Chief, Health Workforce Behavioral Health & Policy Section

Job Description and Duties

Under the direction of the Manager II, Branch Chief, Behavioral Health & Policy the Supervisor II is responsible for the policy development and coordination of behavioral health and policy workforce initiatives. The incumbent in this position oversees programs that support and strengthen recruitment/retention and training resulting in a diverse, qualified, culturally competent behavioral health and state workforce to meet current and future needs throughout California; development of strategies and processes to meet current and future needs throughout California; and providing a consistent framework and approach to behavioral health and state policy, legislative analysis, and program planning. The Supervisor II is a member of the OHWD leadership team; actively participates in the development and implementation of the strategic direction in alignment with the HCAI mission, vision, and goals; and collaborates with the OHWD Senior Policy Advisor, Branch Chiefs, Executive Office staff on process improvements for California’s health workforce.

Effective July 1, 2025, specific Bargaining Units and associated Excluded State employees are subject to a salary reduction between 2% - 4.62% in exchange for Personal Leave Program 2025 (PLP 2025) hours each month. For more details about PLP 2025 , visit the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) website.

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Working Conditions

HCAI is committed to fostering a flexible, inclusive, and high-performing work environment that supports both operational excellence and employee well-being.

HCAI is housed in a state-of-the-art building outside of downtown off Interstate-5. Enjoy a great work environment with many amenities, including FREE PARKING and fully equipped electric vehicle charging stations. HCAI is close to many dining and shopping choices in the Natomas area.

HCAI supports a hybrid telework schedule for many positions, consistent with operational requirements. Telework schedules are only available for CA residents. The telework policy is subject to change, and additional in-office days may be required and/or minimal notification may be given to report to the worksite if an urgent need arises.

Visa Sponsorship: HCAI is not an E-Verify employer and does not provide visa sponsorship. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of appointment.

Special Requirements

A Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) must be submitted to apply for this position. The SOQ must be in 12-point Arial font, single-spaced, and no more than 2 page(s) in length. The SOQ must include responses to the following questions in numerical order; do not consolidate responses.

1. Describe your knowledge and experience in behavioral health and state workforce public policy, including your ability to interpret and apply state and federal statutes and regulations. Additionally, explain how you have implemented strategic objectives to achieve program or initiative goals.

2. Please describe your experience in relationship-building efforts across diverse internal teams and external stakeholders. Include examples of how you have facilitated collaboration, strengthened partnerships, and maintained productive working relationships, especially when addressing complex or sensitive matters.

3. Describe how you led a team through a complex project. How did you organize the work, keep people motivated, and ensure the team delivered results?

4. Briefly describe a time you had to interpret or apply a policy, how did you ensure you fully understood it, what research or analysis did you do, and how did you use that understanding to guide your decisions or recommendations? How did you ensure accountability; integrity? How did you identify and address issues? What were lesson(s) learned?

To support fair hiring, applicants should prepare their application materials using their own knowledge, experience, and skills. Your responses should show your own qualifications and work history. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools should only be used responsibly.

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

• Experience evaluating and analyzing situations followed by recommending, adopting and/or implementing an effective course of action.
• Experience that demonstrates the ability to efficiently develop and manage programs while effectively tracking and monitoring outcomes.
• Experience that demonstrates the ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and adjust to changing priorities in a cooperative manner.
• Experience collaborating and interacting with the public and varying levels of departmental personnel.
• Experience collaborating on or leading cross-functional teams.
• Experience with learning and implementing new technology platforms and effectively managing changes.

Benefits

In addition to competitive public employee wages and a comprehensive benefits package, our employees enjoy meaningful and interesting work that supports access to healthcare.

To learn more about benefits for State employees, visit the Salary and Benefits page on the CalHR website .

University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) employees may qualify to transfer their current and previous employment credit to State of California employment through CalPERS. Human Resources can help with this process upon employment or you can reach out to CalPERS for inquiries at View phone number on us.fitly.work.

Additional Application Requirements

To be considered for this vacancy, please complete all applicable fields on the application form, including a list or description of previous/current work experience in the duties performed section. The application should also clearly demonstrate the candidate’s ability to meet the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification.

Any documents you submit for a job vacancy such as your state application, resume, cover letter, educational transcripts, etc. SHOULD NOT include ANY confidential information e.g. Social Security Number (SSN).

Possession of Minimum Qualifications will be verified prior to interview and/or appointment. If you are using education to meet the minimum qualifications for this position, you must submit a copy of your high school or college/university transcript(s). Unofficial transcripts may be accepted during the application process; however, submission of official transcripts may be required prior to appointment.

Foreign Degrees or Transcripts – Applicants with foreign degrees or transcripts who wish to apply that coursework toward meeting the minimum qualifications of the classification must provide a transcript evaluation that indicates the number of units to which his/her foreign coursework is equivalent. HCAI accepts foreign transcript evaluations that are completed by one of the agencies approved by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is required and must be included.
• Statement of Qualifications -

  A Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) must be submitted to apply for this position. Please see the Special Requirements section for details.