HR Director

About the role

Join us in transforming the delivery of public safety services by supporting the work and first responders of Seattle’s Community Assisted Response & Engagement department (CARE).

CARE operates the City’s primary 9-1-1 center and the Community Crisis Responder program, unarmed behavioral health professionals responding to 9-1-1 calls in the field.

Responsibilities

• Provide effective HR services.
• Foster a high-performing HR team through appropriate staffing, mentorship, professional development, and a focus on continuous improvement, ensuring HR services effectively support the department’s mission.
• Oversee and provide technical support to HR service delivery functional areas, ensuring that all HR programs are compliant with current state and federal employment laws, including equal employment opportunity, Fair Labor Standards Act, Washington Minimum Wage Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Monitor the City’s personnel practices and collaborate with city HR leaders to implement and improve essential HR functions.
• Serve as a strategic HR consultant. Provides counsel and expertise to CARE’s strategic plan and department policy decision-making. Creates HR vision and strategic direction to move the department forward and builds the structure to enable implementation.
• Develop the annual workplan for the HR business unit.
• Support employee success and high-performing teams. Provide guidance and coaching to managers and employees with the goal of successful work performance and commitment.
• Receive, assess, and facilitate employee complaints and concerns, working closely with managers, and make recommendations for actions as needed.
• Conduct intakes to assess and handle employee complaints and concerns, making recommendations for actions as needed.
• Promote a culture that encourages open dialogue and communication that supports the work of the department.
• Provide employee and labor relations consultative services.
• Advise and partner with the City Attorney and senior leadership regarding complex and confidential HR issues.
• Ensure compliance with labor contractual agreements by monitoring and implementing contractual requirements, partnering with the SDHR Labor Relations Division, and participating in grievance proceedings and investigations as necessary.
• Change Management & Culture Transformation. Build management initiatives to support organizational transformation, including structuring communication, training, and support mechanisms that facilitate smooth transitions and foster a positive culture.
• Champion the Race & Social Justice Initiative within the department and the city at large, ensuring HR practices and policies promote an inclusive and equitable workplace.
• Provide talent acquisition services. Assist in assessment of staffing needs, development of job descriptions, facilitate classification of work, and facilitate full-cycle recruitment services.
• Commit to teamwork and transparency.
• Seek to solve problems and create innovative ideas through collaborative teamwork.
• Engage in a continuous and consistent flow of communication regarding the work of the department, among all levels of employees, and with City partners.

  Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration, human resources, or another discipline related to human resources management or a combination of education, training, and experience which provides an equivalent background required to perform the work described above.
  • Eight or more years of progressively responsibly human resources management in an organization or comparable scope and size.

  Skills

  • Experience in successfully managing change in HR teams.
  • Expert level technical knowledge as an HR Generalist.
  • Thorough understanding of City HR practices, systems, and policies.
  • Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Ability to communicate at all levels effectively and tactfully, create trusted partnerships and strong relationships.
  • A calm, positive, solutions-oriented approach, including understanding when and how to re-prioritize deliverables.
  • Project management skills, including the ability to produce, track, and manage multiple deliverables with overlapping deadlines in a high-performing environment.
  • A self-starter and able to work independently.
  • To hold yourself accountable for achieving goals, completing tasks, and delivering quality work.
  • To identify and implement HR solutions that are aligned with the City’s commitment to equity, citywide HR practices, and business needs.
  • To model racial equity in relationships with co-workers, colleagues, community, and others.
  • To facilitate recruitment processes that result in hiring diverse and talented individuals in a public safety environment.
  • To interact with people with a high level of empathy and emotional intelligence for the parties involved.
  • To communicate to diverse audiences effectively through public speaking, group settings, and one-on-one.
  • To cultivate a work culture that embraces transparency and accountability.