Employee Engagement & Retention Specialist

Statement of Duties:

Strong employee engagement and retention are critical to maintaining effective City operations, sustaining employee morale, and delivering high-quality public service. Findings from a 2022 City-led workforce assessment underscore the importance of intentional, equitable strategies to support, develop, and retain the City’s workforce. The Employee Engagement & Retention Specialist will execute a strategic plan informed by the 2022 assessment findings as well as current and ongoing employee surveys. Additional insights will be used to validate, refine, and evolve employee engagement and retention strategies to ensure they remain responsive to workforce needs and organizational priorities.

The position also supports the City’s employee onboarding efforts by enhancing the new-hire experience and providing ongoing guidance to promote successful integration into the organization. These efforts are intended to strengthen workplace culture, sustain long-term employee engagement, review feedback, and support the City’s ability to attract and retain a qualified and committed workforce.

Essential Functions:

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

• Routinely visits departments citywide to serve as a visible, accessible point of contact for employees; shares information on City programs, benefits, professional development, and engagement initiatives, and gathers real-time employee feedback through in-person interactions.
• Supports new employees through in-person onboarding touchpoints, follow-up check-ins, and referrals to available resources; attends weekly New Hire Orientation sessions.
• Collaborate with departments to assess employee experience, identify trends, and recommend targeted engagement and retention interventions.
• Develop a digital new-hire onboarding program and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to automate and streamline systems and processes.
• Plans, implements, and administers universal new-hire orientation to improve early employee experience and long-term integration.
• Partners with internal and external subject matter experts to develop and deliver continuous
• professional development opportunities, including instructor-led trainings that support leadership development, equity, inclusion, belonging, and organizational effectiveness.
• Assists in the coordination and ongoing support of Mentorville (the City’s mentorship program), affinity groups, and peer networks, including on-site outreach and participation.
• Supports leadership development and emerging talent initiatives that strengthen internal career pathways and employee retention.
• Develops and maintains clear, accessible communications and materials related to onboarding, engagement, and professional development initiatives that are visible across all levels of the organization.
• Defines, tracks, and communicates program outcomes and success metrics; evaluates participation trends and adjusts strategies based on data and employee input.
• Supports employee recognition, workplace culture, and engagement initiatives that promote pride in City service and strengthen the City’s employer brand.
• Assists with the training, development, and coordination of the non-union employee performance management program and professional development processes.
• Promotes the City’s tuition reimbursement program to new and current employees and works with department leadership to leverage this benefit in support of employee professional growth and retention.
• Monitors program costs and serves as a point of contact for vendors; supports the Human Resources administrative division in issuing timely and accurate vendor payments.
• Performs all other related work as required

RECOMMENDED MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of work experience in human resources, recruitment, employee onboarding, learning & development; or any equivalent combination of education, training, and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Program/project management with a progressive increase of responsibility in developing programs and initiatives designed to drive employee engagement
• SHRM-CP or HRCI-PHR certification preferred but not required
• Multilingual skills in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole, Mandarin, Nepali or any other language spoken by the Somerville community preferred but not required
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office (MS) Teams and SharePoint a plus

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge: Demonstrated knowledge of multiple types of facilitated learning interaction design methods. Knowledge of data-driven decision making to drive change in an organization. Demonstrated success in designing and delivering individual, organizational and management training programs. Proven track record in managing projects; devising and implementing, effective, result-oriented employee initiatives and engagement programs, with solid technical knowledge.

Ability: Ability to work effectively in a diverse municipal environment that includes union and non-union employees, staff working varied schedules (including evenings and overnight shifts), and employees located across multiple City facilities. Ability to understand and navigate differing work rules, benefits, and contractual requirements. Ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment that spans different job functions and departments. Ability to handle problems effectively; ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing; ability to operate a personal computer; ability to maintain confidential information; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; ability to quickly learn and become proficient in new software programs; ability to communicate appropriately and effectively with City employees, City officials and members of the public. Ability to show judgment and initiative to accomplish job duties. Ability to be a change agent in developing key initiatives at a City-wide level. Ability to work with management, employees, and vendors on leadership initiatives and diversity/inclusion endeavors, particularly in the areas of learning and development program design and delivery.

Skill: Excellent judgment, sound problem-solving ability, and creative decision-making skills. Strong project management capabilities, including needs analysis, program development, implementation, and evaluation. Demonstrated strategic and critical thinking skills. Strong relationship-building, facilitation, and conflict resolution abilities. Highly effective written and verbal communication, research, and presentation skills. Proficient computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite and Excel.

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal

motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Hours: Full-Time, City Hall Hours 
Salary: $75,000 annualized, plus benefits. 
Union: Non-Union
FLSA: Non-Exempt 
Date Posted: January 2nd, 2026 

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The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union. Public Health Nurses are part of Union A (SMEA).
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Somerville Retirement Pension System
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.