Purchasing and Contracting Division Director

Position Description

The City of Seattle Facilities and Administrative Services Department (FAS) seeks a strategic, equity-focused and experienced leader to serve as the Purchasing and Contracting Division Director. In this role you will establish and carry out policies and practices that advance equitable and effective purchasing and contracting for the $900 million the City spends on procurement each year. You will be a member of the FAS leadership team and direct a division of 50 with an annual budget of $18.5 million. You will report to the FAS Chief Administrative Officer.

ABOUT FAS:

Facilities and Administrative Services (FAS) is the backbone of the City of Seattle and a dynamic organization comprised of eleven divisions and 450+ employees that provides $375 million a year in services to the City through an exciting portfolio of lines of businesses. FAS is a collaborative workplace with collective accountability to promote equity, respect, civility, integrity, inclusiveness and fairness for all employees.

ABOUT PURCHASING AND CONTRACTING:

The Purchasing and Contracting division of FAS oversees the City of Seattle’s contracting processes for public works, purchasing and consultant contracting. This oversight includes setting policies and guidelines as well as bidding, contract execution, contract management, contract compliance and procurement-related technology.

The division oversees two critical race and social justice programs. The Citywide Women- and Minority-owned Business Enterprise (WMBE) program promotes supplier diversity in City procurement. The Labor Equity program promotes access to construction careers for women, BIPOC communities and others with social and economic disadvantages.

Job Responsibilities

In this position, you will work with your management team to oversee Citywide procurement. The division is currently divided into two oversight areas, purchasing, and contracting.

Purchasing

Goods and services: The City purchases goods, non-professional services and equipment as a centralized function through PC. You will establish and review policies and procedures and work with your team to conduct all City procurements over $58,000 from bid to closeout.

Consultant contracting: While each City department is responsible for managing its own professional consultant contracts, PC establishes policies and provides technical assistance to City staff.

Procurement technology: PC is responsible for business process management for key Citywide procurement/financial technology programs, including P2P (Procure 2 Pay) and Masterworks, the Citywide Contract Management System.

Contracting

Construction/Public Works: PC is responsible for policies, processes, contract executions and administrative components of all public works bids and contracts.

Citywide Women- and Minority-owned Business (WMBE) Program: PC manages the City’s WMBE program, which is focused on expanding equity in public contracting through outreach, technical assistance, data management and community engagement. These efforts include a large-scale disparity study with an expected completion date of 2024.

Labor Equity: PC is responsible for providing leadership, and building positive and effective strategies, policies, and relationships for developing a diverse construction workforce.

Contract Compliance: PC provides contract compliance enforcement for WMBE utilization, acceptable worksite treatment, prevailing wages and similar matters.

In addition to oversight of these key areas, the Division Director is responsible for:

• Serving as a collaborative and strategic member of the FAS leadership team.
• Presenting on procurement to key stakeholders, including City leadership, elected officials and community leaders.
• Overseeing performance metrics and reporting to the FAS Director’s Office, internal City staff and the public.
• Setting and monitoring the division’s budget.
• Monitoring and analyzing local, state, and national policy and legislation that impacts procurement.
• Communicating about procurement policies and practices to internal City staff and the public.
• Representing FAS and the City of Seattle at key internal and community events and developing relationships with key stakeholders, with a focus on expanding equity in public contracting.
• Overseeing project management for key Citywide efforts that involve procurement.
• Jointly leading a $1 million procurement transformation project sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Extensive leadership experience in public procurement, including contracts, public works, and integration of labor and social equity programs.
• Extensive experience developing and/or implementing equity-focused policies and programs.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible supervisory- or management-level experience.
• A bachelor's degree in business or public administration or related field. 

(Or a combination of education, training, experience which provides an equivalent background.)

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with public procurement in Washington state.
• Experience leading community and stakeholder engagement, especially around equity-focused efforts.
• Experience effectively engaging with senior leadership, including elected officials.

The ideal candidate is an experienced and strategic leader who:

• Balances different and sometimes conflicting goals and risks to create an overall fair, open, efficient, and equitable procurement process.
• Sees procurements as an opportunity to leverage City spending power to expand equity for communities that have been historically excluded from public contracting.
• Has deep experience with purchasing, procurement technology, consultant contracting and public works contracting.
• Has deep experience with social equity programs in procurement, especially focused on the WMBE community and labor equity.
• Enjoys putting time and effort into building and maintaining relationships with City leadership and community partners.
• Is a skilled and diplomatic communicator that can engage with City staff and the public on a variety of highly sensitive and political matters.
• Is an experienced and skilled manager who can motivate, support, advocate for and inspire staff to meet and exceed performance goals.
• Has experience working in large departments in the public sector and experience moving goals forward when there are multiple stakeholders and decisionmakers.

Additional Information

Involves some evenings and weekends for community events as appropriate.

Candidate must be free of financial conflicts of interest or prepared to create conflict-free partitions as appropriate.

Please submit an online application, a cover letter outlining your qualifications and experience, and a current resume in order to be considered for this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Finalists will be required to undergo a background check. This hiring process involves a background check of conviction and arrest records in compliance with Seattle's Fair Chance Employment Ordinance, SMC 14.17. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain or correct background information.

COVID-19 VACCINATION MANDATE:

All City of Seattle employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If selected, you will be required to submit proof of vaccination prior to your start date. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine. Employees may make requests for a reasonable accommodation based on a medical disability or for sincerely held religious beliefs. Philosophical, political, scientific, or sociological objections to vaccination will not be considered for an exemption or accommodation.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

This position requires onsite work. Alternative Work Arrangements and hybrid telework schedules for work conducted in a normal office environment may be considered and will be based on operational needs and consistency with FAS policies. The employee must live in Washington state.

FAS supports the City of Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative to end institutionalized racism by eliminating barriers to access, providing the staff and public with opportunities for growth, and developing equitable access to the programs and services we offer. If you share those values and meet the qualifications, we invite you to apply for this position.

This posting will close 1/24/23 at 4pm Pacific Time.