Chief Legal and Civil Rights Officer

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks a Chief Legal & Civil Rights Officer to join the OSPI team. The agency headquarters is located in Olympia, WA. This full-time position may be eligible for remote work. Please indicate your preferred work location in your application materials. Headquarters for OSPI is in Olympia, Washington. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.

About OSPI and our initiatives
OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K–12 education in Washington state. Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 6 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

At OSPI, we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work and value the balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise. OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment, including:

• We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We have an Infants at Work Program that is based on long-term value of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of a cross-divisional, collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values and goals; and identifying strategies for inclusion.

Vision, Mission, and Values
Vision: All students prepared for post-secondary pathways, careers, and civic engagement.

Mission: Transform K-12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.

Values: Ensuring Equity, Collaboration and Service, Achieving Excellence through Continuous Improvement, Focus on the Whole Child

Equity
Each student, family, and community possesses strengths and cultural knowledge that benefits their peers, educators, and schools. Ensuring educational equity:

• Goes beyond equality; it requires education leaders to examine the ways current policies and practices result in disparate outcomes for our students of color, students living in poverty, students receiving special education and English Learner services, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and highly mobile student populations.
• Requires education leaders to develop an understanding of historical contexts; engage students, families, and community representatives as partners in decision-making; and actively dismantle systemic barriers, replacing them with policies and practices that ensure all students have access to the instruction and support they need to succeed in our schools.

Position Overview
The Chief Legal & Civil Rights Officer serves in an Executive Cabinet level position within the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction as the senior executive in non-personnel matters pertaining to legal affairs and equity and civil rights for the agency, reporting to the Chief of Staff.

We seek someone to provide transformative leadership, capacity building, and proactive guidance in support of the agency’s equity commitments to our anti-racist objectives, continuing to highlight the places where our disproportionality is greatest.

This strategic position is responsible for oversight of the internal handling of new and recurring legal and civil rights matters for the agency, in service of operationalizing our commitments to equity and becoming an anti-racist organization. It oversees and coordinates all legal advice and litigation services from the Attorney General’s Office, while collaborating closely with the Attorney General’s Office and OSPI Executive Team to ensure that legal and civil rights matters are handled efficiently and effectively. By law, the Attorney General’s Office represents all state agencies and officials.

This position also oversees the teams handling operational functions of the agency, such as civil rights compliance, records management, agency internal policy development, the safety and privacy programs, enterprise risk management, ethics opinions, and others.

This position delivers up-to-date legal guidance and advice that is dependable, proactive and timely. It collaboratively and effectively leads the division through strategic and operational matters to deliver results aligned with the agency’s vision, values and strategic goals.


Key Responsibilities

• Provides strategic planning support and advice regarding emerging and ongoing legal and civil rights matters that affect OSPI and K12 education statewide.
• Identifies and communicates emerging and needed changes related to civil rights, Public Records Act compliance, the Administrative Procedure Act, and other enterprise-wide legal questions affecting the work of the agency.
• Leads the division to proactively identify areas of improvement within systems and processes to support closing opportunity gaps, aligning with the agency’s antiracist objectives and meeting or exceeding compliance requirements to mitigate the agency’s exposure to risks.
• Develops and manages internal division budgets. Identifies capital and expense requirements to support ongoing and planned functions.
• Oversees the Legal Services Office, Office of Equity and Civil Rights, and Office of Professional Practices, and supports their work with internal and external stakeholders. Key team members include the agency’s public records officer, records officer, ethics officer, safety officer, hearings officer, privacy officer, enterprise risk manager, and the lead civil rights compliance officer.
• Leads OSPI’s internal administrative policies review and development process, including chairing the agency’s Administrative Policies Committee.
• Establishes, monitors, and evaluates divisional and individual performance goals and performance management activities.
• Prioritizes, assigns, and schedules work for direct subordinate managers and staff. Assures adequate reporting mechanisms are in place to monitor and communicate progress and assures that appropriate project management practices are in place.
• Establishes and promotes a culture that emphasizes the importance of customer focus and service. Obtains feedback and continually searches for ways to improve legal services in the agency.
• Builds partnerships and cooperative agreements that establish credibility within the division, with agency's stakeholders and outside entities. Creates useful communication and data exchange links within the agency and with external business partners.
• Builds an effective working relationship with the Assistant Attorneys General assigned to OSPI and facilitates effective communication and relationships between OSPI programs and assigned AAGs.
• Maintains the highest standard of personal, professional and ethical conduct; and supports the agency’s goals for workforce diversity.

Required Qualifications:

• Juris Doctorate Degree
• Five years of legal experience in a legal office or setting
• Minimum of three years of leadership experience
• Experience in representing an organization governed by Washington state law.
• Proven successful leadership in the areas of equity and civil rights to assist the agency with its anti-racist objectives, preferably in the public sector.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences, both internal and external.
• Strong analytic, conflict management, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong internal and external customer service skills.
• Commitment to equity and diversity.
• Ability to provide leadership and strategic direction on high-profile, significant impact issues.
• Exceptional collaboration skills.

Desired Qualifications:

• Knowledge of education law and Washington’s K-12 education system
• Experience working in legal affairs within a government organization
• Five years of experience supervising multiple individuals or teams

Compensation
The annual compensation range for the position is between $120,000 - $132,000 per year and depends upon experience, educational background and qualifications. Geographic differentials may be applied based on work location of successful candidate. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement and an optional deferred compensation program. Please visit Health Care Authority for information regarding health benefits and the Department of Retirement Systems for retirement plan information. This position serves at the pleasure of the Superintendent, and is Civil Service Exempt. This position is not represented by a bargaining unit.

Application Process
Those interested in this position must apply through Careers.wa.gov. Applications must include the following documents in MS Word and PDF format only:

• A letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in this announcement;
• A current résumé, and;
• A list of three or more professional references.

Please address any questions to:
Theresa Ellsworth, Human Resources
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
600 Washington Street Southeast
Olympia, Washington 98504-7200
(360) 725-6066; [email protected]

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at (360) 725-6270 or (360) 725-6066, or e-mail [email protected].

New Jobs Alert Service
OSPI offers a subscription service, which regularly notifies subscribers of new OSPI employment opportunities on careers.wa.gov. Subscribers are notified via text or email alert. If you are interested in this service, then please subscribe at this location.

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity. OSPI provides equal access to all programs and services without discrimination based on sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. If you would like, please include your name and gender pronouns in your application, to ensure we address you appropriately throughout the application process. Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the human resource consultant listed in “Application Process.”