Human Rights Director

Position Summary

GENERAL SUMMARY OF DUTIES:

Under the general supervision of the City Manager, this position is designed to enforce the city's human rights ordinances, policies, and programs in accordance with state and federal civil rights laws. The Director will serve as a key advisor to city leadership, oversee complaint intakes, develop community education initiatives, and collaborate with stakeholders with the goal of prevention and elimination of unlawful discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodation, credit, and education.

The Director will lead the development of initiatives that create an organizational culture of respect and belonging. This position will have an integral part in supporting organizational efforts to become a high-performance, data-driven, and outcome-focused organization with the ultimate goal of creating a community and organization where all feel heard, respected, and valued through planning, partnerships, and people. The individual should have strong emotional intelligence skills and a continuous improvement mindset.

The ideal candidate possesses the ability to follow a management philosophy that includes principles of curiosity; problem-solving; partnerships and teamwork; and two-way accountability. The candidate should exemplify the City's SPIRIT statement, the values by which we operate:
Service, People, Integrity, Responsibility, Innovation and Teamwork.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
Work in this class includes responsibility for executive leadership and administrative and financial oversight in directing the activities of the Human Rights Department. The employee reports to the City Manager and serves as the staff liaison to the Human Rights Commission. Extensive leeway is granted for the exercise of independent judgement, initiative, discretion, and collaboration. The employee in this class establishes and maintains effective working relationships with other City employees, business and community groups, state and federal officials, representatives of the media, and the public.

Work is reviewed by the City Manager through reports, conferences and results achieved.

Job Duties

JOB DUTIES:

Administrative:

* Prepare departmental budgets and policy recommendations.

* Supervise employees and oversee recordkeeping activities.

Commission:

* Be familiar with, and able to explain, civil rights regulations, policies, and procedures including the protections within the city code and the role and responsibilities of the Human Rights Commission.

* Provide Commissioner orientation and training.

* Prepare agenda items and reports for Human Rights Commission Meetings in consultation with Human Rights Commission Chair.

* Be familiar with open meetings and open records compliance.

* Attend meetings of the Human Rights Commission

* Assist and advise Human Rights Commission in achieving their assigned functions as outlined in the Code of Ordinances.

Internal:

* Serve as an internal advisor and community connector for City leadership on:

* Community Engagement through relationship building and connections.

* Data analysis by assisting city departments on the use of data to identify issues and address institutional and structural barriers preventing full participation in city programs and civic life including access to city services.

* Strategic goal development on how best to create a welcoming and belonging work and community environment.

Community:

* Establish goals, guidelines, and policies for departmental and commission community outreach and education.

* Identify and lead civil rights education outreach efforts.

* Identify and lead initiatives which will engage the community while ensuring underrepresented voices are encouraged to participate and foster a sense of belonging in the community.

* Represent the City in public forums, community dialogues, and collaborative initiatives sponsored by other entities.

Legal:

* Understand and explain civil rights regulations, policies, and procedures.

* Conduct regular national best practices research and comparative analyses to ensure the City's continued progress toward goals related to civil rights compliance, training, and enforcement.

* Confer with representatives of federal, state and local agencies, elected officials, and community groups on civil rights issues and activities.

* Review legislative issues relating to civil rightsandattend meetings of professional organizations.

* Facilitate processing of discrimination complaints in collaboration with the City Attorney's office.

* Evaluate external complaint trends to identify trends needing a response, education, intervention, or referral.

Perform other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

* Administration and Management - Skills in strategic planning, resource allocation and coordination of people and resources. Knowledge of finance, planning, marketing, budgeting, practices, techniques, procedures, and administration.

* Leadership - Ability to independently, collaboratively, and…