What are the responsibilities and job description for the Chief Operations Officer position at State of Washington?

This position will be located in either our Olympia Office or Seattle Office

Chief Operations Officer

The Department of Commerce has an exciting opportunity for a leader who enjoys providing critical operations services to one of Washington's fastest growing state agencies! If this sounds like you, keep reading!

This is your opportunity to lead a dynamic team, delivering high quality professional services to over 800 professionals, as our Chief Operating Officer (COO)! Commerce is the lead state agency charged with enhancing and promoting sustainable community development and economic vitality in Washington. Commerce manages a diverse portfolio that includes more than 140 programs, several state boards and commissions, and other entities including numerous local, state, regional, and federal partners and stakeholders, both public and private, all focused on helping communities achieve positive growth.

The COO leads the Operations Division which provides administrative and financial support for over 800 employees with a biennial budget of $9 billion. The COO has agency-wide impact, leading approximately 161 full-time employees (FTEs) in human resources, information technology, equity and belonging, internal audit, agency policy, finance, budget, contracting, facilities, telecom, purchasing, safety and emergency management, mail and public disclosure. The COO directs process improvement efforts, analyzes process and outcome measures, conducts problem solving, and collaborates across the agency.

Here is some of what you'll do :

Strategic and technical leadership of Commerce's daily business operations, ensuring programs are efficient, effective and accountable. This includes oversight of accounting and budgeting, information technology, human resources, equity and belonging, operations and facilities management.
Develops, directs and leads operations through meeting their statutory requirements, policy initiatives performance measures, revenue commitments and budgetary constraints.
Serves as executive sponsor and leader for the agency's process improvement, change management, metrics and accountability work, including coordinating these activities with the Governor's priorities, ensuring compliance with Executive orders, cooperation and compliance with legislatively mandated reports, and other enterprise projects and initiatives.
Champion of Commerce's vision, mission, values, and culture.
Creates a positive work environment, positioning Commerce as an employer of choice.

Who should apply?

Professionals with any combination of nine (9) total years of education and / or experience. This could be gained by a combination of relevant education, beyond high school equivalency, and / or senior level public management experience, including the management of a large government operating budget, team, or equivalent.

A minimum of five (5) years of the above referenced experience must be in senior management, advising or leadership within state government.

Applicants will need to possess :

Demonstrated executive management level experience including management of other management level positions.

The ability to plan, lead, organize and control the internal operations of the agency; to ensure appropriate and optimum use of the organization's resources and enhance the effectiveness of employees through timely appraisal and professional development opportunities; to support effective communications throughout the organization; and to maintain the highest standards of personal / professional and ethical conduct and support the State's goals for a diverse workforce.

Understanding of the legislative processes and operating in a political environment. Must have experience building and maintaining relationships with constituent groups, such as city and county officials, nonprofit service providers, other state agencies and legislators.

Knowledge of contemporary management techniques, ability to provide leadership and direction to managers and staff. Must have experience managing, developing and mentoring a large, complex budget and excellent written, oral and public speaking skills.

Experience in policy development and execution; the ability to articulate ill-defined problems and orchestrate a team to implement plans to address and resolve the same; and the ability to work with a wide array of stakeholders including the Governor's office, the legislature, Commerce leadership, other agencies, companies, associations.

Preferred / Desired Education, Experience and Competencies :

Master's degree in business, public administration, public policy or a closely related field.

Experience applying lean management principles for continuous change and process improvement.

Competencies :

Collaboration – Helps team and stakeholders meet goals and responsibilities, listens to others and values opinions, promotes a collaborative environment, is a trusted partner who communicates openly and honestly.

Interpersonal Skills – Has good listening skills, builds strong relationships, is flexible / open-minded, negotiates effectively, solicits performance feedback and handles constructive criticism.

Quality – Is committed to excellence, looks for improvements continuously, monitors quality levels, finds root causes of issues, owns / act on issues, and turns mistakes into learning opportunities.

Budget / Cost Control – Plans for and uses resources efficiently, always looks for ways to reduce costs, creates accurate and realistic budgets, tracks and adjusts budgets, contributes to budget planning.

Communication – Communicates well both verbally and in writing, creates accurate and punctual reports, delivers presentations, shares information and ideas with others, has good listening skills.

Decision Making / Judgment – Recognizes problems and responds, systematically gathers information, sorts through complex issues, seeks input from others, addresses root cause of issues, makes timely decisions, can make difficult decisions, uses consensus, when possible, communicates decisions to others.

Sense of Urgency – Prioritizes well, shows energy, reacts to opportunities, instills urgency in others, meets deadlines.

Organizational Savvy – Operates within the organization's formal and informal structures, builds allies and relationships across departments, uses allies to build consensus and create results, is appropriately diplomatic, understands others' roles and perspectives, can sell projects and ideas across the organization.

Strategic Thinking – Creates and communicates a long-term vision, balances short and long term goals, keeps own and team's work aligned with overall goals, understands the market and can predict change, understands the industry and the competition, creates and adjusts strategic plans.

To be considered for this position, the following are needed :

A letter of interest with a detailed description of your experience as it pertains to the qualifications listed.

A complete and detailed online application.

At least three professional references (enter online).

For questions about this recruitment, please contact Elly Price via email : Elly.Price@commerce.wa.gov - please reference the job number in your message.

This position may be located anywhere within Washington State though occasional travel to a Commerce office building or in-state travel to attend events or meetings may be required. If selected, you will need to travel to pick up equipment and receive instruction. Many Commerce employees work remote or have a hybrid schedule.

This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.

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