Policy and Rules Manager (WMS BAND 2)

State of Washington•Thurston County – Other, WA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position plays a critical role in taking an enterprise view of agency operations by providing centralized policy governance and rulemaking support. In doing so, it enables DES divisions to focus on their core missions while ensuring that agencywide policy and rulemaking efforts are coherent, legally sound, strategically aligned, and responsive to statewide priorities. In this position, you will be a working supervisor responsible for operationalizing strategy, overseeing major projects within the Policy & Rules Division, and supervising a team of policy and rules administrators who coordinate all agency rulemaking and policymaking functions. You will serve as the agency’s lead for rulemaking activities ensuring rules are legally defensible and follow the Administrative Procedures Act and the Regulatory Fairness Act. You will be responsible for ensuring strong planning, process development, implementation, and support across administrative policies, enterprise policies, procedural rules, interpretive rules, and significant legislative rules so that: Policy and rule outcomes align with DES strategic anchors, values, and goals. All adopted rules and policies meet legal requirements, Governor’s directives, executive orders, and enterprise-wide standards, including OFM’s Administrative and Accounting Manual, WaTech Policies and Standards, and Executive Ethics Board guidance. Diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are embedded in policy and rulemaking activities. Risk is proactively assessed and managed to minimize legal liability to the department. Strong collaboration occurs across communications, government relations, tribal relations, and program subject matter experts to ensure robust stakeholder engagement and thoughtful implementation planning. Interested individuals and partners have meaningful opportunities to participate in policy and rule development. Agency rules and policies remain consistent, clear, current, accurate, accessible, and supportive of a unified “One DES” approach.

Requirements

Nine (9) years of experience in state government policy development and rulemaking processes under the Washington State Administrative Procedures Act.
Bachelor’s degree in public administration, political science, business administration, law, or related field.
A minimum of five (5) years of experience in state government policy development and rulemaking processes under the Washington State Administrative Procedures Act.
Analysis and planning: Demonstrate ability to develop a vision and plan for success and ability to grasp, conceptualize, and interpret complex business processes to create or design a strategic plan to improve agency readiness for emergencies.
Leadership and facilitation: Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with internal and external customers; provide effective guidance and direction; and organize and motivate groups of people having diverse backgrounds and experience. Ability to work with executive managers and staff in DES, other government agencies, legislative agencies, and private interests.
Interpersonal skills: Demonstrate effective interpersonal communication and writing skills. Demonstrate an ability to establish and maintain an effective working relationship with internal and external partners and stakeholders.
Judgment and problem solving: Demonstrate an ability to make timely, logical, and defensible decisions based on the best information at hand. Identify and consider alternatives before making a decision; seek advice from others; and consider the impact of decisions on agency and other stakeholders.
Accountability: Ability to complete work accurately and timely; notify those impacted when deadlines might not be met and recommend alternatives; prioritize work independently; keep commitments; and accept responsibility for the quality and timeliness of work.
Equity Competencies State of Washington Employees contribute to ensuring services, programs, workplaces, and interactions are responsive, respectful, accessible, and effective to the people and communities we serve. Employees are expected to: Take action to learn and Grow: Demonstrate a willingness to learn from new experiences, seek feedback, consider different perspectives, and continuously improve knowledge, skills, communication, and approaches to work.
Take action to meet the needs of others : Seek to understand the needs and experiences of customers, coworkers, and communities. Identify barriers to access and participation and address them before they become obstacles for the people we serve, providing support that is respectful, timely, and effective.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in public administration, political science, business administration, law, or related field.
Seven (7) or more years of experience in policy development and rule-making processes under the Washington State Administrative Procedures Act.
One or more years of experience in central services administration and business environments and working across agency administrations and projects.
Demonstrated ability to successfully work in a politically sensitive environment; build consensus among diverse interests; apply negotiation and mediation skills; respect the ideas of others and communicate with diverse audiences both within and outside government.
Demonstrated advanced level knowledge of laws, rules, executive orders and processes governing the rule-making process; administrative policy process; legislative process; and state government.
Demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret complex legal and technical documents which may include agency rules, policies, contracts, legislative bills, federal or state statutes, federal or state case law, federal, state or local code or similar documents.
Demonstrated ability to provide effective analysis on multiple complex rules, policies, legislation or other documents within short deadlines.
Demonstrated commitment to due process, public service, customer satisfaction, and stakeholder involvement.
Demonstrated management style reflecting leadership, good judgment, problem-solving techniques, teamwork, and sound interpersonal communication.
Ability to: Make independent decisions in a complex organizational and political environment.
Accomplish work in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.
Organize and manage multiple tasks and multi-phased projects.

Responsibilities

Reviews and recommends all new, amended, and rescinded rule actions for prioritization and next steps.
Reviews proposed rules or rule changes for advancement to the Director of Policy, Rules, & Compliance.
Supplies management with consultation and recommendations where no clear precedent exists.
Oversees preparation of the semi-annual Rulemaking Agenda.
Manages and facilitates complex public rule hearings and stakeholder meetings, ensuring fair process, clear communication, and meaningful public participation.
Prepares official hearing summaries under RCW 34.05.325 for review of the Director of Policy, Rules & Compliance and approval by the agency Director.
Prepares the Director’s permanent rule-making orders for the Office of the Code Reviser.
Manages agency responses to rule-making petitions under RCW 34.05.330.
Advises the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance along with agency leaders on rule promulgation and strategic regulatory approaches.
Ensures inclusive stakeholder engagement structures that ensure meaningful participation from customers, partners, and the authorizing environment.
Ensures DES authentically considers stakeholder input and evaluates intended and unintended impacts of proposed rules.
Prepares the Policy, Rules, and Compliance Director to preside over official public rules hearings, preparing official hearing summary for review and approval.
Supervises, mentors, and directs Policy & Rules Administrators in the day-to-day execution of policy development and maintenance activities.
Develops and maintains systems of organization and support for the management and implantation of agency policy development.
Operationalizes the strategy, priorities, and expectations set by the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance to meet agency policy objectives.
Provides expert guidance to staff in preparing communications, publications, and implementation strategies for new or updated policies.
Supports the Director of Policy, Rules, & Compliance as well as Government Relations in responding to policy-related inquiries from elected officials and staff.
Manages the intake, risk evaluation, and prioritization efforts for agency administrative and enterprise-wide policy updates and new policy development.
Applies strong judgment and risk-assessment skills to identify legal, operational, and reputational risks early and recommend defensible, strategic solutions.
Conducts policy and rulemaking activities to ensure deep understanding of process, tools, resources, and expectations and provides back-up support in the absence of staff.
Operationalizes the indexing and information-management strategy set by the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance, ensuring staff execute activities effectively and consistently.
Ensures administrative policies are indexed on insideDES and enterprise policies are indexed on the DES public website.
Manage and train staff and subject matter experts on the effective use of SharePoint site used for the development and updating of policy and rulemaking activities.
Prepare performance reports and data insights for policy and rulemaking activities, creating greater visibility into current, future, and outstanding agency policy and rulemaking work.
Leads preparation of additional rule and policy reports required by the Governor or DES executive management.
Locates, maintains, and protects all rulemaking and policymaking information, including official rulemaking files, policy shop documents, WAC, statutes, AGO opinions, and interagency agreements.
Prepares timely analyses of legislation and executive orders for potential policy, rules, financial, procedural, or programmatic impacts.
Interprets applicable law, rules, directives, and statewide policies including RCW 34.05 Administrative Procedures Act , RCW 19.85 Regulatory Fairness Act , and Governor’s Executive Orders.
Provides recommendations to the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance regarding required actions, potential risks, and proposed timelines for rulemaking or policy development triggered by legislative or executive changes.
Supports agency participation in legislative inquiries, fiscal note development, and interagency discussions related to statutory or regulatory impacts.
Conducts complex analytical projects and research assignments.
Provides coordination and analytical support for agency planning processes and special projects.
Leads multi-phase projects by planning workflows, maintaining timelines, coordinating contributors, and ensuring successful execution of initiatives.