Equity Coordinator (Internal)

About the role

The Equity Coordinator plays a pivotal role in advancing the City of Somerville's racial and social justice priorities through strategic leadership, program management, and data-driven evaluation. Reporting to the Director of Racial and Social Justice, this role integrates strategy, implementation, and analytics; leading cross-departmental initiatives, managing key Equity & Belonging programs and stakeholder groups, and developing data systems to track, assess, and improve outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice initiatives across the organization
• Support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of E&B strategic plans and priorities
• Support the development and delivery of city-wide trainings and professional development opportunities
• Support equitable hiring practices in collaboration with Human Resources
• Coordinate with Procurement and contract review processes
• Support Boards and Commissions recruitment efforts
• Conduct internal assessments and evaluations
• Delegate work, allocate resources, and ensure alignment with departmental and citywide priorities
• Represent the E&B Department at meetings, hearings, and public forums
• Aid other departmental staff in the performance of their duties as necessary
• Conduct research on best practices, emerging trends, and benchmarks in racial equity and social justice
• Translate research and data insights into actionable strategies and policy recommendations
• Build and sustain partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, and stakeholders
• Conduct outreach to gather community input and align E&B initiatives with community needs
• Collaborate with communications staff to support public information and media strategies
• Serve as a facilitator, coach, and resource for staff, departments, and community partners

Requirements

• Equivalent lived experience and demonstrated expertise in equity work and data-informed practice may substitute for formal education.
• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, public administration, data analytics, social sciences, or related field; and three (3) years of experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
• At least two (2) years professional experience in supporting and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
• Applications demonstrating lived experience with proper knowledge of data management and organizational development in lieu of education are strongly encouraged.

Qualifications

• Knowledge: municipal operations; public policy; data analysis practices and techniques; Project Management: strategy development, project design and implementation, project evaluation – assessing and measuring, in the field of diversity, inclusion and equity.
• Data related work includes developing performance dashboards, geospatial analysis, process mapping, database management, and financial analysis.
• Familiarity with municipal government and structure.
• Experience with data management of diversity and inclusion impact metrics.

Skills

• The ability to listen, adapt and consider qualitative as well as quantitative data will be as instrumental in this role as the technical skillset to manage complex and evolving datasets.
• Ability to design metrics for evaluating individual and organizational change.
• Be comfortable in a fast-paced environment and capable of juggling multiple initiatives simultaneously, often against tight deadlines.
• Have strong collaboration skills, but also the ability to work autonomously.
• Be detailed-oriented with a commitment to accuracy.
• Distinguish initial requests from true underlying needs.
• Apply effective judgment and discretion to maintain a high level of confidentiality when handling sensitive information.
• Ability to develop templates and tools to provide guidance and support to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Establish and maintain effective and harmonious working relationships with diverse stakeholders regarding strategy, policy, operations, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities; interact with the public effectively and appropriately; problem solve and think strategically, analytically, and creatively; learn new concepts quickly; collaborate, build consensus, and lead; be self-motivated and organized; handle problems and emergencies.
• Proficient in operating personal computers and applicable word processing, spreadsheet, and statistical analysis applications, specifically MS Excel or other data analysis and visualization tools, such as R, Python, or Tableau;
• Excellent written and oral communication, facilitation, and public speaking skills;
• Excellent data analysis, database development and management, strategic thinking, problem-solving, leadership and project management skills.
• GIS skills and/or programming languages preferred but not required.
• Multilingual skills in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and/or Nepali preferred.

Pay

$75,000 - $78,000 annually

Schedule

Full-time