Summary of Duties:

The Lead Facilitator is a collaboration and conflict resolution professional who helps parties involved in complex public policy challenges in the State of Washington and the Pacific Northwest develop collaborative, durable, and effective solutions to those challenges. The primary duties are to assess, develop, manage, and facilitate Center collaborative policy projects involving a wide range of public, private, tribal, and NGO entities. Projects cover the gamut of issues: health policy, criminal justice, natural resources, climate, education, housing insecurity, community resilience, COVID, and other public policy challenges.
This position exercises budgetary authority to allocate resources, integrates research-based and professional and personal experience to address issues, and draws on the knowledge base of disciplines related to participant collaboration and conflict resolution to assist parties in finding solutions. Effective project implementation may include applied research, as well as planning, conducting, and evaluating programs and practices while addressing concerns of participants. There is a strong expectation of collaboration with faculty and staff from our host universities, Washington State University and University of Washington. This position will be responsible for supervising project interns and managing project staff.

Job Duties:

Project Design

• Help the Center create and implement potential projects and project focus areas consistent with its mission and vision.
• Lead overall project development, which consists of vetting, scoping, project design, and budgeting and contracting.
• Serve as project liaison and point person for briefings and coordination with multiple organizational partners.
• Interface and engage with UW and WSU faculty and staff to partner on projects.
• Assist in securing funding and new partnerships, as well as assisting with expanding the impact of the Center.

Process and Project Design

• Lead and manage process design for projects including applying race, equity, and social justice principles to overall project design and implementation.

Project Facilitation and Analysis

• Serve as a lead facilitator for complex collaborative policy projects including facilitation of interviews, groups, team meetings, and other project engagement.
• Implement analytic tools to assist in information gathering, analysis, and synthesis along with identification of recommendations.
• Write and supervise writing of project reports.
• Utilize understanding of systems dynamics and related disciplines to identify tools and develop frameworks for dealing with complex relationships.

Project Management

• Develop, assign, lead, and manage hourly employees, faculty, and staff, and consultants as part of project teams.
• Manage relationships and facilitate engagement of project partners.
• Develop project workplans and timelines and overall project and budget management strategies.
• Utilize strategic thinking and work with Center faculty and staff to assure project success including achievement of deliverables and milestones.
• Work with WSU staff to manage a wide variety of contracts and grants.
• Provide excellent customer service to project partners and sponsors.
• Coordinate and liaise with other offices, individuals, and external entities and agencies on a wide range of issues.
• Communication and Relationship Building. Interface with project sponsors and participants and other internal and external constituencies.
• Develop politically sensitive communications.
• Provide briefings and presentations to state legislators, the Governor, Tribal, local, regional, and other elected and appointed officials, agency personnel, and others from the public, private, and non-governmental sectors.

Other Duties as Assigned

• Participate in Center core staff functions, such as staff meetings and administration.
• Develop and maintain effective professional relationships with Ruckelshaus faculty and staff, Advisory Board, university administrative and financial entities, and external partners and key stakeholders.

Required Qualifications:

A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant extension program field and four (4) years of relevant program coordination experience which has included at least one (1) year of supervisory experience. A Master’s degree in a related extension program field may be substituted for up to one (1) year of the required program coordination experience. A Doctorate degree in a related extension program field may be substituted for the required experience.

• The 4 years of relevant program coordination experience must include demonstrated experience as an impartial facilitator in multiparty collaborations and/or multiparty conflict resolution.
• Demonstrated organizational and project management skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field or Two (2) additional years of experience
• Training and demonstrated experience related to cultural competency, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Demonstrated experience working on issues with a high level of visibility and complexity, especially in highly political situations.
• Relevant experience working with policy making processes across public, non-profit, tribal, private, and/or civic sectors.
• Demonstrated ability to work collegially and collaboratively with diverse internal and external constituencies.
• Experience, knowledge, and relationships across the policy landscape in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in applying systems thinking and related disciplines to collaborative problem solving, as well as policy issues.
• Demonstrated leadership experience and training.
• Experience interviewing for information gathering.