Chief Legal & Civil Rights Officer

$140,000 - $165,000 Annual Salary

Recruitment Closes March 13, 2025

The Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) seeks a Chief Legal & Civil Rights Officer to join the OSPI team. The agency headquarters is located in Olympia, WA. Limited telework is available. We encourage interested candidates to visit the OSPI website to gain insight into our agency.

OSPI is the primary agency charged with overseeing public K–12 education in Washington state. Working with the state's 295 public school districts and 6 state-tribal education compact schools, OSPI allocates funding and provides tools, resources, and technical assistance so every student in Washington is provided a high-quality public education.

At OSPI, we recognize that our employees are the key to the success of the agency. We are committed to our work and value the balance with our personal lives. We demonstrate our commitment to employees by providing an environment that stimulates professional growth and values them for their expertise. OSPI is a great place to work and has several initiatives to help create a great working environment, including:

• We support a healthy work/life balance by offering flexible/alternative work schedules and mobile and telework options. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We have an Infants at Work Program that is based on long-term value of newborns and infant-parent bonding. Eligible employees who are new parents or legal guardians can bring their infant (six weeks to six months) when returning to work. (Depending on job duties and work location.)
• We value and are actively involved in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within OSPI by way of a cross-divisional, collaborative committee. The focus of the committee includes employee engagement and education; reinforcing OSPI values and goals; and identifying strategies for inclusion.

The Chief Legal & Civil Rights Officer (CLCRO) serves in an Executive Cabinet-level position and reports to the Chief of Staff within OSPI. The CLCRO serves as the senior executive in non-personnel matters pertaining to legal affairs and equity and civil rights for the agency. We seek someone to provide responsive and creative leadership, internal and external capacity building, and timely proactive guidance, direction, and compliance in support of the agency’s vision, mission and legal responsibilities.

This strategic position is responsible for oversight of the internal handling of new and recurring legal and civil rights matters for OSPI; operationalizing internal strategic commitments and services related to all statutorily assigned work; and putting into practice our commitments to a culture that is equitable, inclusive, multicultural, and nondiscriminatory. The CLCRO oversees and coordinates all legal advice and litigation services from the Attorney General’s Office, while collaborating closely with the Attorney General’s Office and OSPI Executive Team to ensure that legal and civil rights matters are handled efficiently and effectively.

The CLCRO oversees the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) division, which includes teams charged with externally facing work as well as teams performing internal operational tasks. Examples include agency and school district civil rights compliance, fingerprinting, Professional Practices, internal records management, Public Records Office, agency internal policy development, and ethics opinions. This position delivers up-to-date legal guidance and direction that is dependable, actionable, proactive, and timely for all non-personnel related matters in OSPI’s portfolio in addition to providing daily leadership to the OLA division and other assigned work.

• Provides strategic planning support and advice regarding emerging and ongoing legal and civil rights matters that affect OSPI and K–12 education statewide.

• Identifies and communicates emerging and needed changes related to civil rights, Public Records Act compliance, the Administrative Procedure Act, and other enterprise-wide legal questions affecting the work of the agency.

• Leads the OLA division to proactively identify areas of improvement within systems and processes to support closing opportunity gaps.

• Develops and manages internal OLA division budgets, looking to optimize existing resources.

• Oversees the Legal Services Office, Office of Equity and Civil Rights, and Office of Professional Practices, Public Records Office and Agency Records Officer.

• Leads OSPI’s internal administrative policies review and development process.

• Establishes, monitors, and evaluates divisional and individual performance goals.

• Prioritizes, assigns, and schedules work for direct subordinate managers and staff.

• Establishes and promotes a culture that emphasizes the importance of customer focus and service.

• Builds partnerships and cooperative agreements that establish credibility within the OLA division, with agency's stakeholders and outside entities.

• Builds an effective working relationship with the Assistant Attorneys General assigned to OSPI.

• Demonstrated experience to readily adjust to changing work environments.

• Maintains the highest standard of personal, professional, and ethical conduct; and supports the agency’s goals for workforce diversity.

• Juris Doctorate Degree.

• Five years of legal experience in a legal office or setting.

• Minimum of three years of leadership experience.

• Proven successful leadership in the areas of equity and civil rights.

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences.

• Strong analytic, conflict management, and problem-solving skills.

• Strong internal and external customer service skills.

• Commitment to equity and diversity.

• Ability to provide leadership and strategic direction on high-profile issues.

• Exceptional collaboration skills.

• Knowledge of education law and Washington’s K–12 education system.

• Experience in representing an organization governed by Washington state law.

• Experience working in legal affairs within a government organization.

• Five years of experience supervising multiple individuals or teams.

The annual compensation range for the position is between $140,000 - $165,000 per year and depends upon experience, educational background and qualifications. Washington State offers a generous benefit package including health, dental and life insurance, retirement and an optional deferred compensation program.

Those interested in this position must apply through Careers.wa.gov .

Applications must include the following documents in MS Word or PDF format only:

• A letter of interest specifically addressing the qualifications listed in this announcement;
• A current résumé, and;
• A list of three or more professional references.

Please address any questions to:

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format may contact the Human Resources Office at (360) 725-6270 or (360) 725-6066, or e-mail .

OSPI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from job seekers who will contribute to our diversity.