Location
Description
About the Positions
The Office of Racial Equity is hiring an Assistant to the City Manager position to serve as the Inclusion and Belonging Manager for the City of San José.
The ideal candidate will have significant experience and knowledge in:
Being a bridge-builder with the San José community and trusted to be a local partner on immigrant and refugee issues;
Familiarity with legislative process, advocacy towards immigration policy and initiatives;
Understanding the local context regarding race, gender, and economic disparities and inequities;
Understanding of racial equity, welcoming and belonging principles;
Developing programs, policies, or practices that are equitable and are culturally and linguistically appropriate;
Meeting design, planning and facilitation;
Writing complex reports and effectively presenting findings;
Methods and techniques of research, data collection, critical and statistical analysis, report preparation, and presentation development; and
Supervision of staff and manage workload accordingly.
Central abilities key to this position include excellent communication, strategic planning, leadership and interpersonal skills, a commitment to excellent customer experience, and coalition building. The organization is looking for proven leaders, that enjoy working through complex issues to find creative and innovative solutions and process improvements. Due to the complexity and scope of authority involved, this position requires someone who can work both independently and interdependently.
The Inclusion & Belonging Manager responsibilities include the following:
Implementation of a Welcoming framework, as well as monitoring, evaluation, and quarterly reporting;
Form and staff a Welcoming San Jose Advisory Group;
Prepare council memorandums and presentations;
Engage in Citywide efforts to advance racial equity;
Develop and facilitate ongoing partnerships with other agencies and organizations, including Santa Clara County, Rapid Response Network, Refugee and Immigrant Forum, Welcoming America, Cities for Citizenship, local funders, and other networks that prioritize immigrants;
Serve as a liaison between the City and the immigrant and refugee community;
Work with the City Manager’s intergovernmental relations team to track local, state, and federal immigration legislation and develop new City policies and programs accordingly;
Supervise City staff and college interns; and
Other duties as assigned.
This is a permanent at-will position with the City Manager’s Office reporting to the Director of the Office of Racial Equity. Bilingual in Spanish or Vietnamese is preferable but not required.
Ideal Candidate
Minimum Qualifications
A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in public administration, business administration, or a discipline related to the business performed by the department, AND six (6) years management and/or administrative experience in government or private business/industry. A Master’s degree is preferred and may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience. Pursuant to the City’s Covid-19 Mandatory Vaccination and Testing Policy, the City of San Jose is requiring all new hires to provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination as a condition of employment absent a documented medical and/or religious exemption.
Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San José will NOT sponsor, represent, or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.
Core Competencies
- Job Expertise: Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.
- Leadership: Leads by example; demonstrates high ethical standards; remains visible and approachable and interacts with others on a regular basis; promotes a cooperative work environment, allowing others to learn from mistakes; provides motivational supports and direction.
- Supervision: Sets effective long and short-term goals based on a good understanding of management practices; establishes realistic priorities within available resources; provides motivational support; empowers others; assigns decision-making and work functions to others in an appropriate manner to maximize organizational and individual effectiveness.
- Vision/Strategic Thinking: Supports, promotes, and ensures alignment with the organization’s vision and values; understands how an organization must change in light of internal and external trends and influences; builds a shared vision with others and influences others to translate vision to action
- Communication Skills: Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people’s ideas and thoughts.
- Management: Evaluates priorities to ensure the 'true' top priorities are handled satisfactorily; sets clear goals for the employees and the work unit.
- Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills: Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.
Selection Process
The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to the job specific questions. You must fill out the online application available on the City of San José website. As part of this process, you will be required to respond to five (5) supplemental questions. Applications with references to resumes, or failure to answer all five (5) questions, will be considered incomplete and your application withheld from further consideration. Please limit your response to no more than 4 pages.
To apply, please complete an application via the City of San José’s website at www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers. This position will remain open until filled. The first application review will be on Thursday, June 16, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as this posting can close at any time.
Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application. Please contact Human Resources at (408) 535-1285, or Human.Resources@sanjoseca.gov if you have any questions.
The actual salary shall be determined by the final candidate’s qualifications and experience. In addition to the starting salary, employees in the Assistant to the City Manager classification shall also receive an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable compensation pay.
Those candidates with experience and training that best match the position will move forward to the next phase of the selection process, which may include additional interview(s), writing sample(s) and reference checks.
- Please select the option that best describes how you meet the minimum qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree and at least six (6) years of management and/or administrative experience in government or private business/ industry.
- Master's degree and five (5) years of management and/or administrative experience in government or private business/ industry.
- None of the above.
- Tell us why you believe you are the best candidate for this position.
- Describe your experience in strategic planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of large initiatives. What approach or framework have you used and what systems have you created to track and evaluate progress and impact? How did you communicate deliverables or outcomes?
- Describe your experience in managing teams, collaborating with external groups, and facilitating consensus community-based decision making.
- How can your experience and skill set help improve the lives of immigrants and refugees San Jose? What do you anticipate being the greatest challenge and how would you mitigate or resolve it?
If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Jessica Lowry at Jessica.lowry@sanjoseca.gov.
