Chief People Officer (CPO) Exempt | Olympia

Job Title: Chief People Officer (CPO) Olympia
Agency: Washington State Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF)
Location: Olympia Washington - This hybrid role combines remote work with an expectation of regular in-person engagement to support leadership collaboration key meetings and other organizational needs.
Reports To: Chief Administrative Officer

At DCYF our people are essential to advancing our mission: to work alongside Washingtons vulnerable children youth and families to foster safety stability and better outcomes by strengthening opportunities connections and community. We are seeking a visionary values-driven Chief People Officer (CPO) to help lead this mission from the inside out. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of a large complex public agency by designing and advancing a people strategy grounded in equity care and purpose. As a core member of the agencys leadership team the CPO will influence how thousands of employees are supported developed and empowered to do meaningful work. If you are inspired by building a workplace where people feel valued connected and equipped to partner with communities in service of children youth and families this role offers both profound responsibility and the opportunity for lasting impact.

Some of what you will get to do:

As DCYFs Chief People Officer you will lead and influence work that shapes how the agency supports its people and delivers on its mission. This role blends strategic leadership with deep partnership across the agency offering the opportunity to make lasting system-level impact.

Lead a forward-looking people strategy:

• Design integrate and advance a holistic people strategy aligned with DCYFs mission values and long-term goals.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Leadership Team on workforce trends organizational health and people-centered decision-making.
• Champion an agency-wide approach to employee experience wellness and equity.

Shape culture engagement and employee experience:

• Foster a workplace culture grounded in belonging respect psychological safety and employee voice.
• Guide agency-wide onboarding and orientation to ensure new employees feel welcomed prepared and connected to the mission from day one.
• Lead initiatives that strengthen engagement recognition leadership effectiveness and organizational resilience.
• Provide executive oversight of peer support and wellness programs that help employees recover and thrive after critical or high-impact events.

Provide strategic oversight of labor relations:

• Ensure labor relations practices align with DCYFs people-centered values and overall workforce strategy.
• Supervise and support the Labor Relations Administrator promoting consistency collaboration and proactive problem-solving.
• Build and sustain constructive respectful relationships with labor partners including participation in demand-to-bargain conversations.
• Promote a transparent communicative and respectful work environment across the agency.

Advance professional practice learning and leadership development:

• Lead the creation of a centralized agency-wide learning and development framework that supports employees at every stage of their careers.
• Align mandatory training professional development leadership development and operational skill-building into a cohesive system.
• Promote leadership development succession planning and continuous learning across the organization.

Strengthen workforce planning and talent management:

• Provide strategic direction and integration for core HR functions through oversight of the Human Resources Director.
• Ensure recruitment classification and compensation HR operations and investigations align with long-term workforce and equity goals.
• Support high-quality HR service delivery while improving consistency clarity and operational efficiency.

Use data to inform and improve:

• Leverage workforce data analytics and employee feedback to inform executive decisions and measure the impact of people strategies.
• Oversee dashboards and metrics that promote transparency accountability and continuous improvement.

Build and honor tribal relationships:

• Foster respectful collaborative relationships with Tribes that honor tribal sovereignty and support meaningful government-to-government partnership.
• Ensure workforce and people practices reflect cultural humility and support culturally responsive decision-making.

Required Education Experience and Competencies:

• A bachelors degree or higher from a college or university whose accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the US Department of Education or foreign equivalent.

AND

• At least eight (8) years of senior-level leadership experience in organizational leadership people operations workforce development or related strategic functions that support employee engagement culture and organizational effectiveness.

• At least five (5) years of experience managing or coaching professional staff fostering collaborative environments and leading complex change initiatives

AND

• Knowledge of state and federal employment and labor laws relevant court decisions impacting employers and American Arbitration Association knowledge of collective bargaining process for general government decisions.
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a variety of constituents including partners and key stakeholders both within and outside the agency.
• The ability to take action to learn and grow.
• The ability to take action to meet the needs of others.

Note: Degree requirement may be substituted with an additional four (4) years of professional level human resource experience.

Preferred/Desired Education Experience and Competencies:

• SPHR PHR SHRM-SCP or SHRM-CP Certification

This position is a member of the DCYF Leadership Table (LT) providing strategic leadership and direction for the agency. As a member of the LT we commit to living into the agreements below. We demonstrate this by intentionally practicing them every day and by supporting each other and holding each other to account for including them in our work.

• Hold ourselves to the highest standards and embrace our Mission Vision and Values our Operating Principles and agency policies.
• Model the behavior we want to see in others.
• Serve as subject matter experts and approach decisions wearing our Agency Hat in addition to our Division Hat.
• Collaborate and partner to make better decisions together.
• Own and speak with one voice on our collective decisions and directives even when those decisions are not unanimous.
• Invest in each others success; give constructive feedback back each other up and challenge each other to be our best.
• Communicate effectively with our staff and our community partners to help move our teams our work and our agency forward.
• Foster and sustain strong external community partner relationships and ongoing engagement.
• Recognize the importance of succession planning; Develop upcoming leaders including identifying a trusted second and promote leadership qualities across our teams.

How do I apply

Complete your applicant profile on and attach the following documents:

• Current resume detailing experience and education.
• Letter of Interest.