Job Description

Statement of Duties

Under the direct supervision of the Director of Racial and Social Justice (RSJ), the RSJ Coordinator is responsible for supporting the Director in providing effective leadership in the planning, development, education, management, coordination, and evaluation of RSJ priorities, and programs. This individual’s primary responsibility is project management. They will be responsible for driving and ensuring high standards in the quality of RSJ deliverables, projects, and initiatives; draft strategic plans, advocate on RSJ issues; oversee management of programs; oversee community and organizational effectiveness and learning. Employee is required to perform all similar or related duties.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

• Provide strategic leadership in the areas of diversity, inclusion, equity and justice.
• Assist in the development of various alliances and coalition building efforts with federal agencies, Congress, state and local governments and organizations around RSJ priorities and initiatives to achieve objectives.
• In collaboration with the RSJ Director and staff, implement, monitor progress, and recommend adjustments in connection with strategic plans and initiatives.
• Works with the Director of RSJ to create, develop, manage, and track, the goals relating to the RSJ Youth League and other equity action teams within the City.
• Assists with the development and tracking of performance management metrics as it relates to the inclusivity and belonging within the City.
• Supervises professional and support staff assigned to the department with a strong emphasis on leadership, team building, and staff motivation.
• Supervises and works closely with RSJ Project Specialist.
• Attends in-person meetings and events as needed throughout the City of Somerville, including those that occur beyond normal business hours and weekends.
• Represents the RSJ department at hearings, meetings, and conferences as assigned by the RSJ Director with tact.
• As a member of the senior management team, collaborates to develop strategic plans to meet departmental objectives.
• Delegates work assignments, allocates resources and provides leadership to ensure that RSJ Department priorities remain consistent with overall goals and initiatives
• Works with RSJ Public Information Officer to develop media and public relations strategies.
• Research and identify best practices and emerging trends; identify external trends and benchmarks that inform and complement internal goals and engagement; bringing new ideas to the City’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
• Formulates recommendations to the RSJ Director on all RSJ matters affecting projects and initiatives.
• Assist with ongoing monitoring, reviewing, and evaluation to ensure that the challenges identified are addressed and objectives are achieved.
• Collaborates to perform outreach in the community regarding RSJ initiatives and to gather information about needs.
• Serve in the capacity of mentoring, coaching; visible, approachable sounding board/resource when needed.
• Assists the RSJ Department and the Mayor’s Office in the preparation of the City’s annual operating budget.
• Collaborates with the RSJ Director to establish monitoring and evaluation plans to track and assess progress of RSJ initiatives.
• Assists in advising organizations and city departments on implementing their own monitoring and evaluation plans to track and assess progress of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism implementation.
• Commits to continuous learning/improvement in DEI knowledge, cultural proficiency, and self-awareness.
• Serves as a spokesperson or recognized authority of the organization in matters of substance or considerable importance, including departmental practices, procedures, regulations or guidelines. May be required to discuss controversial matters where tact is required to avoid friction and obtain cooperation.
• Practices strong conflict resolution skills.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in public policy, public administration, business management, organizational development, human services, political science, law, DEI or a similar field, and five (5) years of experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
• At least two (2) years professional experience in supporting and maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs or project management with a focus on DEI.
• Applications demonstrating lived experience with proper knowledge of data, finance/budget, management and organizational development in lieu of education are strongly encouraged.

Special Requirements

Strong demonstrated commitment to equity, community empowerment and capacity building.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge:

Program management, operations, finance, leadership, grassroots organizing and a knowledge of building and sustaining trust. Knowledge of laws related to equal opportunity, disability issues, human and civil rights; DEI, and Organizational Change.

Ability:

Ability to interact and communicate effectively and with City employees, City officials and members of the general public.

Ability to approach issues and emergencies in a solution-oriented manner. Ability to maintain confidential information; ability to exercise tact and diplomacy in organizational settings. Remain focused in the face of pressure, delivers against timelines.

Ability to operate a computer; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; Be detailed oriented with a commitment to accuracy. Distinguish initial requests from true underlying needs.

Must have program management abilities. Success in roles requiring execution of multiple tasks while responding to multiple priorities. Operates with excellence in mind in all matters, with the confidence to defend/debate ideas without ego interference. Ability to design metrics for evaluating individual and organizational change.

Ability to understand and interpret laws and policies, to work within a large organization to accomplish given ends through negotiation and dialogue;

Be comfortable in a fast paced environment and capable of juggling multiple initiatives simultaneously, often against tight deadlines.

Have strong collaboration skills, but also the ability to work autonomously.

Apply effective judgment and discretion to maintain a high level of confidentiality when handling sensitive information.

Ability to develop templates and tools to provide guidance and support to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Establish and maintain effective and harmonious working relationships with diverse stakeholders regarding strategy, policy, operations, deliverables, timelines, and responsibilities; problem solve and think strategically, analytically, and creatively; learn new concepts quickly; collaborate, build consensus, and lead; be self-motivated and organized.

Skills:

Excellent organizational skills; excellent data processing skill in the use of personal computers and office software including word processing, data base internet, and spreadsheet applications. Strong written and oral communication skills. Ability to work cooperatively in a diverse community and to maintain effective relationships with parties who may have conflicting opinions. Exceptional communication skills, de-escalation, mediation and supervisory skills. The ability to listen, adapt and consider qualitative as well as quantitative data

Communication Skills:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organizational, critical thinking, and analytical skills. Ability to effectively present information to diverse groups. Interpersonal skills necessary to interact successfully with a wide range of individuals.

 

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee must be available to work beyond normal business hours in response to completing work assignments and/or physically attend evening meetings and weekend events as needed throughout Somerville.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Cognitive Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes

Hours: Full-Time 
Salary: $90,000 annually plus benefits
Union: Non-Union
FLSA:  Exempt
Date Posted:  December 16th, 2025

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or [email protected].

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union. Public Health Nurses are part of Union A (SMEA).
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.

Job Tags

Similar Jobs