Salary: $105,643.20 - $148,740.80 Annually
Location : Tacoma, WA
Job Type: Non-Classified
Job Number: P1310-26
Department: City Manager
Division: City Manager
Opening Date: 07/23/2026
Closing Date: 8/10/2026 4:00 PM Pacific

Position Description
The City of Tacoma's City Manager's Office is recruiting for a full-time Chief Policy Analyst to the Mayor. This position serves in the Policy Analyst, Senior classification.

The ideal candidate must have the ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines, work with confidential information and have strong communication skills, both verbal and written, to effectively build/maintain professional working relationships with internal and external stakeholders and residents. The Chief Policy Analyst position requires the ability to be politically astute and sensitive to issues or requests that have the potential for controversy. This is a unique opportunity to be part of a dedicated team passionate about and committed to having an immediate and lasting impact on our community.

Duties include the following:

• Conduct responsive, data-driven research and analysis to support the Mayor's executive-level decision-making, including preparing clear recommendations on emerging issues.
• Draft high-quality policy briefs, memos, reports, talking points, speeches, presentations, and other communications requiring discretion, judgment, and political awareness.
• Serve as a liaison to the City Council, internal departments, external agencies, community stakeholders, Sister City partners, and youth participants engaged through the Mayor's Youth Council.
• Manage and respond to constituent inquiries, complaints, and sensitive communications on behalf of the Mayor, ensuring tactful resolution and timely follow-up across departments.
• Lead and assist with cross-departmental projects and initiatives, tracking progress, performance metrics, and outcomes while preparing detailed summaries for executive leadership.
• Coordinate and support the Mayor's public-facing activities, including meeting preparation, event logistics, media request facilitation, itineraries for policy or diplomacy travel, and collaboration with Council support staff.
• Represent the Mayor's Office at meetings, committees, task forces, community events, Council sessions, and Sister City or Youth Council engagements, ensuring alignment with the City's mission and priorities.
• Coordinate routine requests and guidance of the Mayor's Office such as Ceremonials, appointments, street and place renaming requests, and the Mayor/Council Budget Guidance for travel, development, and outreach.

Qualifications

Minimum Education*
Bachelor's degree in public administration, public policy or directly related field

Minimum Experience*
4 years of policy analysis or municipal government experience including 1 year prior at senior, lead and/or supervisory level

*Relevant education and experience may substitute for one another on a year-for-year basis
Licensing, Certifications and Other Requirements
As needed, Washington State Driver's License
Selection Process & Supplemental Information
Apply

All interested individuals mustapply online and attach a resume and cover letter that includes major responsibilities and accomplishments related to the position.

Appointment is subject to references and passing a background check.

Compensation & Benefits
Pay Details:
Annual Salary: $105,643.20 - $148,740.80
Get Assistance

For assistance with the application process or questions regarding this job announcement please contact the Human Resources office at (253) 591-5400 by 3:00 p.m. of the closing date of the job announcement.

For technical difficulties using the Neogov system, call the applicant support line at 1-855-524-5627 between 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. This will allow us to assist you before the job announcement closes.

Communication with the City of Tacoma

We primarily communicate via email during the application process. Emails from Tacoma.gov and/or governmentjobs.com should be placed on your safe domain list to ensure that you receive notifications in a timely manner. As a precaution, you may also want to check your junk email folders.
The City of Tacoma provides excellent medical, dental and vision plans for the whole family; paid holidays and paid leave; participation in the Tacoma Employees' Retirement System (alternate plan for Police/Fire); continuing education and advancement opportunities and a growing variety of City-sponsored health and wellness opportunities and incentives.

Medical Coverage: For eligible employees and their families, including domestic partners and dependent children age 26 or younger.

Dental Coverage: For eligible employees and their families, including domestic partners and dependent children age 26 or younger.

Vision Coverage: For eligible employees and their eligible dependents.

Paid Leave: City employees are entitled to received paid holidays, sick/vacation leave or personal time off (PTO), depending upon union affiliation and appointment type.

Insurance Plans: Employees are covered by a long-term disability plan. Short-term and expanded long-term disability insurance plans are also available to employees. The State Industrial Insurance Act also covers employees.

Deferred Compensation: Income can be set aside on a pretax basis and invested for supplementation of normal retirement income.

Retirement: All employees of the City, except members of the Police and Fire services, Tacoma Rail and certain project employees, are included in the Tacoma Employees' Retirement System. Information on the Tacoma Employees' Retirement System can be found at www.cityoftacoma.org or by calling (253) 502-8200.

Other Employment Information

Direct Deposit: Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule by direct deposit.

Salary Increases: Based on satisfactory job performance, the City provides for a regular progression of salary increases for most classifications according to the salary schedule.

Union Affiliation: Many job classifications are covered by union security provisions which require union membership, dues, or payment of equivalent service fees.

Note: The provisions of this job announcement do not constitute an expressed or implied contract. Any provision contained herein may be modified and/or revoked without notice.
01

Responses to supplemental questions must be original content created by the applicant using their own words. The use of online tools or resources to create responses, such as Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT, etc.), Google, Bing, etc., or plagiarism in any form, is considered cheating and falsification of the application.I understand that any form of cheating or falsification will disqualify my application for further consideration.

• Yes
• No

02

Do you have a Bachelor's degree in public administration, public policy or directly related field?*Relevant education and experience may substitute for one another on a year-for-year basis

• Yes
• No

03

Do you have 4 years of policy analysis or municipal government experience including 1 year prior at senior, lead and/or supervisory level?*Relevant education and experience may substitute for one another on a year-for-year basis

• Yes
• No

04

Describe your experience working in or with municipal government. What roles did you hold, and how did they prepare you for serving in the Mayor's Office?
05

Describe a situation where you had to prepare written materials for senior leadership (briefings, memos, talking points, or reports). What was your approach to clarity, tone, and accuracy?
06

The Mayor's Office often handles sensitive, high visibility issues. Describe a time you worked in an environment requiring discretion, political awareness, and careful communication.
07

What approaches do you use to ensure your work is equitable and inclusive, especially when analyzing topics that affect diverse communities?
08

When working across departments, agencies, or community groups, how do you establish effective working relationships and keep communication clear?
09

Describe your experience interpreting municipal codes, regulations, budgets, or administrative policies. How comfortable are you applying these to real world decision making?
10

How do you stay informed about issues facing cities-locally, regionally, or nationally-and how would you incorporate this awareness into your work as a Policy Analyst?
11

Provide an example of a time you had to make a recommendation with limited data or incomplete information. What strategies did you use to ensure your conclusion was well reasoned and defensible?
12

One of the City's Principles that guides us is Equity. Describe what equity means to you and describe any experience you have working with diverse groups of people.
13

Please tell us how you learned about this job opening.

• Job Interest Card notification
• Professional organization
• Military organization
• City of Tacoma employee
• Online job board posting
• Word of mouth
• LinkedIn
• Tacoma Training & Education Program (TTEP)
• Indeed
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Careers in Government
• Government Jobs
• Outreach Event
• National Diversity Network
• African American Job Network
• Disability Job Network
• Asian Job Network
• Latino Job Network
• Retirement Job Network
• LGBT Job Network
• Veteran Job Network
• Other

Required Question