Policy and Rules Manager (WMS BAND 2)
State of Washington · Thurston County – Other, WA
Description
Policy & Rules Manager(WMS BAND 2)
Schedule: This is a hybrid/flexible position with standard office hours of 8am to 5pm. Evening, holiday, or weekend work may occasionally be required as well as infrequent travel to meetings or trainings.
Compensation: The salary range for this position will depend upon candidate's skills, experience, knowledge and ability.
Who we are:
The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) provides centralized business services to state government agencies; to other public entities such as cities, counties and tribes; and to Washington residents. DES’ mission is to strengthen the business of government for a sustainable and just future. Learn more about DES.
What you will be doing:
This position plays a critical role in taking an enterprise view of agency operations by providing centralized policy governance and rulemaking support. In doing so, it enables DES divisions to focus on their core missions while ensuring that agencywide policy and rulemaking efforts are coherent, legally sound, strategically aligned, and responsive to statewide priorities.
In this position, you will be a working supervisor responsible for operationalizing strategy, overseeing major projects within the Policy & Rules Division, and supervising a team of policy and rules administrators who coordinate all agency rulemaking and policymaking functions.
You will serve as the agency’s lead for rulemaking activities ensuring rules are legally defensible and follow the Administrative Procedures Act and the Regulatory Fairness Act. You will be responsible for ensuring strong planning, process development, implementation, and support across administrative policies, enterprise policies, procedural rules, interpretive rules, and significant legislative rules so that:
- Policy and rule outcomes align with DES strategic anchors, values, and goals.
- All adopted rules and policies meet legal requirements, Governor’s directives, executive orders, and enterprise-wide standards, including OFM’s Administrative and Accounting Manual, WaTech Policies and Standards, and Executive Ethics Board guidance.
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are embedded in policy and rulemaking activities.
- Risk is proactively assessed and managed to minimize legal liability to the department.
- Strong collaboration occurs across communications, government relations, tribal relations, and program subject matter experts to ensure robust stakeholder engagement and thoughtful implementation planning.
- Interested individuals and partners have meaningful opportunities to participate in policy and rule development.
- Agency rules and policies remain consistent, clear, current, accurate, accessible, and supportive of a unified “One DES” approach.
To learn more about the responsibilities and expectations of this position, email the recruiter: Rachel Vaughan via jobs@des.wa.gov and request the full job description.
Duties
Duties associated with this position include:
Agency Rulemaking
- Reviews and recommends all new, amended, and rescinded rule actions for prioritization and next steps.
- Reviews proposed rules or rule changes for advancement to the Director of Policy, Rules, & Compliance.
- Supplies management with consultation and recommendations where no clear precedent exists.
- Oversees preparation of the semi-annual Rulemaking Agenda.
- Manages and facilitates complex public rule hearings and stakeholder meetings, ensuring fair process, clear communication, and meaningful public participation.
- Prepares official hearing summaries under RCW 34.05.325 for review of the Director of Policy, Rules & Compliance and approval by the agency Director.
- Prepares the Director’s permanent rule-making orders for the Office of the Code Reviser.
- Manages agency responses to rule-making petitions under RCW 34.05.330.
- Advises the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance along with agency leaders on rule promulgation and strategic regulatory approaches.
- Ensures inclusive stakeholder engagement structures that ensure meaningful participation from customers, partners, and the authorizing environment. Ensures DES authentically considers stakeholder input and evaluates intended and unintended impacts of proposed rules.
- Prepares the Policy, Rules, and Compliance Director to preside over official public rules hearings, preparing official hearing summary for review and approval.
Policy Development and Implementation
- Supervises, mentors, and directs Policy & Rules Administrators in the day-to-day execution of policy development and maintenance activities.
- Develops and maintains systems of organization and support for the management and implantation of agency policy development.
- Operationalizes the strategy, priorities, and expectations set by the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance to meet agency policy objectives.
- Provides expert guidance to staff in preparing communications, publications, and implementation strategies for new or updated policies.
- Supports the Director of Policy, Rules, & Compliance as well as Government Relations in responding to policy-related inquiries from elected officials and staff.
- Manages the intake, risk evaluation, and prioritization efforts for agency administrative and enterprise-wide policy updates and new policy development.
- Applies strong judgment and risk-assessment skills to identify legal, operational, and reputational risks early and recommend defensible, strategic solutions.
- Conducts policy and rulemaking activities to ensure deep understanding of process, tools, resources, and expectations and provides back-up support in the absence of staff.
Policy and Rule Indexing and Information Management
- Operationalizes the indexing and information-management strategy set by the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance, ensuring staff execute activities effectively and consistently.
- Ensures administrative policies are indexed on insideDES and enterprise policies are indexed on the DES public website.
- Manage and train staff and subject matter experts on the effective use of SharePoint site used for the development and updating of policy and rulemaking activities.
- Prepare performance reports and data insights for policy and rulemaking activities, creating greater visibility into current, future, and outstanding agency policy and rulemaking work.
- Leads preparation of additional rule and policy reports required by the Governor or DES executive management.
- Locates, maintains, and protects all rulemaking and policymaking information, including official rulemaking files, policy shop documents, WAC, statutes, AGO opinions, and interagency agreements.
Legislative and Executive Order Analysis
- Prepares timely analyses of legislation and executive orders for potential policy, rules, financial, procedural, or programmatic impacts.
- Interprets applicable law, rules, directives, and statewide policies including RCW 34.05 Administrative Procedures Act, RCW 19.85 Regulatory Fairness Act, and Governor’s Executive Orders.
- Provides recommendations to the Director of Policy, Rules, and Compliance regarding required actions, potential risks, and proposed timelines for rulemaking or policy development triggered by legislative or executive changes.
- Supports agency participation in legislative inquiries, fiscal note development, and interagency discussions related to statutory or regulatory impacts.
Strategic Consultation and Special Projects
- Conducts complex analytical projects and research assignments.
- Provides coordination and analytical support for agency planning processes and special projects.
- Leads multi-phase projects by planning workflows, maintaining timelines, coordinating contributors, and ensuring successful execution of initiatives.
Qualifications