Deputy Director of Racial & Social Justice

Statement of Duties

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Racial and Social Justice the RSJ Deputy Director is responsible for supporting the Director in providing effective leadership in the planning development management coordination and evaluation of administrative strategies and operations in support of RSJ priorities policies and programs. The Deputy Director shall ensure that high standards for the quality of RSJ deliverables; draft requests for proposals and manage contracts with vendors; advocate on RSJ issues; oversee management of the office budget and otherwise manage daily operations for the office. The Deputy Director must have exceptional supervisory and project management skills. Employee is required to perform all similar or related duties.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar related or a logical assignment to the position.

• Evaluate all financial statements on a monthly basis analyze all trends and develop all program grants and financial contracts
• Assist to develop various alliances and coalition building efforts with federal agencies Congress state and local governments and organizations around RSJ priorities and initiatives to achieve objectives
• Administer everyday functions for the department and coordinate with the Director to prepare all long term strategies to achieve all goals and evaluate performance of various initiatives
• Works closely with the Director of RSJ to develop resources trainings and tools for internal stakeholders within the City
• Works closely with the Director of RSJ to develop an equity framework for internal stakeholders and metrics to track progress
• Tracks the achievement of RSJ milestones and provides brief written summary reports highlighting work completed including any updates to the roadmap and recommended monitoring processes and activities
• Supervises professional and support staff assigned to the department with a strong emphasis on leadership team building and staff motivation
• Supervises and works closely with RSJ Analyst ADA Coordinator and Commissions Coordinator
• Manage and oversee the operations of the department including payroll bookkeeping
• budgeting/finance duties
• Represents the RSJ department at hearings meetings and conferences as assigned by the RSJ Director
• As a member of the senior management team collaborates to develop strategic plans to meet departmental objectives
• Delegates work assignments allocates resources and provides leadership to ensure that RSJ Department priorities remain consistent with overall goals and initiatives
• Works with RSJ Public Information Officer to develop media and public relations strategies
• Research and identify best practices and emerging trends; identify external trends and benchmarks that inform and complement internal goals and engagement; bringing new ideas to the Citys diversity equity and inclusion initiatives
• Identify best practices and improve internal systems with an eye toward future needs and budget realities
• Formulates recommendations to the RSJ Director on all RSJ matters affecting the department including; hiring performance evaluations promotions staff development and termination
• Assist with ongoing monitoring reviewing and evaluation to ensure that the challenges identified are addressed and objectives are achieved
• Collaborates to perform outreach in the community regarding RSJ initiatives and to gather information about needs
• Serve in the capacity of mentoring coaching; visible approachable sounding board/resource when needed
• Assists other departmental staff in the performance of their duties as necessary
• Assists the RSJ Department and the Mayors Office in the preparation of the Citys annual operating budget
• Collaborates with the RSJ Director to establish monitoring and evaluation plans to track and assess progress of RSJ initiatives
• Assists in advising organizations and city departments on implementing their own monitoring and evaluation plans to track and assess progress of Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism implementation
• Commits to continuous learning/improvement in DEI knowledge cultural proficiency and self-awareness

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors Degree in public policy public administration business management organizational development human services political science law DEI or a similar field and five (5) years of experience; or any equivalent combination of education training and experience which provides the required knowledge skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job
• At least two (2) years professional experience in supporting and maintaining diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) programs
• Applications demonstrating lived experience with proper knowledge of data finance/budget management and organizational development in lieu of education are strongly encouraged

Special Requirements

Strong demonstrated commitment to equity community empowerment and capacity building.

Knowledge Abilities and Skill

Knowledge:

Program management operations finance leadership grassroots organizing and a knowledge of building and sustaining trust. Knowledge of laws related to equal opportunity disability issues human and civil rights; DEI and Organizational Change.

Ability:

• Ability to meet and deal appropriately and effectively with City employees City officials and members of the general public. ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing;
• Ability to handle problems and emergencies effectively;
• Ability to maintain confidential information;
• Ability to exercise tact and diplomacy in organizational settings. Remain focused in the face of pressure delivers against timelines;
• Ability to operate a computer; ability to maintain manage and organize records. Be detailed oriented with a commitment to accuracy;
• Must have proven financial human resources and program management abilities. Success in roles requiring execution of multiple tasks while responding to multiple priorities;
• Operates with excellence in mind in all matters with the confidence to defend/debate ideas without ego interference; Ability to design metrics for evaluating individual and organizational change;
• Ability to understand and interpret laws and policies to work within a large organization to accomplish given ends through negotiation and dialogue;
• Be comfortable in a fast paced environment and capable of juggling multiple initiatives simultaneously often against tight deadlines;
• Have strong collaboration skills but also the ability to work autonomously;
• Apply effective judgment and discretion to maintain a high level of confidentiality when handling sensitive information;
• Ability to develop templates and tools to provide guidance and support to both technical and non-technical audiences;
• Establish and maintain effective and harmonious working relationships with diverse stakeholders regarding strategy policy operations deliverables timelines and responsibilities; Ability to problem solve and think strategically analytically and creatively; learn new concepts quickly; collaborate build consensus and lead; be self-motivated and organized.

Skill:

Excellent organizational skills; excellent data processing skill in the use of personal computers and office software including word processing data base internet and spreadsheet applications. Strong written and oral communication skills. Ability to work cooperatively in a diverse community and to maintain effective relationships with parties who may have conflicting opinions. Exceptional communication skills de-escalation mediation and supervisory skills. The ability to listen adapt and consider qualitative as well as quantitative data

Communication Skills:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organizational critical thinking and analytical skills. Ability to effectively present information to diverse groups. Interpersonal skills necessary to interact successfully with a wide range of individuals.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings weekend events or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the positions essential functions.

Physical Skills

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks with intermittent periods of stooping walking and standing. May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects operating a telephone personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing filing and sorting of papers.

Cognitive Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Hours: Full-Time
Salary: $110000 annually plus benefits
Union: Non-Union
FLSA:Exempt
Date Posted: June 26th 2025

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race color sex religion age national origin disability or any other protected category. Women minorities veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services written materials in alternative formats and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e. CART ASL) written materials in alternative formats or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs activities and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at x 2059 or

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note police officers are members of the SPEA union.
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Somerville Retirement Pension System
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.