Salary $105,000.00 - $128,856.00 Annually
Location Thurston County – Lacey, WA
Washinton State Department of Social and Health Services

DSHS Director of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services
Aging and Long-Term Support Administration (ALTSA) is seeking a leader who is passionate about creating access for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing population and understands the barriers that they face. As the Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, you will work to enhance public policies, regulations, and programs to improve the quality of life for community members.

This is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and have a positive impact on the lives of deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing individuals as they face barriers to effective communication in their interaction with government, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Join us today in our mission to Transform Lives!

Learn more about the path that the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is on here: Our Future Transformed

Primary Priorities:
• Meet and work with diverse groups to promote equal access opportunities, identify unmet needs, and develop services
• Inform stakeholders about Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH) updates and trends, solicit feedback on ODHH strategies, budgets, service delivery, and emergent initiatives
• Maintain relations and collaborative partnerships with national, state, regional, and local organizations
• Develop and finalize specific, written, short-term, and long-term strategies with realistic ODHH and program-specific goals and performance-based measures to address constituent needs, development of ODHH resource capacity, and demonstrate accountability
• Oversee the development, implementation, management, evaluation, and modification of programs through identification of constituency needs and service delivery gaps to satisfy unmet needs
• Work closely with Fiscal Officer to oversee all aspects of financial operations
• Develop and finalize the annual ODHH budget
• Build a team of staff with complementary skills and promote diverse and equitable hiring practices
• Provide control and direction for personnel functions to include compliance with personnel policies, approval of personnel actions, and training.
• Utilize federal and state statutes to design specific regulations, policies, guidelines, and procedures
• Oversee Information Technology operations that support ODHH including network administration, database, website, and desktop technical support

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities to be successful in this role:
• Extensive knowledge in specialized service delivery systems designed to serve deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing constituents
• Previous experience working directly with the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing population is preferred
• Demonstrated understanding of the various communication methods and auxiliary aids utilized by deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing individuals to ensure that government obligations to provide reasonable accommodations that meet statutory requirements
• Demonstrated understanding of the federal and state laws pertaining to people with disabilities
• General knowledge of the principles, problems, and methods of public, and business administration, including organizational, human resource, and fiscal management
• Strong leadership skills and ability to foster effective working relationships with stakeholders, staff, executive leadership, and the public
• Knowledge of (American Sign Language-ASL) and an array of communication skills with the Deaf and hard of hearing community.