Role Description

The Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD) ensures that City departments are aligned and coordinated in planning and advancing equitable development for Seattle’s future growth. OPCD contributes to this work through long-range planning, land use policy development, community planning, and community development. The work is guided by Seattle’s newly adopted Comprehensive Plan, which envisions a more affordable, inclusive, and resilient city over the next 20 years. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. The fields of urban planning and community development have often failed to reflect the experiences and identities of people affected by development decisions and outcomes, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Immigrants, Refugees, People with Disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people. We strongly encourage people with these identities or from other marginalized communities to apply.

We are looking for a senior-level division manager to provide forward-thinking leadership and support to the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) division as we grow and continuously build our impact. Our EDI team supports communities with the highest risk of displacement in Seattle, providing funding and technical assistance for community-led projects and strategies to promote access to opportunity and resist “loss of place” through gentrification. We are looking for applicants with a strong background in program leadership and people management to build and inspire a team around a shared vision. You will also need experience managing a significant budget and working on highly visible, politically sensitive projects.

• Program Delivery – lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy that moves the EDI program forward to its next iteration, including working closely with our strategic planning consultant team and community partners through a 12–18-month strategic planning process.
• Leadership – manage staff and provide critical delegation and team-building support; work closely with the OPCD director and management team to implement the EDI program and processes; lead external communications with elected officials and the public.
• Partnership Development – leverage existing and build new relationships to increase resources to the EDI program and grantees.

Qualifications

• Experience in a dynamic work environment, and with a high-functioning team, including team building and supporting professional development.
• Administrative, budget, work planning, and workload management skills.
• Experience managing contracts and/or supervising staff who are managing contracts.
• Experience in program evaluation and impact tracking, assessing efficiency gaps, programmatic successes, and implementing equitable development sector best practices.
• Operationalized trust-based philanthropy and/or grant-making processes.
• Strong active listening, written, verbal, and visual communication skills applied in a political environment.
• Knowledge of racialized planning history.
• A working knowledge of comprehensive local, national, and global equitable development practices.
• Curiosity regarding the City’s budgetary history, current EDI granting, and capital and federal funding programs that offer opportunities for deeper fund coordination.

Requirements

• A successful applicant will have experience that reflects a commitment to equitable development. This experience should be complemented by demonstrated ability in most of the following areas:
• Administrative, budget, work planning, and workload management skills.
• Sharing a project or program's story and using your advocacy skills to raise its political profile.
• Experience operationalizing trust-based philanthropy and/or grant-making processes.
• Experience in continually developing staff, programming impact, and best practices.
• Building authentic critical internal and external relationships.
• Navigating political environments.

Benefits

• This job is classified as a Manager 2, General Government. The full pay range for this position is $56.57-$84.88. For office pay equity reasons, our target salary for this position is $78.74/hour.
• This position offers the flexibility of a hybrid work schedule. Individual schedules will be based on agreement between the employee and management. You may be asked to attend meetings and events that occur on weekday evenings and weekends.
• We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including vacation, holiday, and sick leave, as well as medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents.