DDECSD Operations Manager (SPM I)

Salary : $119,465.01 - $151,428.99 Annually
Location : Seattle, WA
Job Type: Career Service, Full Time, 40 hrs/week
Job Number: 2025GM24320
Department: DCHS - Community & Human Srvcs
Division: Dev Dis & Early Child Suppts
Opening Date: 04/25/2025
Closing Date: 5/10/2025 11:59 PM Pacific
FLSA: Exempt
Bargaining Unit: Z3 : KC Personnel Guidelines
Full- or Part-Time: Full Time
Hours/Week: 40 hours/week

Summary

The Department of Community and Human Services values diverse perspectives and life experiences. The Department encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with lived experiences.
King County's provides equitable opportunities for people to be healthy, happy, and connected to community.
The King County Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division (DDECSD) is recruiting for an Operations Team Lead. The Operations Team Lead will be a member of the DDECSD Senior Leadership Team and will report to the Division Director. This leadership position will support an Operations specialist with vision in planning, organizing, and managing division operations and some DCHS-wide initiatives. This position will work with division leadership to create and implement policies, oversee recruiting and hiring, help foster a deep sense of belonging for all staff, and ensure our work is grounded in anti-racist values and disability justice, centering those most impacted. The Operations Team Lead will use an equity, race, and social justice (ERSJ) and disability justice approach throughout their work and will serve as a co-lead in our divisions' ERSJ, disability justice, inclusion, and belonging work. This position will also serve as a DDECSD representative to the department-level DCHS ERSJ Coordinating Body.

DDECSD is responsible for planning, coordinating, implementing, and maintaining services to meet the needs of children from prenatal to five, their families, and caregivers; people with developmental disabilities and delays and their families, and community-based organizations. Our Division is seeking team members who are committed to promoting racial, social, and economic equity for all people in King County.
WHO MAY APPLY: This position is open to all qualified candidates who meet the minimum qualifications. Interviews for this selection process will take place on or around May 20, 2025.
APPLICATION PROCESSIf you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process, or if you have questions, please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
The following items are required to be considered for this vacancy:

• NeoGov Job Application (The responses on your job application should be thorough and complete and will be used in the screening process)
• Supplemental Questions (The responses to the supplemental questions should be thorough and complete and will be used in the screening process)

Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the relevant information in the application. Cover letters and/or resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed application. Applications and/or Supplemental Questionnaires that state "see my resume" or "see my personnel file" are considered incomplete and will not be accepted.
WORK SCHEDULE/CONDITIONS: This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is not eligible for overtime. Typical hours are Monday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. This position is not represented by a union.
MISSION CRITICAL POSITION STATUS: This position has been designated Mission Critical. Unless otherwise directed by the County Executive, department director, or agency head, all employees, regardless of designation, are expected to report to work or request leave during an emergency or inclement weather. For more detailed information, please visit and the
TELEWORKING REQUIREMENT: The work associated with this position will be performed or conducted through a combination of teleworking and onsite work and meetings. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

RECRUITER: Greg Mallory,

Job Duties
Support and lead a team responsible for directing and overseeing DDECSD internal operations:

• Analyze internal operations and identify areas for process enhancement.
• Provide leadership and support for the implementation and continuous improvement of policies and operating procedures.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with the division team members, department leadership, County Executive staff, and other County departments.
• Lead implementation of key initiatives and projects, such as annual and quarterly deliverable tracking, after recruitment review process, and stay interviews with team members.
• Be a resource and the main point of contact for our modern workplace tool suite support and requests, records management, and our website updates.

Lead and manage DDECSD recruiting, offboarding, and training processes:

• Champion inclusive, equitable hiring and onboarding practices by developing and updating internal resources and tools, training managers on recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding processes, expectations, best practices, and facilitating exit interviews with departing team members.
• Support the division's personal and career development initiatives, including regular communication about development opportunities, organizing group training sessions, and tracking progress.
• Manage the ongoing and annual performance evaluation process for the division, including developing internal timelines, monitoring completion of probationary evaluations, and training new managers on performance evaluation processes and best practices. Reinforce and embed equity and social justice principles into policies, practices, attitudes, and actions that produce equitable access, opportunities, treatment, impact, and outcomes for all.
• Assist in developing and drafting division policies, procedures, and training.
• Perform other project management duties as assigned.

Engage in a collaborative, equity-centered division and management team that fosters a culture of trust, inclusion, and shared leadership:

• Be an active member of the DDECSD Senior Leadership Team.
• Co-manage DDECSD Quarterly Direction Setting meetings and follow through on action items.
• Liaise with the DCHS Human Resources Team on multiple matters, including, but not limited to, partnering with the King County Office of Labor Relations and Labor Unions.
• Nurture a culture that allows all members of the team to contribute and thrive.
• Co-lead and coordinate the division's Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EIB) Change Team. This includes supporting the facilitation of meetings, leading trainings/dialogues, co-designing and implementing strategies centering racial and disability justice.

Serve as division representative for department-wide initiatives and priorities:

• Support the division's annual planning processes.
• Support the DCHS Lean Maturity Model assessments.
• Serve as a DDECSD representative on the DCHS Internal Systems Team.
• Partner with the Division Director and Deputy Director to lead the implementation of complex, interdivisional, and cross-department projects.
• Serve as a DDECSD representative on the department-level DCHS ERSJ Coordinating Body.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills

• Experience nurturing a workplace culture that supports the individual and team needs to provide a cohesive and functional team.
• Deep knowledge of, commitment to, and experience taking action to implement equity, racial, disability, and social justice principles and practices, understanding the effects of place, race, policy, and systems-based inequities on marginalized communities and populations.
• At least three years of full-time experience in progressively more complex and responsible roles related to operations, business development, or a similar field.
• At least two years of experience supervising. Alternatively, experience leading ESRJ or operations work where you provided coaching and mentorship can be considered in lieu of the supervisory experience requirement.
• Proven experience in project management, including leading and managing complex projects with attention to equity and accessibility, including managing multiple complex and time-sensitive projects concurrently.
• Experience designing and facilitating trainings and dialogues on equity and social justice, especially around race and disability.
• Ability to co-create and refine processes in partnership with those impacted, centering equity.
• Demonstrated experience leading process improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience using relational leadership that centers trust, psychological safety, inclusion, and supporting team members across functions to drive project success, without having direct supervisory responsibility over the team.
• A strategic thinker who can navigate ambiguity and balance competing priorities, complex situations, and tight deadlines.
• Demonstrated experience in the human services field and/or in the public sector.
• Demonstrated experience supporting teams in a unionized environment.
• Experience designing and overseeing equitable, efficient, and effective policies and operations.
• Brings curiosity, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning and improvement for continuous improvement, both personal and at an organizational level.
• Ability to coordinate, schedule, and facilitate effective and efficient meetings with cross-section staff, and follow through on action items to ensure completion.
• Strong communication skills that prioritize clarity, accessibility, and meaningful engagement with the ability to communicate in a politically sensitive manner, clearly express division goals and objectives, and establish mechanisms and encourage the exchange of ideas and information up, down, and across an organization.
• Knowledge, competency, and experience with Modern Workplace tools, including SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and other related tools.
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous quality improvement strategies in a social service setting.
• Ability to identify intersecting issues, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration across internal and external partners, including strategies to promote equity.
• Experience providing engaging trainings and/or technical assistance with diverse groups using adult learning approaches.
• Commitment to sharing knowledge and insights in ways that honor different communication styles and learning needs of diverse audiences for understanding and decision-making.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS

• A bachelor's degree and/or an equivalent combination of professional and life experience, ideally in operations management, business, or a related field, that enables the ability to learn complex processes quickly, analyze and improve those processes, and then teach others about the processes.
• Have currently or previously held a project management certification (e.g., PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, CAPM, MPM, CompTIA Project+).

Supplemental Information
Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.
Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.Guided by our , we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles - we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.
King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
King County offers a highly-competitive compensation and benefits package designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and support our employees' health and well-being. Eligible positions receive the following benefits and have access to the following programs:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage options: King County provides eligible employees with options, so they can decide what's best for themselves and their eligible dependents
• Life and disability insurance: employees are provided basic coverage and given the opportunity to purchase additional insurance for both the employee and eligible dependents
• Retirement: eligible King County employees may participate in a pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems and a 457(b) deferred-compensation plan
• Transportation program and ORCA transit pass
• 12 paid holidays each year plus two personal holidays
• Generous vacation and paid sick leave
• Paid parental, family and medical, and volunteer leaves
• Flexible Spending Account
• Wellness programs
• Onsite activity centers
• Employee Giving Program
• Employee assistance programs
• Flexible schedules and telecommuting options, depending on position
• Training and career development programs

For additional information about employee benefits, visit our

This is a general description of the benefits offered to eligible King County employees, and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. If any information on this document conflicts with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the CBA prevails.

NOTE: Benefits for Term Limited Temporary (TLT) or Short Term Temporary (STT) positions, including leave eligibility and/or participation in the pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, will vary based upon the terms and details of the position. Short Term Temporary positions are not eligible for an ORCA transit pass.

For inquiries about the specifics of this position, please contact the recruiter identified on this job posting.
01

Are you applying to this position as an eligible current or previous King County Employee Priority Placement Program Participant? ANDIs this position the same or lower percentage of full-time when compared to the position held at the point of the notification of layoff? ANDDo you possess the skills and abilities to qualify for this position?

• Yes, I was given a layoff notice from my Career Service role at King County and I am within two years of the effective date of my layoff. Additionally, the position I was laid off from was the same or a higher percentage of FT status when compared to this one.
• No.

02

If you answered yes to the question above and you are applying for this position as a Priority Placement Participant, to be considered, you must provide the following three pieces of information in the space provided:1. The title you held when you received your layoff notice2. The department you worked in3. The effective date of your layoff
03

How many years of experience do you have in the human services field and/or in the public sector?

• I do not have this experience yet.
• 1 year (less than 2) of experience
• 2-5 years of experience
• 6 (or more) years of experience

04

Please describe at least three years of recent, increasingly senior experience in managing, interacting with, and promoting accountability within diverse staff teams. (Include organization name(s) and date(s).
05

How many years of experience do you have as a supervisor of employees and/or leading ESRJ or operations work where you provided coaching and mentorship?

• I do not have this experience yet.
• 1 year (less than 2) of experience
• 2-5 years of experience
• 6 (or more) years of experience

06

How do you balance efficiency, cost, and human relationships when managing day-to-day operations? Provide examples that highlight your approach
07

Do you have experience supporting teams in a unionized environment?

• Yes
• No

08

How have you applied equity, race, and social justice (ERSJ) principles in planning and decision-making throughout your work or other efforts? Please provide an example of how you have integrated ERSJ principles into a specific project.
09

Do you have experience in designing and facilitating trainings and dialogues on equity and social justice, particularly around issues of race and disability?

• Yes
• No

10

How many years of professional full-time experience do you have in complex and responsible roles related to operations, business development, or a similar field?

• I do not have this experience yet
• 1-2 years of experience
• 3-5 years of experience
• 6 (or more) years of experience

11

Do you have experience leading process improvement initiatives?

• Yes
• No

12

How do you define the scope when creating a new process to make sure it's effective without being overly complicated? Provide an example that highlights your approach, ideally an example that demonstrates creating a new process to support a team.
Required Question