Government Relations Administrator

King County Metro's General Manager's Office has an exciting opportunity for multiple Government Relations Administrators to join the Government Relations: Jurisdictions and Interagency Partners Unit to lead work within Metro and with external partners to operationalize Metro's values, implement its policies, form partnerships, and communicate progress. The ideal candidate will be politically savvy, have project management experience, and great interpersonal skills. This unit seeks a strong self-starter who will help continue to position Metro to strategically build successful partnerships with local jurisdictions while collaborating with other divisions within Metro to ensure that community and equity is at the center of these conversations. These actions are key in delivering more equitable outcomes.

This position is an integral part of the Jurisdictions and Interagency Partners Unit responsible for planning, developing, and helping Metro develop and operationalize strategic and jurisdictional plans, policies, and initiatives consistent with our values.

This role involves a high level of collaboration with internal and external parties; planning and managing complex, sometimes ambiguous processes with diverse perspectives to achieve Metro's policy objectives; strong oral and written communications skills; and versatility in involving, supporting, and communicating with internal and external peers, decision-makers, and elected officials.

Our ideal candidate is someone who:

• Values diverse perspectives and can integrate them with practical experience and creative energy
• Can build diverse teams and coalitions to develop jurisdictional strategy that may lead to policy change
• Can design and facilitate planning processes with appropriate informing, consultation, and collaboration with key parties; document the outcomes; and work with internal parties to implement and track progress.
• Is values-driven and data-informed and can support this capability for a large system in aligning policies with decision-making and operations
• Is customer-focused and responsive, yet able to strategically prioritize what needs immediate action, what can be deferred, and what will take a long-term and dedicated effort
• Is politically astute and savvy.

Position Info: This recruitment will be used to fill two (2) Career Services, Government Relations Administrator vacancy. In addition, this selection process may be used to generate an eligibility list for future Career Service (CS), Special Duty Assignment (SDA) and Term Limited Temporary (TLT) positions that may occur in this classification and workgroup. The eligibility pool list is valid for up to 12 months from the time of posting for use at the discretion of the hiring authority.

Applying equity and social justice principles is a daily responsibility and a foundational expectation for all King County employees. In this role, you will apply equity and social justice principles that exemplify shared values, behaviors, and practices to all aspects of the work. As Government Relations Administrator, you will:

Jurisdictional Government Relations Support %

• Support the Government Relations Jurisdictional and Interagency Partners Unit Supervisor in developing government relations strategies, conducting research, high level policy analysis and relationship mapping.
• Assist in developing and executing long-term jurisdictional engagement strategies.
• Develop and implement partnerships/government relations strategies in coordination with divisions, project leads, and other stakeholders in support of the goals and objectives set by King County Metro leadership and Metro's Partnerships and Engagement program for the purpose of building and maintaining strong partnerships with local jurisdictions and their elected officials.
• Represent King County Metro and our agency's interests with jurisdictions – their staff and elected officials; serve as a liaison to help project and program staff facilitate relationships with jurisdictions on behalf of King County Metro leadership.
• Develop and recommend strategy, policies, and procedures regarding partnerships/government relations as it relates to local jurisdictions and work develop departmental protocols to internally coordinate across Metro to communicate with local elected officials and jurisdictions.
• Coordinate with community relations leads with regard to development and implementation of public involvement/community engagement plans.
• Provide complex management support to the Government Jurisdictional and Interagency Partners Unit Relations Supervisor, Director of Partnerships and Engagement, and Chief of Staff with regard to local issues. Identify, negotiate, resolve, and/or elevate sensitive, significant, and controversial issues on ad-hoc and systematic basis.
• Respond to elected and staff inquiries and requests from King County's 39 jurisdictions.
• Provide project management support to senior leaders, managers, project teams, and partnership and engagement team members to identify and secure strategic partnerships with transit partners, service providers, jurisdiction/governments, businesses, organizations, and other prospective partners to advance Metro's strategy, service delivery, increase capital, or more efficiently deliver objectives.
• Support Metro's Partnership and Engagement team to partner with organizations, educational institutions, CBOs, and similar groups to advance Metro's mission in transportation, sustainability, and equity and social justice, and community engagement initiatives.
• Track jurisdictional issues, areas of interest, and legislation relevant to Metro and flag relevant legislation for Metro leaders.
• Attendant report out on project team meetings as needed.
• Monitoring jurisdiction council and committee meetings and providing summaries and flagging relevant items as needed.
• Prepare talking points, briefing memos, and presentations as need be
• Other duties as assigned

Staffing Regional Boards %

• Manage planning, logistics and communications of various regional boards of elected officials from East, South and North King County in virtual and in person meetings.
• Coordinate with internal Metro staff, agencies, jurisdictions on presentations in support of agenda development and creation and preparing the General Manager and other leadership for meeting participation and presentations.
• Work with Metro's Intergovernmental Relations lead to schedule additional meetings with staff members from local jurisdictions participating from each transportation board to submit and prioritize projects for the transportation boards final approval.

We are looking for candidates who meet the following minimum qualifications:

• Previous project and/or program management experience. With demonstrated project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects or activities across multiple projects.
• Skill in working effectively with diverse groups, elected officials, and senior executives.
• 3 years of experience performing increasingly responsible administrative work and functions.
• The ability to maintain confidentiality and effectively handle highly-sensitive personal and political information with sound judgment, diplomacy, tact, and discretion.
• Ability to conduct high-level policy analysis and flag emerging issues.
• Demonstrated presentation creation, delivery and facilitation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ability to document, prepare and communicate program information to key staff.
• Experience preparing and disseminating agendas and meeting packets and presentations for a high-powered audience producing digital and print communications.
• High-level understanding of the legislative process.
• Comfortable taking a leadership role in an ambiguous environment.
• Ability to create organizational systems and structures, then manage their implementation.
• Proficiency in commonly used MS Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Highly competitive candidates will have (desired, but not required):

• Understanding and tracking politics in the Puget Sound Region.
• Experience staffing and/or working with elected officials.
• Experience working within jurisdictions and/or county government.
• Experience utilizing SharePoint, and Teams or similar software.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing policies, creating project plans, and setting up implementation timelines.

The following application materials are required:

• An online King County application. Updated with accurate contact information, and relevant work history going back at least 10 years (or more, if necessary), with all job duties, dates of employment, and reasons for leaving explained clearly.
• Resume
• Completed supplemental questions.
• A cover letter. In your cover letter please tell us why you are interested in this job and how your experience, skills and/or education have prepared you for this position.

Applications without the above-mentioned materials will not be considered. Application materials will be screened for competitiveness, completeness, and written communication skills. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in one or more interviews and possibly other selection process elements. Final offers are contingent on successful completion of reference checks and/or a record review.

NOTE: Applications that are not complete, or do not include the required materials, may be rejected as incomplete, and not advanced in the process. Applicants who are unable to apply online should follow the instructions under Application Tips and FAQs at:

Who May Apply

This position is open to all King County employees and the public.

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. Work hours are comprised of a 40-hour workweek, normally 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Work Location

The primary location of the position is at the King Street Center offices, 201 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA

Temporary Telecommuting Requirement

The work associated with this position will be performed through a combination of teleworking and working in the office. Employees in this classification will work in the office approximately 1-2 days per week in the future. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

Union Membership: This position is not represented by a union.

Class Code: GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ADMINISTRATOR

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: Manal Tirhi,

Forbes recently 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.