DIRECTOR OF LEAN GOVERNMENT in San Marcos, California at City of San Marcos

The opportunity

The City of San Marcos is seeking a strategic, experienced leader to serve as its next Director of LEAN Government.

Reporting to the City Manager and serving on the Executive Team, the director will advise on complex organizational issues, lead organization-wide improvement efforts, help move major priorities from discussion to action, and provide strategic leadership for the City's communications function.

This role is designed for an experienced, collaborative leader who can see the big picture, anticipate challenges, bring structure to ambiguity and help leaders work together more effectively.

The director supports the City Manager by providing strategic guidance, coordination and follow-through across the organization. As an equal member of the Executive Team, the director advises and collaborates with fellow directors through influence and partnership and does not supervise, direct or exercise authority over them or their departments.

What you will do

• Advise the City Manager and Executive Team
• Translate complex issues into clear, meaningful information
• Strengthen executive coordination, ownership and follow-through
• Lead high-impact, cross-departmental initiatives
• Tactfully challenge ideas, assumptions and strategies
• Lead and develop the City’s communications professionals
• Set communications and engagement strategy for major initiatives
• Improve City programs, processes and customer experience
• Build systems that help the organization sustain improvements

The leader who will thrive here

• You bring a collaborative approach, sound judgment, strong initiative and steady follow through.
• You are approachable, grounded and comfortable with difficult conversations.
• You ask thoughtful questions and know when to lead, delegate or step back.
• You measure success through stronger teams, clearer decisions and better organizational results - not by taking on every task.

What you bring

• Experience leading and developing professionals
• Executive-level strategic communications experience
• Strong judgment in sensitive or high-profile environments
• Success advising executives and influencing senior leaders
• Experience leading complex initiatives through implementation
• Knowledge of process improvement, organizational change or customer experience
• Exceptional communication, facilitation and organization

Municipal or public-sector experience is strongly preferred. Lean Six Sigma, change-management or project-management credentials are desirable.

Success will be reflected in

• Clearer, more proactive communications
• A strong and accountable communications team
• Better informed executive decisions
• Stronger coordination across departments
• Major priorities moving forward with clear ownership
• Improved processes and customer experiences

We are looking for a leader who combines warmth with accountability, initiative with judgment and confidence with humility while helping a strong organization be even more focused, coordinated and effective.

Why you’ll love it here

At San Marcos, we live our values: teamwork, professionalism, fiscal responsibility and customer service. We believe in operating like an efficient business while never losing sight of people — the residents we serve and the employees who make it possible. This is a place where your ideas will be heard, your creativity will be valued, and your work will make a visible difference in the community.

A few things that make San Marcos special:

• One of the top 25 places to raise a family (Fortune Magazine)
• The health care hub of North County (Kaiser’s hospital opened last year and Scripps just announced its next hospital will be in San Marcos)
• An education leader, home to Cal State San Marcos and Palomar Community College
• One of the top 10 safest cities in California
  
  

• A competitive salary
• 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off
• Generous health benefits, with the City paying 90% of medical premiums
• 13 paid holidays, vacation and executive leave
• CalPERS retirement (Classic members 2% @ 55, PEPRA members 2% @ 62) and Social Security

Recruitment timeline

• Application deadline: Applications will be accepted through 10:00 a.m. on September 21, 2026.
• Application review and HR Career Conversation: Applications will be reviewed as they are received. Based on the application review, top-qualified candidates who's experience most aligns with the position needs will be invited to participate in a required virtual HR Career Conversation as the next step in the competitive selection process. Career Conversations will be scheduled on a rolling basis throughout the application period. Candidates are strongly encouraged to apply early to allow sufficient time for consideration and scheduling. Participation in a Career Conversation does not guarantee advancement to the first-round interview.
• First-round interviews (in-person): Monday, October 5, 2026
• City Manager interviews (in-person): Monday, October 12, 2026

Please review the Director of LEAN Government job description for representative duties, qualifications and education / experience requirements.