Assistant Director for Customer & Partner Services

Description

Assistant Director for Customer & Partner Services (EMS 4)

WaTech: Leading the way in technology!

Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech) is a national leader in adopting new, innovative technologies that transform the way Washingtonians receive state services. As the state’s central technology agency, WaTech is responsible for core IT services and guides the strategic direction of technology across multiple programs and domains.

About the opportunity:
This position is part of WaTech’s Strategy & Management Division (SMD), which is responsible for aligning statewide and internal technology strategies, performance frameworks, governance, and project oversight to improve service delivery, investment accountability, and operational outcomes. 

The Assistant Director for Customer & Partner Services leads WaTech’s customer-facing support operations, including the Customer Support Center, Help Desk, Small Agency Services, and Information Security Services. This position ensures services are responsive, high quality, and aligned with statutory expectations for customer satisfaction and value. This position ensures alignment with statewide strategy, effective implementation of service management practices, and coordinated response to complex service, security, and customer experience issues that affect WaTech and the agencies it supports. This position reports directly to the Deputy Director, Strategy & Management.

Duties

Some of what to expect with this role:

• Provide leadership and direction for WaTech’s Information Security Services, Customer Support Center and Help Desk, and Small Agency Services team through the respective managers. 
• Review security related performance data, risks, and service needs to guide investment decisions, resource prioritization, and long-range planning for Information Security Services.
• Lead the development and execution of WaTech’s statewide customer engagement strategy.
• Serve as the primary accountability point for customer experience (CX) and service perception across WaTech’s external and internal customer-facing IT support and service functions.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to design, evaluate, and improve customer-facing IT services delivered by WaTech by setting direction and expectations for service design.
• Ensure customer-facing technologies, workflows, and communication channels are reviewed and prioritized for modernization and integration to support rapid response and effective resolution.
• Serve as the highest point of escalation within the division for complex or high-impact service incidents.
• Ensure that service delivery models are reviewed and aligned to meet the unique needs of supported agencies while remaining consistent with statewide policies and standards, including information security requirements and statewide performance expectations.
• Oversee financial planning and decision-making for all managed areas, including budget development, forecast monitoring, rate model validation, and contract compliance.
• Lead long-range planning for managed areas by directing managers to identify emerging needs, modernization opportunities, and resource gaps that could affect service continuity or equity across supported agencies.

Qualifications

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise-level customer support services, service delivery operations, and performance improvement efforts in a public-sector or similarly complex environment. This experience includes: 
  • At least eight years of progressively responsible experience in IT service delivery, IT operations, customer experience, or related fields. 
  • At least five years of experience demonstrated in the following areas:
    • In a leadership role overseeing managers or cross-functional teams responsible for service delivery, security operations, or customer engagement. 
    • Overseeing customer-facing IT service functions such as service desks, Tier 1 and Tier 2 support, or enterprise customer engagement teams, with responsibility for service levels, operations, and customer experience. 
    • Managing complex IT service portfolios or multi-agency service delivery models, including small agency services or similarly structured IT environments that require balancing resource constraints with mission delivery. 
    • Supervising cross-functional teams with responsibility for service delivery, support operations, or customer relationship management. 
  • At least three years of experience demonstrated in the following areas: 
    • Designing and implementing customer satisfaction measurement frameworks, including the use of CSAT or similar tools to monitor trends, inform service improvements, and supporting strategic or statutory reporting. 
    • Providing senior leadership and accountability for incident management, service response, and customer engagement across large or multi-service technology environments. 
    • Overseeing budgets, vendor performance, or contract management for technology service operations, with accountability for fiscal sustainability and strategic alignment. 
• Relevant education, professional certifications (e.g., ITIL, HDI, PMP), work experience, or personal or lived experience will be considered in evaluating qualifications.

• The ability to take action to learn and grow.
• The ability to take action to meet the needs of others.

Preference may be granted to applicants with the following:

• Professional certification in IT service management or customer support operations (e.g., ITIL, HDI-Support Center Manager, or comparable frameworks).
• Education or training in public administration, information technology, service management, or a related field.
• Experience participating in or presenting to executive governance bodies, customer councils, or agency leadership teams focused on service performance or digital strategy.
• Formal training or certification in project management (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2) or Lean process improvement (e.g., Lean Six Sigma).
• Experience leading enterprise customer experience programs or agency-wide initiatives that improve service delivery, transparency, or performance outcomes.
• Experience developing performance metrics, dashboards, or service reporting frameworks that support strategic planning and enterprise decision-making.

Supplemental Information

Telework: This position has regular and situational onsite requirements. The incumbent must be available to attend monthly in-person leadership meetings, participate in customer or team engagements, and be onsite during critical service incidents or emergency events. The position must reside within reasonable commuting distance of WaTech headquarters (Olympia, Washington) to ensure availability for urgent onsite needs and executive coordination.

We value diversity and different perspectives:

WaTech is committed to providing equal access and opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees. We seek to attract and retain a diverse staff and welcome your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. We invite you to include your preferred name and pronouns in your material to ensure we address you correctly throughout the application process.

What WaTech offers:

As an employee of WaTech, you’ll have access to an outstanding employee benefits package that includes medical and dental plan options for you and your family, paid leave and holidays, retirement plan options and more. 

While WaTech is headquartered in Olympia, Washington, which is near some of the country’s most scenic national parks, we are able to offer many of our positions telework and flexible schedule options to help support a healthy work-life balance. 

To learn more about WaTech and what our employees enjoy about working here, please visit our website. 

Additional information about this role:

• This position requires a background check. Information from the background check will not necessarily preclude employment but will be considered in determining the applicant's suitability to perform in the position and is a continued condition of employment. 

How to apply:

Applications for this recruitment will be accepted electronically. Please select the large “apply” button at the top of this announcement. In addition to completing your online application, please also include the following attachments: 

• A current resume detailing your applicable experience, training and/or education. 
• A letter of interest highlighting how your experience aligns with the outlined job posting. 

Top candidates will be asked to provide a list of their professional references with contact information. 

Reminders: 

• A real person is reviewing your application material. It is in your best interest to complete the application in its entirety and review thoroughly before submitting. You will not be eligible to re-apply for this posting for 30 days.
• Applications with missing or incomplete fields, or supplemental question responses such as “see resume” may be considered incomplete and removed from consideration. 
• WaTech complies with the employment eligibility verification requirements of the federal Form I-9. The selected candidate must be able to provide proof of identity and eligibility to work in the United States. WaTech does not use the E-Verify system. We are not eligible to extend STEM Optional Practice Training (OPT) opportunities. For more information, please visit https://www.uscis.gov. 
• Applicants wishing to claim Veterans Preference should attach a copy of their DD-214 (Member 4 copy), NGB 22, or signed verification of service letter from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to their application. (Please redact any personally identifiable data such as social security number and date of birth prior to submittal.)

By submitting your materials, you affirm that all information is true and correct. Any untruthful information is cause for removal from the applicant pool. If hired as a result of this recruitment, the discovery of incorrect or falsified information may lead to disciplinary action or dismissal.

Recruitment process:

The first round of application assessments will be conducted seven days after the initial job posting date. The hiring authority reserves the right to offer the position at any time after the initial seven-day job posting date. It is to the applicant's advantage to apply as early as possible. This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions. There may be an assignment as a part of the assessment process.

The salary range reflected above reflects the full potential for this position. The base pay offered to the selected candidate will consider the candidate’s specific qualifying experience and internal equity of the existing team. 

Contact us: For inquiries about this position, please contact Rebekah Wilkes at (360) 407-8646 or email to recruitment@watech.wa.gov

If you’d like to request an accommodation for any part of the selection process, or to receive the application material in an alternate format, please contact Human Resources at (360) 407-8242 or Human.Resources@watech.wa.gov.Persons of disability or those who are deaf or hard of hearing can call the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.