City of Chicago Hiring for Chief Equity Officer, Office of the Mayor at Chicago, IL Full Time

CLASS TITLE: Chief Equity Officer, Office of the Mayor

SALARY: $183,804

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLASS Provides guidance to the Mayor and Mayor’s Office staff on policy and strategic initiatives that advance equitable outcomes. Oversees the development, coordination, and administration of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) which seeks to achieve equity in the City’s service delivery, decision-making, and community engagement.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

• Executes the duties of the office as articulated in Municipal Code 2-4-100

• Advises and provides high-level strategic support to the Mayor and Mayor’s Office staff.

• Develops goals and strategies that promote equity in City processes, practices, and policy-making. This includes supporting city departments and agencies in normalizing concepts of racial equity, organizing staff to work together for transformational change, and operationalizing new practices, policies and procedures that result in more fair and just outcomes.

• Strengthens community awareness and involvement with the office with an emphasis on engaging residents from under-represented communities such as communities of color, low income communities, LGBTQ+ communities, and limited English proficient communities.

• Incubates innovative community-government partnerships that drive towards more equitable City government processes and outcomes

• Communicates the City’s mission and equity related goals to different audiences, including City employees, elected officials and community stakeholders.

• Coordinates and supports City departments to design, implement, and publicly report on racial equity action plans that promote equitable outcomes and measure impact in community.

• Manges the delivery of trainings and development of learning resources for City employees to build knowledge and skills for advancing equity work.

• Manages the collection and analysis of data to inform strategies and tactics for increased equity in City programs and services.

• Manages systems that drive towards accountability for racial equity projects throughout the government

• Manages the strategies and work products of the equity team

• Performs other related duties and fulfills additional responsibilities as required.

NOTE: The list of essential duties is not intended to be inclusive; there may be other duties that are essential to positions within the class.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education, Training, and Experience

• A Master’s degree in Sociology, Ethnic Studies, Public Policy, Public Administration or related field with at least six (6) years of experience working in a management role in the diversity/equity/inclusion field.

OR

• A Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Civil Rights or Public Interest and four (4) years of experience in a management role in the diversity/equity/inclusion field.

• Excellent managerial and interpersonal skills

• Proven track record of effectively interacting with senior management

• Ability to work strategically and collaboratively across multiple stakeholders

• Effective, versatile and action oriented • Excellent communication skills

WORKING CONDITIONS

• General office environment

EQUIPMENT

• Standard office equipment (e.g., telephone, printer, photocopier, fax machine, calculator)

• Computers and peripheral equipment (e.g., computer, modems)

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• No specific requirements

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND OTHER WORK REQUIREMENTS

Knowledge

• Supervisory and management methods, practices, and procedures

• City and department ordinances, policies, procedures, rules, and regulations

Skills

• Leadership – demonstrate willingness and ability to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction when necessary and appropriate

• Motivation – develop and direct people as they work

• Critical thinking – identify the strengths and weaknesses of issues and provide solutions, conclusions or alternative approaches to the issues

• Complex problem solving – identify complex problems and review related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions

• Active Listening – give full attention to what others are saying, take time to understand the views of others, ask questions when appropriate.

• Clear Written Product – communicate information and ideas in writing in a clear and concise manner

Abilities

• Negotiation – ability to bring individuals together to reconcile differences

• Strategic thinking – ability to think of long-term plans or strategies for advancement of agendas

• Judgement and Decision making – ability to consider the costs and benefits of potential actions followed by the execution of decision

• Comprehend oral and written information – ability to listen, read, and understand complex information in a short amount of time

• Clearly and effectively communicate

o Ability to articulate the significance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and related concepts (i.e. institutional racism, cultural responsiveness, and implicit bias) to different audiences, with an emphasis on communicating the importance of racial equity and intersectionality.

o Ability to develop and communicate the significance of equity outcomes and community impacts, and related concepts to different audiences

• Manage relationships- ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work including City officials and the general public.

Other Work Requirements

• Attention to detail – pay careful attention to detail and thoroughness in completing work tasks

• Initiative – demonstrate willingness to take on job challenges and responsibilities when asked

• Flexibility – be open to change (positive or negative) and to variety in the workplace

• Dependability – demonstrate reliability, responsibility, and dependability and fulfill obligations

THIS POSITION IS SHAKMAN EXEMPT

All employees of the City of Chicago must demonstrate commitment to and compliance with applicable state and federal laws, and City ordinances and rules; the City’s Ethics standards; and other City policies and procedures. The City of Chicago will consider equivalent foreign degrees, accreditations, and credentials in evaluating qualifications.

In lieu of a cover letter, we request candidates submit responses to the three questions below:

1. Why do you want to be Chief Equity Officer? (200 words or less)

2. What would you bring to the Chief Equity Officer role? (200 words or less)

3. Tell us about a situation where you solved a problem with government and community stakeholders. What happened, what role did you play, and how did the situation resolve? (200 words or less)

Interested applicants should submit their resume and responses to each of the above questions to: Equity.opportunities@cityofchicago.org

City of Chicago

Department of Human Resources

November 2023