Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 360,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission we make three commitments to our students, their families and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership and continuous learning.

The Office of Administrative Hearings’ (OAH) is located within the Law Department of Chicago public Schools. The Law Department provides a full array of legal services to the Chicago Board of Education and the various departments and divisions of the Chicago Public Schools. The OAH's mission is to ensure effective administration of employee grievances, collective-bargaining provisions, Board policies and rules, and employee discipline to facilitate compliance with statutory and contractual requirements. OAH’s main duties include presiding over discipline hearings and investigating and adjusting grievances filed by labor unions. The OAH also houses the Criminal Background Committee, which is responsible for reviewing the criminal background histories of applicants. The Senior Administrative Hearing Officer will report to the Director of Administrative Hearings with oversight support from the Executive Director of Administrative Hearings.

The Senior Administrative Hearing Officer will be held accountable for the following responsibilities::

• Manage a caseload, including discipline and grievance matters, many of which will involve complex issues
• Serve as the primary point of contact for Administrative Hearing Officers (AHO), including reviewing and approving a subset of disciplinary and grievance decisions, providing feedback for AHOs’ written product and thought-partnering with them on action items or trouble-shooting issues to get to a timely resolution
• Triage time-sensitive issues and exercise discretion regarding those issues the Senior AHO can address and which need to be escalated to the supervisors
• Act as liaison between the OAH and stakeholders on grievance and discipline matters
• Make timely and well-reasoned decisions in the Executive Director or Director's absence or as needed on a variety of matters and issues, including providing advice to the Talent Office on disciplinary matters and providing guidance to the AHOs as needed
• Exhibit thorough knowledge of CPS disciplinary and grievance processes
• Special projects as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Senior Administrative Hearing Officer must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Juris Doctorate degree from an ABA-accredited law school, required
• License to practice law in the State of Illinois, strongly preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (years) of relevant experience with a focus on labor/employee relations matters, including conducting administrative hearings, assessing and advising on employee discipline matters, and resolving union grievances
• Experience in a Union environment is preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to analyze fact patterns, identify inconsistencies or areas of concern, and recommend a course of action/action steps
• Advanced ability to communicate orally and in writing clearly and succinctly and to write a complex analysis of facts, law and policies/rules/contract in a simple, coherent style
• Ability to preside over high stakes adversarial hearings in which participants may have strongly held opposing views
• Possess interpersonal skills that enable administrators, managers, and employees to have trust and confidence in your fairness, knowledge, and skills
• Ability to coach and provide feedback to AHOs to increase quality and efficiency
• Demonstrate high levels of integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions
• Effective project management capabilities, including identifying goals and aligning/managing activities toward goal fulfillment
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. “Up-to-date” on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.