Labor Relations Manager

Labor Relations Manager

The King County Office of Labor Relations (OLR) is seeking a strong people leader with recent experience in labor relations to serve as Labor Relations Manager. The manager will lead a team of Labor Relations Negotiators in development and execution of proposals and strategies necessary for negotiating and administering the County's labor agreements in addition to maintaining their own contract assignments. The Labor Relations Manager will have daily interaction with labor unions, multiple business units, executive-level management, and professional staff. This role requires strong leadership skills, politically savvy, and experience in labor relations. This position will report directly to the deputy director.

About King County : With 2.2 million residents in 39 cities and unincorporated areas, King County is the nation's 13th-largest county. It also has one of the most diverse populations in the United States. As the only county in the United States named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history, King County is a vibrant community with residents who represent countries from around the world. It is a region with increasing diversity that values the artistic and social traditions of many cultures. King County is changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. The County continues to build on an enduring legacy of shared values of equity and social justice, employee engagement, innovative thinking, and continuous improvement. If you share King County Executive Shannon Braddock's mission to cultivate and maintain collaborative working relationships with our labor partners, employing innovative and creative solutions to challenges, to achieving just and sustainable results for all this job is for you.

About the Office of Labor Relations : The Office of Labor Relations (OLR) is an arm of the Executive Office with approximately 15 employees, the majority are Labor Negotiators who negotiate and help administer the County's 80 Labor Agreements covering approximately 14,000 represented employees.

Job Duties :

• Model best practices in managing employees by :
• Leading, coaching, counseling, developing, and empowering employees to work to their fullest potential.
• Advising and supporting labor negotiators in their bargaining, advocacy, and advisory roles.
• Ensuring employee understanding of organizational goals, and alignment with leadership.
• Creating an environment of continuous learning and development of skills.
• Fostering a model of every employee being accountable for high-quality service delivery; and,
• Creating a work environment that is welcoming to all employees.
• Manage & lead organizational development and continuous improvement efforts by :
• Supporting and executing the OLR Director's vision for labor relations and OLR employee engagement.
• Modeling continuous improvement by using evolving technology and visual management to monitor data and progress and improving processes to create more capacity and deliver greater value.
• Consulting, developing, and managing the implementation of cultural change initiatives to increase and foster employee engagement; and
• Facilitating the office's vision, mission, values, strategic outcomes, and measurements.
• Serve as chief negotiator during negotiations of complex labor agreements by :
• Serving as a strategic advisor to the director and deputy director, Executive Leadership, King County management and Human Resource professionals on contract administration, performance management issues and employee discipline.
• Collaborating with key stakeholders such as County leaders, business units, and labor partners who have varying opinions and convince others to initiate actions to achieve goals; and
• Representing the County and / or overseeing cases before state and local government personnel boards and commissions, including discipline matters, unfair labor practices, bargaining unit clarifications, and union representation proceedings.

Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills :

Supplemental Information :

Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers. Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play. Guided by our True North, we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Indigenous and People of Color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans. King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation. To apply for this appointment, you must provide three application components : Resume, Cover letter describing relevant skills and experiences, An online application Applications may be rejected as incomplete include the requested elements. For further inquiries regarding this recruitment, please contact Seth Watson at seth.watson@kingcounty.gov.