The Director of Organizational Culture and Engagement provides strategic leadership to strengthen and sustain a workplace culture that reflects the City of Elgin’s mission, vision and values. This position plays a critical role in advancing employee engagement, inclusion and organizational excellence.
Assigned to the City Manager’s Office, this director-level role serves as a member of the senior leadership team and works in close collaboration with the Human Resources Director, department leaders and external consulting partners. The position is responsible for leading initiatives that promote employee connection, professional growth and a culture of inclusion across all levels of the organization.
The ideal candidate will be a strategic, innovative and insightful leader with proven experience in leading culture and employee engagement.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Provides strategic leadership and expertise to advance the City’s internal culture initiatives, including tracking progress on the Strategic Plan and setting annual priorities.
- Planning, designing, collaborating and managing employee engagement programs, culture-building initiatives and advising leadership on culture-related issues and programs.
- Leads organizational change by embedding inclusive leadership and cultural competency across the organization, equipping leaders and employees to apply these practices every day.
- Utilizes data to pinpoint areas where there may be inclusion challenges and creates strategies to address them.
- Partners with the City Communications team to ensure all internal and external messaging is inclusive and welcoming to a diverse community, which may include contributing to intranet posts, newsletters, press releases and social media.
- Oversees inclusive culture infrastructure including chairing the advisory committee, managing consulting relationships and connecting with the City Council.
- Supports leaders in building inclusive, high-performing teams that align with the City’s organizational culture while meeting the unique needs of departments.
- Coach and advise leaders on cultural issues, providing tools, interventions and feedback to create healthy team environments.
- Collaborate with Human Resources and City leadership to design programs that listen to, engage, and retain employees (e.g., surveys, focus groups, engagement initiatives).
- Establishes mechanisms to solicit ongoing employee feedback on culture, equity and inclusion.
- Advise, support and collaborate with leaders to integrate our culture and values into policies, structures, programs and practices.
- Support community facing roles to build cultural competency to ensure the community feels valued and respected when interacting with City employees.
- Performs related tasks as required.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Demonstrated leadership capacity including the ability to inspire and guide, give feedback and address challenging situations directly.
- Adaptable and collaborative, skilled at navigating ambiguity, solving problems with others, and influencing across internal and external partners.
- Strong cultural competency and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build trust and understand others’ needs and diverse perspectives.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively engage and influence employees, leaders and stakeholders at all levels.
- Strong project and change management skills to drive organizational initiatives forward.
- Ability to analyze and use data and metrics related to culture, such as employee engagement surveys, to make data-driven decisions.
- Knowledge of the national and local external diversity, equity, and inclusion landscape, including best practices, common challenges and emerging trends.
- Bilingual (Spanish) proficiency is a plus.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in a relevant field of study, such as organizational development, human resources, organizational psychology, business administration, etc.
- At least six years or more of progressive relevant experience at a leadership level in organizational culture, DEI, employee engagement, organizational development, or a related field with a track record of successfully shaping and managing organizational culture.
- Experience developing and implementing organization wide culture-related initiatives that align with the organization mission, vision, values, and strategy in a dynamic, complex and diverse organization. Examples could include employee engagement survey and recommendation implementation, Employee Resource Groups, leadership programs, etc.
- Preference for leadership experience in a government or not-for-profit environment at a leadership level.
Salary
$96,800.00 - $119,504.00 Annually
Location
Elgin, IL
Job Type
Full Time
Department
City Managers Office
Opening Date
10/10/2025
Closing Date
10/31/2025 11:59 PM Central
