Chief People Officer; CPO Exempt | Olympia

Our vision is to ensure that Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy—thriving physically, emotionally and academically, nurtured by family and community.

Job Title: Chief People Officer (CPO) Olympia
Agency: Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF)
Location: Olympia, Washington - This hybrid role combines remote work with an expectation of regular in-person engagement to support leadership collaboration, key meetings, and other organizational needs.
Reports To: Chief Administrative Officer

At DCYF, our people are essential to advancing our mission: to work alongside Washington’s vulnerable children, youth, and families to foster safety, stability, and better outcomes by strengthening opportunities, connections, and community. We are seeking a visionary, values-driven Chief People Officer (CPO) to help lead this mission from the inside out. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of a large, complex public agency by designing and advancing a people strategy grounded in equity, care, and purpose.

As a core member of the agency’s leadership team, the CPO will influence how thousands of employees are supported, developed, and empowered to do meaningful work. If you are inspired by building a workplace where people feel valued, connected, and equipped to partner with communities in service of children, youth, and families, this role offers both profound responsibility and the opportunity for lasting impact.

Some of what you will get to do:

As DCYF’s Chief People Officer, you will lead and influence work that shapes how the agency supports its people and delivers on its mission. This role blends strategic leadership with deep partnership across the agency, offering the opportunity to make lasting, system-level impact.

Lead a forward-looking people strategy:

• Design, integrate, and advance a holistic people strategy aligned with DCYF’s mission, values, and long-term goals.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Leadership Team on workforce trends, organizational health, and people-centered decision-making.
• Champion an agency-wide approach to employee experience, wellness, and equity.

Shape culture, engagement, and employee experience:

• Foster a workplace culture grounded in belonging, respect, psychological safety, and employee voice.
• Guide agency-wide onboarding and orientation to ensure new employees feel welcomed, prepared, and connected to the mission from day one.
• Lead initiatives that strengthen engagement, recognition, leadership effectiveness, and organizational resilience.
• Provide executive oversight of peer support and wellness programs that help employees recover and thrive after critical or high-impact events.

Provide strategic oversight of labor relations:

• Ensure labor relations practices align with DCYF’s people-centered values and overall workforce strategy.
• Supervise and support the Labor Relations Administrator, promoting consistency, collaboration, and proactive problem-solving.
• Build and sustain constructive, respectful relationships with labor partners, including participation in demand-to-bargain conversations.
• Promote a transparent, communicative, and respectful work environment across the agency.

Advance professional practice, learning, and leadership development:

• Lead the creation of a centralized, agency-wide learning and development framework that supports employees at every stage of their careers.
• Align mandatory training, professional development, leadership development, and operational skill-building into a cohesive system.
• Promote leadership development, succession planning, and continuous learning across the organization.

Strengthen workforce planning and talent management:

• Provide strategic direction and integration for core HR functions through oversight of the Human Resources Director.
• Ensure recruitment, classification and compensation, HR operations, and investigations align with long-term workforce and equity goals.
• Support high-quality HR service delivery while improving consistency, clarity, and operational efficiency.

Use data to inform and improve:

• Leverage workforce data, analytics, and…