the citywide Diversity Advantage Plan 2035 and this position will be instrumental in implementing that plan.   

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership in establishing the strategic direction for the diversity, equity and inclusion programs to meet citywide objectives. 
• Work with teams to analyze and re-engineer processes to minimize the impact of bias in systems. 
• Develop short and long-range plans for the diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 
• Establish policies and methods to accomplish program objectives, workplans and performance measures, in coordination with the Operations Policy and Leadership Teams. 
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the City Manager, Leadership Team, Operations Policy Team, and department management teams, build and maintain collaborative relationships to further the work of the DEI program. 
• Provide expertise, assessment and consultation on the design, coordination and implementation of programs, policies, and practices focusing on addressing systemic disparities including race, age, ability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language that may exist or serve as barriers in the delivery of city services. 
• Developing and delivering multi-mode communications on DEI issues that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences, internally and externally. 
• Identify and develop tools that result in developing greater awareness and understanding in the use of an equity mindset for analyzing the impact of the design and implementation of policies on underserved, underrepresented and/or marginalized individuals and groups, and to identify potential barriers. 
• Determine and define DEI performance measures, monitoring performance, and guide staff in making adjustments to program administration and strategy to ensure standards are achieved. 
• Help build and maintain productive and collaborative relationships between the City Manager's Office, city departments, external parties and outside agencies in order to foster a climate where the city can accomplish its DEI priorities. 
• Oversee title VI and ADA work for the city
• Represent the city at federal, state and regional efforts in DEI. 
• Establishes and maintains a supportive working environment conducive to positive morale, creativity, and teamwork. 
• Partner with city departments on the development, monitoring and execution of diversity, equity, and inclusion systems including contracting, purchasing, Diversity Advantage Plan implementation, training and development, the diversity talent hiring initiative, supportive employment, and the employee resource groups. 
• Present diversity, equity, and inclusion-related reports and status on DEI initiatives to the council, city manager,  Leadership Team, Operations Policy Team, other officials, and official boards when required. 
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the Diversity team 
• Manage/supervise, coach, lead, support, motivate, and evaluate Diversity Advantage Team members. 

Minimum Qualifications

• 5 or more years of experience (7+ years preferred), demonstrating success and knowledge in the administration of a variety of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, community outreach, government, or social justice programs, at least two years in a DEI-focused leadership role, and experience supervising staff.
• Demonstrated leadership role with subject matter expertise building equitable processes, working collaboratively with teams, and the ability to build and maintain relationships among members of underrepresented communities externally, and internally with employees from a wide variety of professions.
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in sociology, education, public administration, ethnic studies, Human Resources or a closely allied field, or any equivalent combination of education, experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the position's work.

Competencies

• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Project and Program Management Knowledge and Use of Tools: including planning, scheduling, monitoring and problem solving. Ensures accountability, holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
• Manager and Supervisor: Ability to effectively plan, assign, direct and evaluate the work of staff, providing leadership, coaching and support. Creates a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization meet its objectives.
• Balances needs of various parties: Anticipating and balancing the needs of multiple parties with different interests and priorities.
• Instills trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity and authenticity, and through building and maintaining collaborative relationships.
• Communicates Effectively: Skilled in communicating effectively, developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences, internally and externally.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Ability to relate openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people across levels, functions, and culture.
• Organizational Savvy: Ability to maneuver comfortably and effectively through complex policy, process, and people-related organizational dynamics.
• Manages Ambiguity: Skilled in operating effectively, even when things are not certain or the way forward is not clear.
• Builds Networks: Effectively builds formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
• Situational Adaptability: Adapting approach and demeanor in real time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Manages Complexity: Skilled in making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Manages Conflict: Skilled in handling conflict situations effectively and collaboratively. 

Other Qualifications

FLEXIBLE/HYBRID WORKING

A hybrid work schedule is available for this position after an orientation period. Full-time remote work is not an available option. Once hired, employees must reside in the State of Washington and within reasonable commuting distance to Bellevue City Hall.