DSHS ESA Public Benefits Specialist

Public Benefits Specialist 4 – Lead Worker

Imagine stepping into a role where your public benefits expertise, leadership skills, and ability to simplify the complex make a positive difference, every single day, to the lives of fellow Washingtonians. As a Public Benefits Specialist 4 – Lead Worker, you’ll be the go-to person for your team: offering guidance, reviewing work for accuracy, and supporting clients as they navigate the intricate world of public benefits.

The Economic Services Administration's (ESA) Community Service Division is hiring for a thoughtful, organized, and collaborative Public Benefits Specialist 4 to join our Pierce North Community Service Office, in Tacoma. In this role, you won’t only be determining eligibility—you’ll be mentoring colleagues, resolving challenges, and helping ensure individuals and families get the assistance and advocacy they need, when they need it.

This is a leadership-through-service role for someone who stays calm under pressure, thinks critically, and cares deeply about our mission. You’ll help cultivate a culture of quality and consistency—where your technical skills, good judgment, and commitment to equitable service help lift up the people we serve and the colleagues you support.

See why people like you choose careers at DSHS:

Pierce County employees are eligible to receive an Orca Card for transportation needs.

• Provide technical guidance, real‑time coaching, and policy interpretation to Public Benefits Specialists working with financial, food, and medical assistance programs.
• Conduct audits of casework to identify error trends, recommend trainings to support staff development and corrective actions if needed.
• Investigate and resolve complaints, client escalations, and errors in benefit determination.
• Assist with complex eligibility determinations, over payments, and case reviews requiring higher‑level analysis.
• Act in a lead capacity, assigning work and supporting the supervisor with workload coordination and performance monitoring.
• Support staff in navigating and using technology systems such as ACES, Barcode, Health Plan Finder, and ICMS accurately and efficiently.
• Participate in training new employees and developing resources to improve consistency and quality across the team.
• Serve as acting supervisor in their absence, including attending leadership meetings and making operational decisions.
• Represent the division’s goals of equity, quality, and accessibility in daily decision‑making and team guidance.
• Contribute to community outreach and cultural competency initiatives as needed.

Professionals with:

• Twelve months of experience as a Public Benefits Specialist 3.

Or

• A bachelor’s degree or higher AND twelve months of experience as a Public Benefits Specialist 2 determining eligibility for public assistance or long‑term care services.

Or

• Five years of combined higher education and/or equivalent experience may substitute for degree and PBS work experience requirements. Total must include at least one-year equivalent work experience. Examples of equivalent experience include but are not limited to:
  • Providing eligibility for services or direct customer service serving historically marginalized communities.
  • Experience examining/processing loan applications.
  • Medical insurance or rehabilitation claims.
  • Unemployment insurance claims.
  • Providing staff support in financial eligibility determination, or in a job analyzing, verifying, and evaluating financial data and information.

And

• Satisfactory completion of the agency’s Public Benefits Specialist Training Program.

Out-of-state experience conducting financial eligibility determination for public assistance, including financial, medical and food benefit programs, will be considered toward experience. Additional professional experience described above will substitute year for year for the required education.

• Policy mastery – Deep understanding of Washington Administrative Code and program‑specific guidance is essential for ensuring accurate benefit decisions and resolving high‑risk cases.
• Analytical precision – Strong ability…