Transit Leaves Manager

Summary

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The Employee Services Division within the Metro Transit Department (MTD) seeks an experienced, collaborative, and motivated Transit Leaves Manager to fill a Special Duty Assignment (SDA)/Term Limited Temporary (TLT) position. This position is anticipated to last through December 2025, with the possibility of extension.

As the Transit Leaves Manager, you will lead, guide, oversee, and support Metro's Leaves Team, ensuring the seamless execution of all protected leave processes within the Department while maintaining compliance and ensuring overall process success. This role will also build and implement a strategy to centralize Leave support for the entire Metro Transit Department while delivering high level quality service to support Metro's protected leave needs.

The Transit Leaves Manager is a member of the Employee Services Management Team (ESMT) and reports to Metro's HR Manager III. This position collaborates closely with human resource professionals across the county to offer specialized support to both management and employees. This involves finding a balance between departmental operational requirements and compliance with relevant federal, state, and local laws, as well as labor agreement provisions.

Job Duties

Applying equity, racial, and social justice principles is a daily responsibility and a foundational expectation for all King County employees. All employees are expected to model and apply our equity, racial, and social justice shared values, behaviors, and practices.

As the Transit Leaves Manager, you will:

• Manage the Transit Leaves Team by defining clear objectives, fostering effective communication, supporting team performance, offering coaching and feedback, acknowledging strengths, fostering their development, and navigating challenges.

• Lead the team and processes associated with protected leave management to adhere with state and federal requirements and labor agreement provisions to ensure policies are applied accurately, consistently, and equitably across the organization.

• Build and implement a strategy to centralize leaves management for the entirety of the Metro Transit Department, centering the goal of consistent and equitable access to programs and entitlements.

• Develop, implement, and monitor performance metrics for the Transit Leaves program.

• Develop an onboarding/orientation for leave processes and systems to current and future team members of Metro.

• Provide continuous learning opportunities to ensure team is up to date on HR and protected leaves best practices, laws, policies, processes, and contracts.

• Work collaboratively with the team by involving them in decisions and listening to and incorporating their feedback and suggestions.

• Evaluate individual and team performance and work collaboratively with team members to develop performance.

• Serve as a subject matter expert for the team and Metro partners on FMLA and other pertinent laws and regulations, providing sound guidance and direction to the team on the most complex leave cases.

• Collaborate with internal Employee Services teams and external partners such as the Department of Human Resources, Safety & Claims/Workers' Compensation, Office of Labor Relations, and Central Payroll, ensuring Leaves Team provides compliant advice to managers and employees based on collective bargaining agreements, Contingent Worker Manual, Master Labor Agreement, government regulations, benefit plans, as well as King County and Metro policies.

• Manage complex policy exceptions and service issue escalations to root cause and resolution.

• Participate as a working manager on Employee Services' Management Team (ESMT) and perform other duties as assigned.

Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills

• A minimum of three (3) years of experience in a leadership, management, or supervisory role OR any combination of experience/education/training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the work.

• Extensive experience, knowledge, and skill in the interpretation and application of current federal, state, and local workplace accommodation and employee leave laws in a large, unionized organization.

• Knowledge and skill in the application of supervisory and management techniques and principles, leading and developing teams, and coaching employees.

• Strategic planning, project management skills and an ability to build a plan and implement it to completion, leveraging effective change management principles along the way.

• Understanding of the leave requirements and other legal protections afforded by the FMLA, ADA, and other applicable laws including knowledge of EEO requirements and applicable employment laws.

• Ability to communicate technical concepts and processes using clear, simple language and visuals.

• Effective at planning, setting priorities, allocating resources, and managing complex tasks, including coordinating with individuals and teams across the Department.

• Ability to identify gaps in processes, gather information from partners, and develop plans to address gaps.

• Proficient in fostering collaborative work environments, adept at sharing information, guiding team members, and applying effective conflict resolution skills to achieve positive outcomes.

• Ability to navigate work with integrity and confidentiality, handling confidential information with the highest level of discretion.

• Excellent customer service and communication skills with an ability to answer questions tactfully and diffuse difficult situations with employees, supervisors, managers, and leaders through the organization.

• Organizational skills including ability to prioritize workload, balance conflicting priorities, and attention to detail.

• Familiarity with general human resources processes and procedures within the employee life cycle.

• Strong delegation and time management skills.

Highly competitive candidates will also have:

• Related vocational certifications such as Professional Human Resource designation (SPHR, PHR, SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, or IPMA-HR).

• Experience with PeopleSoft Human Resources Software.

• Experience working in the public sector, in a highly unionized workforce.

Supplemental Information

Required Application Materials

• Supplemental questions must be completed.

• An online employment application, to include all relevant employment history and experience related to this role as well as responses to supplemental questions.

• A cover letter, limited to one page, addressing the following points:

• Detail your leadership experience and demonstrate your leadership acumen.

• Explain your subject matter expertise in medical leave management, including relevant qualifications and practical experience.

• Provide examples of your project/program management experience.

NOTE: Applications that do not include the required materials may be rejected as incomplete and not advance in the process.

Selection Process

Applicants will be screened for competitiveness, completeness, and written communication skills to determine the most qualified candidates. The process may include the following: a review of the application and supplemental questions, testing and/or panel interview, and references.

For more information regarding this recruitment, please contact: Jalynn Davis at jalydavis@kingcounty.gov

Work Schedule

This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and not overtime eligible. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, every other Thursday, comprising a 40-hour workweek, normally 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Union Membership/Job Code

This position is not represented by a union. / 117401 (Human Resources Manager I)

Work Location

Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

The primary location of the position is at the King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104. However, this is a hybrid position (teleworking and in office). Employees will be provided with a county-issued laptop. When working remotely employees must maintain a workspace with an internet connection (access may be supplemented in some situations) where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours.

Forbes 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 Native American 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

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.