Job Description
The Assistant Department Director will provide leadership for the administration, stabilization, configuration, and continuous improvement of the City’s Oracle Fusion HCM platform and related HR technology.
- Lead post-implementation stabilization and optimization of the City’s HCM environment.
- Ensure systems effectively support HR operations and the needs of City departments and employees.
- Partner closely with Information Technology, vendors, and internal stakeholders to maintain data integrity, system security, and integrations.
- Establish effective end-user support and issue-resolution processes.
- Plan for future HCM modules, system enhancements, and process improvements.
- Manage technology vendor relationships with an emphasis on performance, accountability, knowledge transfer, and long-term sustainability.
HR Service Delivery & HR Connect
A major priority for this position will be strengthening how employees and departments access HR expertise and assistance. The Assistant Department Director will oversee HR Connect, or equivalent frontline HR service functions, and continue development of a tiered service delivery model. This includes:
- Creating clear and accessible channels for employee HR inquiries.
- Establishing processes for triaging, escalating, and resolving requests.
- Defining service standards and response-time expectations.
- Developing meaningful service-quality and performance measures.
- Building an HR liaison or specialist model that provides knowledgeable, portfolio-based support to City departments.
- Ensuring that department directors, managers, employees, and HR professionals understand how to navigate the City’s HR service model.
- The goal is a service delivery structure that is consistent, responsive, accountable, and easy to navigate.
HR Data, Analytics & Reporting
The Assistant Department Director will also help position workforce data as a strategic organizational asset. The position will lead the department’s approach to HR data collection, governance, analysis, reporting, and visualization. Responsibilities include:
- Developing dashboards, scorecards, and recurring workforce reports.
- Providing HR leadership and the City Manager’s Office with timely and meaningful workforce information.
- Conducting analyses related to staffing, compensation, workforce trends, organizational performance, and workforce planning.
- Strengthening data governance and ensuring compliance with reporting requirements.
- Improving data quality and consistency.
- Building greater data literacy and self-service reporting capabilities throughout Human Resources.
The successful candidate will be able to move the organization beyond simply collecting HR data toward using data to identify trends, measure performance, and inform decisions.
Leadership and Organizational Impact
This is both a systems leadership position and a people leadership position.
The Assistant Department Director will directly supervise managers and staff across assigned functions and will serve as a second-level supervisor for multiple HR teams. The successful candidate will be expected to develop leaders—not simply manage functions.
This includes establishing clear expectations, conducting meaningful performance conversations, developing staff capabilities, encouraging initiative and accountability, and creating an environment in which employees can grow professionally.
The Assistant Department Director will work collaboratively with other members of the HR leadership team to ensure that individual HR functions operate as part of an integrated department rather than as independent silos.
The position may also:
- Serve as HR Director in the Director’s absence when designated.
- Represent Human Resources in executive-level meetings and presentations.
- Present before the City Council when designated.
- Lead significant department-wide initiatives and special projects.
- Manage assigned budgets and vendor relationships.
- Help translate the HR department’s strategy into measurable operational results.
Job Requirements
The Ideal Candidate
Durham is seeking an experienced HR leader who combines strategic thinking with operational discipline. The ideal candidate understands that successful HR transformation requires more than selecting technology or redesigning an organizational chart. It requires building processes that people understand, creating accountability for service, developing capable teams, producing reliable information, and continuously improving how work gets done.
Competitive candidates will have demonstrated success leading complex HR operations and will be comfortable operating in an environment where some systems and processes are still being built, refined, and stabilized.
The City will be particularly interested in candidates who have successfully led organizations through significant HR technology implementations, post-go-live stabilization, shared-services development, process redesign, or HR operating-model transformation.
The successful candidate should be:
- A Builder. Someone who enjoys creating structure, establishing processes, and turning concepts into sustainable operations.
- A Systems Thinker. A leader who understands how technology, processes, data, organizational structure, and people interact.
- Operationally Disciplined. Someone who establishes expectations, measures performance, follows through, and continually looks for opportunities to improve.
- Service Oriented. A leader who recognizes that HR exists to enable employees, managers, and departments to successfully serve the community.
- Data Informed. Someone who uses workforce information to identify problems, evaluate performance, communicate trends, and guide decisions.
- Technologically Fluent. A leader who does not need to be a systems engineer but understands modern HCM platforms and can effectively lead technology teams, vendors, and implementation partners.
- A Developer of People. Someone who invests in managers and staff, delegates appropriately, builds internal capacity, and creates accountability.
- Collaborative and Credible. A professional capable of building productive relationships with employees, HR colleagues, department directors, executive leadership, IT professionals, vendors, and other stakeholders.
- Comfortable With Change. Someone who can provide stability and direction while simultaneously helping an organization transform.
Required Education and Experience
Candidates must possess:
- A bachelor’s degree in human resources, public administration, organizational development, business administration, or a directly related field.
- At least nine (9) years of progressively responsible human resources experience, including substantial experience in at least two of the following areas:
- HR technology and information systems;
- HR service delivery and operations; or
- HR data, analytics, and reporting.
At least five (5) years of supervisory or management experience.
Preferred Qualifications
Highly competitive candidates may also possess:
- A master’s degree in a related field.
- Direct experience leading an HCM or ERP implementation or post-go-live stabilization involving Oracle, Workday, SAP, or a comparable enterprise platform.
- Experience designing or managing a tiered HR service delivery model, shared-services operation, or HR liaison/business partner structure.
- Experience developing HR analytics, dashboards, scorecards, or workforce reporting for executive audiences.
- Professional certification such as SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, IPMA-CP, or IPMA-SCP.
- Municipal, governmental, or other public-sector human resources experience.
Public-sector experience is valued; however, candidates with highly relevant experience in complex organizations outside government who demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to public service should also be considered.
How to Apply
The City of Durham has retained POLIHIRE to assist with the recruitment and selection of its next Assistant Department Director of HR Operations and Service Delivery. For immediate consideration, interested candidates should attach 2 PDFs – a letter of interest and a
resume – in an email to: AHRD_Durham@polihire.com.
