Pilchuck UniServ Council
 

UniServ Director

Based in Everett, WA

 

The Pilchuck UniServ Council, a Local Option Council, is seeking applicants for a UniServ Director position.

The office of the Pilchuck UniServ Council is located in downtown Everett, WA approximately 25 miles north of Seattle. The Council consists of nine K-12 certificated bargaining units and two classified units. The size of the units range from 12 to 1,300, with a combined membership of 5,000. The units are in a contiguous geographic area and all are within 40 minutes of the office. The Council currently employs three UniServ Directors and one full time Administrative Assistant. The intention is to hire one new Director, to begin work as soon as possible, but no later than August 2025. The Council office, shared with the Everett Education Association, is a rented facility with over 6,000 square feet. Five local units have their own separate offices, five local Presidents are released full-time, and one other half-time. Some additional noteworthy features of the Pilchuck UniServ Council include at least the following:

1. Our Council prides itself on being a leader in our state. Pilchuck is at the forefront state-wide in union and PAC membership recruitment and retention, negotiating aggressive compensation and benefits agreements, member organizing and political action. Additionally, Pilchuck prioritizes program offerings in professional development, diversity and inclusivity work, and member engagement opportunities for a broad range of our membership, from new educators to pre-retirees.
2. Our work environment for staff is collegial, shared, and self-directed based on job responsibilities and annually-set priorities for staff assistance;
3. Snohomish County is a geographic location second to none with a full range of recreational and cultural activities.

To Apply:
Applications should include all pertinent information which will be useful in determining the candidate's qualifications for the position, and should minimally include:

1. Cover letter;
2. Completed and signed application form (attached here as a PDF, or attached here as a Word document);
3. Résumé reflecting qualifications for this position, particularly any experience, knowledge, training, skills, and/or interest connected with the types of responsibilities listed in this job announcement;
4. Two samples of the applicant's written communication skills (any documents are acceptable, e.g., letters, newsletters, flyers, even arbitration briefs, authored by the applicant);
5. Two professional reference letters (at least one of these should be a letter from your current employer if possible); and
6. A list of three additional references (names, address, and phone).

In order to be considered for this position, applications must be received in the Pilchuck UniServ Council office no later than 5:00 p.m. on May 13, 2025.

Mail, deliver, or email the above materials to:

Pilchuck UniServ Council
2710 Grand Ave
Everett, WA 98201
EMAIL: slamb@washingtonea.org

Within ten days of receipt of an application, a confirmation of receipt and a reminder of the following timeline will be sent. On May 20, 2025, finalists will be contacted regarding the scheduling of an interview. We anticipate interviews to be scheduled June 13, 2025. If a finalist lives out of the area, the Council may pay for transportation and lodging to attend an interview, depending upon circumstances. Our goal is to have employment begin no later than August 2025.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
The three UniServ Directors will share responsibilities within the guidelines below.

The assistance to locals provided by UniServ staff will essentially be a reflection of the goals and activities of the Council's local units. However, the primary areas of assistance to be provided by the UniServ staff shall be the following:

1. Achieving strong local units through recruitment and retention;
2. Involving members and advocating for their interests;
3. Engaging diverse communities, including historically under-represented groups and communities of color;
4. Collective bargaining and contract administration;
5. Protection of individual rights and fair treatment of members;
6. Crisis organizing and management;
7. Community organizing for clearly stated goals or objectives;
8. Political action;
9. Providing training and support for the professional interests and responsibilities of our members; and
10. Developing, securing, and/or providing appropriate training of local unit leaders and members in priority activity areas.

In actual practice, the nature and extent of staff assistance in any of the above areas takes a variety of different forms.

On an annual basis, the Council adopts a document entitled "Potential Areas for UniServ Staff Assistance" to serve as a general priority guideline for staff assistance that year.

The Council, primarily through meetings of local Presidents and the Council Executive Board, may from time to time determine the need for and ways to coordinate certain activities between two or more local units. Such activities may involve any of the primary assistance areas listed above and normally involve one or more of the UniServ staff in a consulting role.

Additional Pilchuck UniServ staff on-going roles or activities may occur in at least the following areas: member and leader communications; coordination link for WEA and/or NEA matters; Council business matters; WEA field staff meetings; regional meetings of staff and governance; training for personal and professional development; WEA committees or work teams; and occasional assistance outside of the Council via work with our staff colleagues.

QUALIFICATIONS
Primary Qualifications
The Council does not necessarily expect applicants to have experience, knowledge, skills, training, and interest in all the job responsibility areas listed above. However, the qualities applicants possess in relationship to the job responsibilities will be the most important factors considered in filling this position. This is the reason applicants are requested to include in their resumes what experience, knowledge, skills, training, and interest they have in those responsibility areas.

Minimum Qualifications:
The Council considers the following as minimum qualifications:

1. Bachelors Degree or comparable experience;
2. Staff and/or leadership experience in one or more of the following:
   • Local, state, and/or national school employee unions;
   • Other labor unions;
   • Other labor relations experience, and/or an education in labor relations;
3. The ability to obtain a valid Washington State driver's license, satisfactory driving record, and have a dependable automobile for association travel (automobile insurance with liability limits of at least $100,000/$300,000 required).

SALARY RANGE AND BENEFITS
Based on qualifications for the position, salary is negotiable within the posted range. Anticipated initial salary range is $170,000 – $200,000. Moving expenses available to be negotiated based upon circumstances.

Benefits beyond salary will be the same as for the current Pilchuck Directors, including:

• Full family medical, dental, vision
• Long term disability
• Term life insurance (3X employee's salary)
• Retirement program (Council contributes amount equal to 25% of salary to a retirement program)
• Generous leave provisions, holidays, and vacation
• Training allowance in addition to what NEA provides
• Mileage reimbursement