Work for Indiana
Grow your career with the State of Indiana! With more than 50 executive branch agencies, the State of Indiana is a diverse workforce offering employees stimulating and challenging projects across a broad scope of career opportunities. As a State of Indiana employee, you impact the well-being of Indiana’s communities every day.
At the State of Indiana, we don’t just talk about diversity and inclusion – Our goal is to create a welcoming, accessible, and equitable workplace, with a workforce that is representative of the State of Indiana population. As a proud equal opportunity employer, reasonable accommodations may be available to enable individuals with disabilities to complete the application and interview process, as well as perform the essential functions of a role.
Next Level benefits at the State of Indiana are here! Be sure to review our expanded benefit package offerings below.
About the Department of Child Services:
Join a team that engages with families and children to improve lives in meaningful and significant ways. DCS engages authentically with children who are victims of abuse or neglect and strengthens families through services that focus on family support and preservation. The Department also administers family preservation and prevention services, foster care, and child support throughout the State of Indiana. You will relentlessly pursue permanency for children and families through reunification, guardianship, adoption or support youth in making a successful transition to adulthood. While this job is difficult and may have long and sometimes unconventional hours, this is more than a job-it is a calling to improve your community and neighbors. Will you join us in supporting our Mission, Vision, and Values?
Mission: The Indiana Department of Child Services leads the state’s response to allegations of child abuse and neglect and facilitates child support payments. We consider the needs and values of all we serve in our efforts to protect children while keeping families together whenever possible.
Vision: Children will live in safe, healthy and supportive families and communities.
Values: We at the Indiana Department of Child Services empower our team, in collaboration with state and local partners, to make decisions in the best interest of every child in our care by embracing:
• Respect for all
• Racial justice
• Diversity and inclusion
• A culture of safety
• A commitment to continuous improvement
Salary:
This position traditionally starts at an annual salary of $85,020. Salary for this position may be commensurate with education and job experience.
Role Overview:
This position serves as the Strategic Equities Officer for the Indiana Department of Child Services. This position is responsible for utilizing metrics to inform goals, assessing current agency systems and informing leadership of opportunities to improve equity and inclusion; coordinating multiple programmatic improvements and accountability of changes through tracking and communication; and assessing strategic plans to ensure growth and retention of equity, inclusion, and opportunity initiatives. The strategic equities officers will also partner with key leaders and other equity liaisons to help create an agency culture that harvests inclusivity and celebrates diversity and participates in continuous improvement events and other root cause analysis efforts using the lens of equity and diversity. This position will report to the Division Director of Strategic Solutions and Agency Transformation.
A Day in the Life:
The essential functions of this role are as follows:
- Serves as the liaison to the Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity Office within The Governor’s Office in Indiana to align all agency-specific initiatives;
- Partners with other equity liaisons to promote and enhance equity, inclusion, and opportunity initiatives;
- Collaborates with relevant data, research, and evaluation partners to access critical data, synthesize information, and infuse feedback into strategic planning and initiatives;
- Reviews all strategic planning and initiatives and ensure all efforts reflect equity, inclusion, and opportunity;
- Assesses all strategic planning to ensure growth and retention of equity, inclusion, and opportunity initiatives;
- Designs and facilitates all internal training related to equity, inclusion, and opportunity initiatives. In addition, partner with content experts to enhance learning opportunities;
- Provides feedback and insight to ensure all policies, services, and products are framed through an equity, inclusion, and opportunity lens;
- Coordinates aligning all internal divisions to create a unified approach to equity, inclusion, and opportunity initiatives;
- Recruits, selects, onboards, and trains employees to ensure role responsibilities and expectations are clearly understood while providing opportunities to continue professional development;
- Engages the agency in initiatives to improve belonging and agency culture for all staff members;
- Develops communication and feedback mechanisms to ensure there are opportunities to identify, discuss, and address areas related to equity, inclusion, and opportunity;
- Collaborates with State of Indiana agencies to ensure effective internal and external initiatives implementation;
- Facilitates and assists relevant committees or task forces to drive the agency forward and supports all programs through a lens of equity, inclusion, and opportunity;
- Sets expectations, measure progress, provide ongoing feedback, and evaluate the performance of employees;
- Ensures work adheres to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures.
The job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time.
What You’ll Need for Success:
The ideal candidate in this role should minimally have either
- a Master’s Degree with 5+ years of experience, or
- a Bachelor’s Degree with 7+ years of experience, or
- at least 11+ years of experience applying the below, outlined knowledge, skills, and abilities in a similar role.
Related certifications and coursework may be considered for education or experience.
- Knowledge of the principles, laws, regulations, theories, and practices about equity, inclusion, and opportunity, relevant state and federal employment regulations;
- Thorough knowledge of policies, standards, and requirements set by federal and state officials for compliance by state agencies;
- Thorough ability to design, facilitate, and assess training and programs related to equity, inclusion, and opportunity;
- Thorough ability to lead the organization through strategic planning and initiatives toward equity, inclusion, and opportunity results;
- Thorough ability to analyze qualitative and quantitative feedback to inform strategic planning and initiatives;
- Thorough ability to analyze information and work with large amounts of data;
- Thorough ability to infuse creative problem-solving alongside best practice standards;
- Thorough ability to lead with emotional intelligence;
- Thorough ability to convey messaging through verbal and written communication;
- Thorough ability to engage with all levels of the organization to infuse feedback into strategic planning initiatives;
- Advanced ability to delegate work, set clear direction, and manage workflow;
- Advanced ability to effectively give feedback, provide guidance or corrective action, and develop employee skillsets.
Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:
This role may provide direct supervision for one or more staff members.
Benefits of Employment with the State of Indiana:
The State of Indiana offers a comprehensive benefit package for full-time employees which includes:
- Three (3) medical plan options (including RX coverage) as well as vision and dental plans
- Wellness Rewards Program: Complete wellness activities to earn gift card rewards
- Health savings account, which includes bi-weekly state contribution
- Flexible work scheduling options, including the potential for hybrid remote work for employees whose work may be performed outside state facilities
- Deferred compensation 457B account (similar to 401k plan) with employer match
- Two (2) fully-funded pension plan options
- A robust, comprehensive program of leave policies covering a variety of employee needs, including but not limited to:
- 150 hours of paid new parent leave
- Up to 15 hours of paid community service leave
- Combined 180 hours of paid vacation, personal, and sick leave time off
- 12 paid holidays, 14 on election years
- Education Reimbursement Program
- Group life insurance
- Referral Bonus program
- Employee assistance program that allows for covered behavioral health visits
- Qualified employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
- Free Parking for most positions
- Free LinkedIn Learning access
Equal Employment Opportunity:
The State of Indiana is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruit, select, develop, and promote employees based on individual ability and job performance. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all people in all aspects of employer-employee relations without discrimination because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. We will comply with the spirit as well as the letter of all applicable state and federal laws.
If you are a qualified individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, you can request assistance by contacting the Indiana State Personnel Department at [email protected].
The State of Indiana has established a culture that welcomes equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all employees and applicants. We encourage you to apply if you feel you have the transferrable skills to be successful in this position and we look forward to reviewing your application.
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