The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is the State Education Agency for the District of Columbia charged with raising the quality of education for all DC residents. There are five teams within OSSE Human Resources (HR); Recruitment, Employee Relations, Payroll, Employee Experience, and Compliance. The OSSE HR department is seeking a Supervisory Human Resources Specialist to manage the employee relations (leave program) team.  

We are looking for a Leave Program Manager with strong organizational and management skills and who will bring passion for mission, team, and continuous improvement to their work. The Manager will lead a 4-member team responsible for the leave program management and administration for an agency of more than 1900 FTEs. The Leave Programs Manager reports to the Assistant Superintendent of HR.  

The Leave Programs Manager serves as liaison between the agency and the D.C. Department of Human Resources and oversees all agency leave programs matters. The Leave Programs Manager works under the policy, direction, and supervision of the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.  The Leave Programs Manager exercises full and final accountability for all matters associated with completing work assignments including determining the work to be performed by the leave programs-employee relations team.   

Specific functions include: 

• Overseeing all leave-program processes, processing of applications/request, dispute resolution and the serving as the agency primary point-of-contact.  
• Auditing of employee records and personnel actions for accuracy, completeness and compliance with personnel policies and procedures. 
• Reviewing Requests for Personnel Actions, Requests for Advance Leave or Advance Leave Without Pay, and Selection Certificates to assure adherence and compliance with the procedural requirements of DCHR, and conformance with the goals and objectives of the agency. 
• Enforcing policies pertaining to employee relations HR (personnel action) requests, proposal for adverse action, leave and pay administration, and other human resource matters. 
• Providing consultation & Training staff on leave programs with Partnership with DCHR and the Office of Pay & Retirement Services (OPRS). 
• Maintaining current knowledge of Federal and District regulations, policies, and requirements as it pertains to leave programs and eligibility.  
• Streamlining and continuously improving agency employee relations processes and procedures including leave program administration, workers compensation, and reinstatements. 
• Tracking and reporting on key metrics related to these functions. 
• Attending regularly scheduled and special staff meetings to discuss plans, share problems of mutual concern and to communicate OSSE policy guidance or administrative changes to managers.  
• Responding in writing or verbally to written and oral requests for information from constituents, peers, employees, and other District agencies. 
• Managing the 4 person leave programs team through coaching, development, inspiration and mentorship. 
• Overseeing and managing high-profile, high-stakes agency-wide projects as needed.

Key qualifications for the role include: 

• Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled.  
• Strong organization and project management skills, with the ability to dig into details of numerous dependencies and delegate as appropriate. 
• Skill, commitment, and passion for people. 
• Demonstrated customer service mindset with an unrelenting focus on being resourceful and creative to find a solution to any challenge. 
• Ability to articulate a vision and inspire others to follow. 
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills, facilitation expertise, and indirect management experience. 
• Understanding of and demonstrated ability to operate with a talent mindset.  
• Familiarity with operating in a mid-to-large size organization or government environment is strongly preferred. 
• Bachelor’s degree is preferred, but not required. 
• PHR Certification preferred, but not required.  

Our ideal candidate will also have: 

• Experience working in a high volume (1000+ employees), fast paced environment with attention to detail is highly desired.   

Interested applicants should register for the OSSE Hiring Fair.