Project Program Manager III - Transit Employee and Labor Relations

King County • Seattle, WA

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

King County Metro Transit Employee and Labor Relations team is hiring a Project Program Manager III to be a point person for overseeing, tracking, developing standard work and reporting on Employee and Labor Relation issues. This position is responsible for leading and facilitating large scale meetings, managing complex, highly sensitive projects that require coordination across multiple departments, legal partners, labor relations staff, and operational leadership. As the project manager you will establish and support standardized processes, develop tracking and reporting mechanisms, and serve as the primary coordinator for Requests for Information (RFIs) supporting litigation, arbitration, and other legal proceedings. The Transit Employee and Labor Relations (TELR) team supports employees at Metro Transit, most of whom are represented by collective bargaining agreements. TELR’s mission is to engage with Metro Transit employees and their representatives to support a workplace culture that inspires innovation, creative problem solving, collaborative negotiations, and continuous improvement in our drive toward service excellence. This recruitment will be used to fill one (1) Special Duty Assignment (SDA)/Term Limited Temporary (TLT), Project/Program Manager III classification vacancy. In addition, this selection process may be used to generate an eligibility pool for future Special Duty Assignment (SDA), Term Limited Temporary (TLT), and Career Service (CS) vacancies that may occur in this classification within this workgroup. The eligibility list will be retained for 12 months from the date of posting and may be used at the discretion of the hiring authority.

Requirements

• Three (3) years of experience managing complex projects from concept through implementation, preferably involving labor relations, human resources, legal operations, compliance, or public sector administration OR a combination of education, training, and/or professional experience which provides the equivalent background required to effectively perform the work of this position
• Skilled in organizing and facilitating large-scale meetings for leaders at all levels.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills with the ability to lead technical meetings, training sessions, and cross-functional workgroups.
• Excellent organizational, customer service, written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Skill in serving as a liaison between multiple departments.
• Ability to manage department shared inboxes and triage high-volume, time-sensitive inquiries.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple large-scale projects with competing priorities while consistently meeting critical legal, labor, and operational deadlines.
• Advanced project management skills, including planning, scheduling, prioritization, risk management, implementation, and continuous process improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to manage politically sensitive and high-profile projects requiring significant attention to detail and sound judgment.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional work involving executive leadership, attorneys, labor organizations, regulatory agencies, and operational partners.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative working relationships with leadership, organized labor, employees, legal partners, and external agencies while fostering trust and professionalism.
• Strong analytical skills with experience developing reports, dashboards, metrics, and data-driven recommendations.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality while managing highly sensitive personnel, legal, and labor relations information.
• Ability to manage complex case files with accuracy and consistency.
• Strong record-keeping and document control skills, especially for RFIs, investigations, settlements, and litigation tracking.
• Experience interpreting labor agreements, employment laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and other project management and tracking systems.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with large public sector agencies or governmental organizations
• Knowledge of King County Metro’s operations, mission, and policies
• Experience developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), business process documentation, and workflow improvements.
• Knowledge of drug and alcohol compliance requirements (e.g., DOT regulations).
• Familiarity with external agency processes (L&I, WSHRC, EEOC, unemployment claims).
• Understanding of litigation procedures and legal document handling.

Responsibilities

• Lead implementation and tracking of grievance settlement agreements, ensuring all settlement terms are completed timely and accurately.
• Supports the disciplinary administration of King County Metro's Drug and Alcohol Program by coordinating and processing documentation associated with employee drug and alcohol policy violations.
• Tracks disciplinary actions associated with drug and alcohol violations to ensure accurate records, timely processing, and compliance with applicable policies procedures, collective bargaining agreements, and regulatory requirements.
• Serve as a liaison between Drug and Alcohol, TELR and Metro people Leaders to facilitate communication, assist with drafting disciplinary documents, monitor case progress, and ensure disciplinary actions are processed consistently, accurately and in accordance with established timelines.
• Lead and coordinate Requests for Information (RFIs) related to grievance arbitrations, ensuring timely collection, review, tracking, and production of responsive records.
• Facilitate, lead, and manage litigation tracking and coordinate litigation-related RFIs in partnership with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Human Resources, management, and other stakeholders.
• Manage the Transit Employee Labor Relations shared inbox and department tracking systems (grievances, investigations, RFIs, arbitrations, litigation, settlements, discipline, compliance, etc.).
• Serve as the primary coordinator for external agency requests, including but not limited to Labor & Industries (L&I), Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), unemployment matters, and other regulatory agencies.
• Coordinate and track Interest Arbitration activities, Demand to Bargain requests, associated RFIs, and related labor-management projects.
• Develop standardized processes, project plans, metrics, dashboards, and reporting tools to improve efficiency, transparency, and compliance across assigned programs.
• Analyze trends and provide recommendations to leadership regarding litigation, arbitration, settlements, compliance activities, and workload.
• Act as the point person for assigned agency-wide projects.
• Coordinate, lead and facilitating large scale meetings as assigned.
• Communicate with people inside and outside the Agency; represent the organization to customers, the public, government agencies and other departments.
• Perform special projects or other duties as required.

Benefits

• King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely.
• Employees will be provided with a County-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed