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Manager of Enterprise Change & Organizational Effectiveness

Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Sacramento, CA, United States


Title: Manager of Enterprise Change & Organizational Effectiveness

Department: Enterprise Change & Organizational Effectiveness

Location: Sacramento, CA, US, 95817-1899

Posting Type: Open

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to advance SMUD’s enterprise change management capacity, lead our business partner team and support overall organizational leadership development. This role will help lead enterprise resource planning efforts, provide strategic oversight of key initiatives, lead cross-functional efforts, and partner with leaders across the organization to embed inclusive and successful practices into our culture, systems, and processes. The successful candidate will bring strong leadership experience, excellent relationship-building skills, effective change management experience, and a demonstrated ability to listen, influence, inspire, and drive meaningful organizational change. This position reports directly to our Chief Diversity Officer and has direct interaction with the entire Executive team.

Purpose
To strategically direct enterprise-wide change management and organizational effectiveness functions. Manages multiple teams of internal consultants and ensures execution and alignment of change management and strategic talent initiatives to enterprise goals and priorities. This role serves as a trusted advisor to executives, driving adoption of enterprise transformation initiatives, ensuring enterprise resource planning support and adoption, and strengthening organizational capacity. This role requires the ability to foster collaboration and drive transformative solutions and is accountable for building change agility and organizational effectiveness capabilities across the enterprise, ensuring that leaders, managers and employees are equipped with the skills, mindset and resources needed to navigate change effectively and drive operational excellence.

Nature and Scope
Responsible for strategy, methodology and delivery of enterprise change management and organizational effectiveness services. Manages Senior Organizational Effectiveness Specialists responsible for organizational development and strategic HR business partner support to senior management and their team, and Business Transformation Specialists who provide change management support to complex, enterprise-wide transformational change initiatives. This role ensures consulting methods, tools and programs are aligned to enterprise priorities and meet industry needs. This role serves a center of excellence for change management and organizational effectiveness, developing frameworks, training, and resources to empower leaders and teams across the organization. The successful candidate will partner with executive leadership to facilitate key discussions with a customer-focused approach, diagnose organizational needs, co-create and ideate strategies, and evaluate the impact of said strategies on organizational goals and culture. They will be accountable for building organizational change capability and guiding leaders at all levels. The role is required to attend, present and/or lead at Board, executive, team, customer, community, and one-on-one meetings; in person, as needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership & Team Management

Guide, coach and develop two teams — Change Management and Organizational Effectiveness/HR Business Partners — fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and accountability.

Provide strategic direction, mentoring and support to senior-level specialists responsible for enterprise consulting, ensuring alignment with SMUD’s strategic priorities.

Manage resources, budgets and project portfolios to deliver services effectively and efficiently.

Change Management

Direct SMUD's enterprise change management strategy, ensuring consistent methodology and scalable practices are embedded across SMUD.

Serve as a senior advisor to executives and project sponsors on the people side of change, providing strategies that drive adoption, minimize resistance, and accelerate results.

Oversee the portfolio of enterprise change initiatives, identifying interdependencies, risks and opportunities for alignment.

Build organizational change capability by developing tools, training and coaching for leaders and project teams.

Measure and monitor change effectiveness, adoption rates, and benefits realization to ensure enterprise value is achieved.

Organizational Effectiveness & Strategic Human Resources Development

Provide executive-level consulting to senior management and their teams on organizational design, team effectiveness, leadership development, and culture alignment.

Guide enterprise workforce and talent strategies, including strategic workforce planning, succession planning, coaching, and employee engagement to build and sustain leadership pipelines aligned with future organizational needs and transformational initiatives.

Guide senior teams in clarifying vision, strategy, operating models, and processes to strengthen team and organizational performance.

Deliver organizational assessments, identify performance gaps, and design targeted interventions to drive results and build long-term organizational health.

Oversee employee engagement strategies and survey action planning, ensuring insights translate into meaningful organizational improvements.

Partner with Directors to strengthen overall leadership development and embed equity, inclusion, and employee wellbeing into change management and organizational effectiveness programs.

Leverage technology to ensure efficient and optimized results that support the people and the organizational priorities.

Enterprise Strategy & Integration

Partner with executives and peers across human resources, enterprise strategy, technology, and operations to ensure people and change strategies are fully integrated into SMUD’s enterprise strategy.

Contribute to business unit and enterprise strategy development, representing organizational effectiveness and change management perspectives at senior forums.

Ensure services are data-driven, leveraging metrics and organizational insights to inform executive decision-making and refine programs.

Monitor industry trends and emerging practices to ensure SMUD’s change and organizational effectiveness practices remain innovative, competitive and compliant with regulatory requirements.

Administration & Oversight

Develop and manage the unit’s annual budget, ensuring fiscal responsibility and alignment with strategic objectives.

Oversee internal and external projects, managing scope, resources, contracts, and quality assurance to deliver expected outcomes.

Perform other related duties as needed; schedules, hours and locations may fluctuate based on business needs.

Required Education
Bachelor’s degree majoring in Organizational Development, Human Resource Management, Business Administration, Business Management, Organizational Communication, Public Administration, or related field from an accredited college or university, or equivalent experience. If no degree, at least nine (9+) years of relevant experience is required.

Required Experience Qualifications
Five (5+) or more years of progressively responsible experience leading large-scale, complex change management and organizational effectiveness initiatives, including five (5+) or more years of supervisory experience of professional teams.

Knowledge Of

Management fundamentals and techniques

Business and political acumen

Budget development and administration

Project management

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) and organizational culture change

Comprehension of applicable employment laws and practices.

Specific to Manager Enterprise Change & Organizational Effectiveness

Advanced fundamentals, practices and methodologies of change management and organizational effectiveness

Talent management strategies including workforce planning, succession planning, employee engagement, and leadership development

Organizational design, team effectiveness, and cultural transformation approaches

Project and portfolio management methodologies, both agile and traditional

Supervisory fundamentals, including selection, development, performance management, and employee relations.

Relevant employment laws, human resources practices, and public utility business operations.

Stakeholder engagement strategies, including labor relations, employee communications, and advocacy-building.

Methods for assessing organizational readiness, risk and impact in large-scale change initiatives.

Industry trends and benchmarks in organizational effectiveness and change management, especially for the utility sector.

Data analytics, evaluation, and reporting related to organizational effectiveness and change outcomes.

Skills To

Oversee, influence, persuade, and motivate

Establish policies, set goals, and manage the implementation of strategic and operational plans for area(s) of responsibility

Manage activities of staff

Partner with peers to drive change across cross-functional teams

Demonstrate commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment

Interface effectively with executives, senior and peer management, SMUD staff, external entities, and the community

Specific to Manager Enterprise Change & Organizational Effectiveness

Guide, motivate and develop high-performing consulting teams.

Provide executive-level consulting and influence senior management to align people strategies with business goals.

Design and deliver complex change management strategies and organizational interventions.

Build trust and maintain effective relationships across all levels of the organization.

Assess organizational obstacles using data-driven methods and translate insights into actionable strategies.

Manage multiple, concurrent projects and clashing priorities with resilience and adaptability.

Demonstrate strong judgment, discretion and professionalism in sensitive matters.

Facilitate strategic planning, visioning, and organizational assessments with cross-functional teams.

Lead stakeholder engagement and employee communications during organizational change.

Develop and deliver training and capability-building programs for leaders and managers.

Coach leaders at all levels to build change agility and foster cultural transformation.

Leverage data analytics and metrics to measure effectiveness and inform continuous improvement

Desirable Qualifications

Proven experience leading change management for large-scale, complex enterprise transformations (such as ERP, digital, or organizational restructuring), ideally within a utility or public sector environment.

Certification in Change Management certification methodologies (e.g., CCMP, Prosci) or organizational development practices.

Experience managing and developing high-performing teams of internal consultants.

Proven experience designing and implementing enterprise-wide organizational effectiveness initiatives—such as employee engagement, succession planning, leadership development, and coaching programs—ideally within a utility or public sector environment.

HR Certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP, SPHR).

Strong track record in building organizational change capability through training, coaching, or establishing centers of excellence.

Organizational Development/Coaching certification (e.g., ATD, ICF, or equivalent).

Advanced degree in Organizational Development, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field.

Experience utilizing data analytics and change metrics to measure adoption, readiness, and project outcomes.

Experience integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing fundamentals into transformational and change initiatives

Physical Requirements
Applicants must be able to perform the essential job functions with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement
SMUD provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender (including pregnancy), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, veteran status, or any other applicable legally protected characteristic. All employment decisions are made on the basis of individual qualifications, merit, and business needs and interests.

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