Grants & Community Partnerships Manager (WMS3)

State of Washington•Thurston County – Lacey, WA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is seeking a collaborative and strategic leader to serve as the Public Transportation Division's (PTD) Grants & Community Partnerships Manager. This position provides leadership and direction for four integrated program areas: Community & Organizational Engagement, Grants, Community Transportation Planning, and Intercity Bus. The role oversees statewide public transportation grant programs, community partnerships, compliance, planning, and intercity bus services. It works closely with internal and external partners to strengthen public transportation systems across Washington by advancing equitable community engagement, ensuring accountability for state and federal funding, supporting regulatory compliance, and improving access to reliable transportation for communities throughout the state. As a member of the division's management team, this position helps shape division strategy, fosters organizational culture, and supports WSDOT's mission to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation options that strengthen communities and promote economic vitality.

Requirements

Leadership and Organizational Development Experience establishing partnerships, building teamwork and trust, and maintaining effective working relationships inside and outside the department and the ability to influence people and coach, mentor, and develop staff.
Experience creating an environment that encourages innovation, appropriate risk taking and focused entrepreneurial action.
Skills to plan and support the development of an individual's skills and abilities so that they can fulfill their current and future job/role responsibilities more effectively.
Thorough knowledge of leadership, management, organizational development, and personnel.
Conflict Resolution and Management Skills to effectively interact with others in an antagonistic situation; using appropriate interpersonal styles and methods to reduce tension or conflict between two or more people.
Excellent interpersonal communication and negotiating skills.
Leadership Presence Experience with collaboration and engaging with executive leadership.
Has an interpersonal style that engages others and encourages trust.
Influences others using personal power and does so in a fashion that has charm, style, and a genuine sense of empathy.
Balances this highly personal concern for others with a sense of professionalism and with actions that are consistent with his/her words.
Extraordinary communication skills, including the ability to convey issues to management or executive levels.
Excellent public communications skills, including marketing, market research, public involvement, public relations, writing, editing, presentation, and online communications.
Planning and Prioritizing Skills to establish courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently and possess skills to be a strategic and creative thinker and problem solver.
Expertise directing/overseeing large projects, including using project management methodologies to lead and motivate diverse groups towards accomplishing a goal.
Project and issue management, public budget management, grants administration, policy development and implementation.
Professional knowledge of public transportation; grant program development; grant and contract management; transportation planning, design, construction, operations and evaluation.
Growth Mindset and Service-Oriented Actively demonstrates a commitment to learning and growth.
Experience contributing to a work environment that fosters a culture of respect and equal opportunity.
Takes action to meet the needs of others.

Nice To Haves

Negotiating Acumen Skills to effectively explore alternatives and positions to reach outcomes that gain the support and acceptance of all parties.
Ability to build support for preferred alternatives; build value of preferred alternatives by relating them to the other party’s needs; respond to objections by emphasizing value; expose problems while identifying alternatives.
Ability to facilitate agreement and seek win-win solutions through a give-and-take process that recognizes each party’s core needs.
Ability to identify points of agreement/disagreement; build common ground by highlighting areas of agreement; and focus efforts by pointing out areas of disagreement.
Flexible and Adaptive Skills to remain effective when experiencing major changes in work tasks or the work environment.
Ability to adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures.

Responsibilities

Oversee the grant making and award process of over 300 grants and contracts totaling more than $650 million per biennium.
Oversee the monitoring and compliance process for over 100 operating grants and contracts totaling more than $300 million per biennium.
Develop policy and procedures that have statewide impact for the completion of transit projects funded by local, state and federal government.
Establish policies, methods and procedures for the oversight of local agency projects.
Manage staff providing project oversite for public transportation projects across the state; supervise staff overseeing public transportation projects across the state.
Develop strategies for long term implementation of grantmaking, community and organizational engagement, compliance and oversight of operating grants, and intercity bus operations.
Develop contract administration and oversight requirements for projects funded through WSDOT.
Provide state-wide direction and leadership on grantmaking, community and organizational engagement, compliance and oversight of operating grants, and intercity bus operations.
Use risk management techniques to establish the state role in grantmaking, community and organizational engagement, compliance and oversight of operating grants, and intercity bus operations and mitigate the state’s liability.