Director of Tribal Affairs , Government & Community Affairs

Position: Director of Tribal Affairs (0224U), Government & Community Affairs #83347
Director of Tribal Affairs (0224U), Government & Community Affairs

At the University of California, Berkeley, we are dedicated to fostering a community where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. Our culture of openness, freedom, and belonging make it a special place for students, faculty, and staff. As a world‑leading institution, Berkeley is known for its academic and research excellence, public mission, diverse student body, and commitment to equity and social justice.

Since our founding in 1868, we have driven innovation, creating global intellectual, economic, and social value.

We are looking for applicants who reflect California’s diversity and want to be part of an inclusive, equity‑focused community that views education as a matter of social justice. Please consider whether your values align with our Guiding Values and Principles, Principles of Community, and Strategic Plan. At UC Berkeley, we believe that learning is a fundamental part of working, and we provide space for supportive colleague communities via numerous employee resource groups.

Our goal is for everyone on the Berkeley campus to feel supported and equipped to realize their full potential. We actively support this by providing all of our full‑time staff employees with at least 80 hours (10 days) of paid time per year to engage in professional development activities.

Departmental Overview

UC Berkeley recognizes that every member of our community has benefited from living, working, and occupying the ancestral territories of California Native Nations. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, the University has a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible its role in the injuries committed against California Native Nations. In this way the University seeks to prioritize respect for both the historic culture and the contemporary presence of Native Americans throughout California and on its campus by striving to hold UC Berkeley more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native Nations and Native Hawaiian Organizations.

Given the unique history of the state of California and UC Berkeley’s role as the flagship land grant institution of the UC system, it is imperative that the university include tribal needs and perspectives within the fabric of the institution. The Office of Government and Community Relations within the Office of the Chancellor will house the Office of Tribal Relations.

The Director of Tribal Relations will lead UC Berkeley’s efforts to build, repair, and nurture relationships with sovereign Native Nations and serve as an ambassador between the campus and tribal communities.

This position will be reviewed on January 5, 2026.

Responsibilities

• Tribal Consultation
- Serve as campus ambassador to all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples, including both federally recognized and non‑federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes as well as Native Hawaiian Organizations.
- Promote and foster better relationships between campus and Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples by engaging in transparent and consistent communications.
- Connect Native American/American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian peoples with campus units, including libraries and archives, reserves, and research units, and help identify and establish relationships and partnerships.
- Develop an outreach and implementation plan that centers on making visible and honoring the history and celebrating the continued existence and flourishing of Native Nations in California, and particularly the Tribes whose ancestral homelands are the territories within which Berkeley occupies and utilizes.

• Internal Coordination and Strategy Setting
- Strategize with key campus experts, including but not limited to the following units:

* Native American Student Development Office

* American Indian Graduate Program

* Undergraduate Admissions Native American Outreach Coordinator

* Native American Community Center

* Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Implementation Committee

* NAGPRA Repatriation Coordinator

* Phoebe

A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, the California Language Archives, the Bancroft…