DSHS ESA Regional Administrator

Community Services Division Regional Administrator / Exempt Management Services 3 (EMS3)

As the Regional Administrator for Region 3, you guide one of the most complex and community-connected service areas within the DSHS’s Economic Services Administration. You lead a broad network of Community Services Offices across Southwest Washington and the coastal counties, ensuring people across the region have timely, equitable access to public assistance services. Your public assistance leadership strengthens the systems that help Washington residents meet basic needs, navigate life changes, and build stability.

You will shape the direction of regional operations by supporting leaders, strengthening service delivery, and building relationships with Tribal governments, community partners, labor representatives, and local governments. You will help teams stay aligned with statewide priorities while responding to emerging needs across diverse communities. Your leadership centers trust, clarity, inclusion, and steady guidance through change.

In your first six months, you will learn the region’s operations, meet staff across all Community Services Offices, and build relationships with Tribal partners and community organizations. You will assess current practices, identify opportunities for improvement, and begin strengthening workforce planning, operational consistency, and service quality. You will establish a clear communication rhythm with regional leaders, reinforce expectations for accountability and collaboration, and begin shaping long-range plans that support both staff and the communities we serve.

• Provide visible, engaged leadership across Region 3 to support consistent, customer-centered service delivery.
• Guide Community Services Office Administrators and regional leadership teams through coaching, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee regional operations, including service delivery, staffing, workforce planning, fiscal stewardship, and compliance with state and federal requirements.
• Strengthen partnerships with Tribal governments, community organizations, labor representatives, and local governments.
• Lead organizational change efforts that support employee engagement, succession planning, and workforce development.
• Coordinate emergency response, business continuity, and implementation of statewide initiatives.
• Use data, performance measures, and sound judgment to inform decisions that improve outcomes for customers and staff.
• Foster collaboration across administrations and external partners to align regional work with statewide goals.

We are looking for someone with demonstrated executive leadership experience overseeing large-scale public assistance, human services, or comparable public‑sector service delivery operations across multiple locations. This role requires experience guiding complex systems with responsibility for operational performance, workforce management, fiscal accountability, and implementation of state and federal policy.

This role also requires substantial experience in the planning and administration of a statewide human services delivery system. You may meet the requirements through several experience and education pathways, but the core requirement is extensive, practical experience guiding complex human services operations reflecting these areas:

• Executive leadership experience directing large, geographically dispersed operations within a public-sector or human services environment.
• Experience leading through change while maintaining operational stability and employee engagement.
• Skill in developing leaders through coaching, mentoring, accountability, and succession planning.
• Experience managing core operations including service delivery, fiscal stewardship, workforce planning, program integrity, and organizational risk.
• Ability to build collaborative partnerships with Tribal governments, community organizations, labor representatives, and local governments.
• Ability to make timely, informed decisions in complex and rapidly changing environments.
• Commitment to equity, inclusion, belonging and culturally responsive leadership.
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