Deputy Director for Conscience and Religious Freedom

This position serves as Deputy Director for Conscience and Religious Freedom within HHS's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Supports OCR's mission to prevent unlawful discrimination, protect conscience and religious freedom rights, and safeguard protected health information. Responsibilities include enforcement, complaint investigations, compliance reviews, policy and regulatory development, technical assistance, and public outreach to promote equal access to health care and human services.

ABOUT THE POSITION The Deputy Director serves as a senior executive and principal advisor to the OCR Director on all matters related to conscience and religious freedom. The incumbent is responsible for the national leadership, direction, and execution of OCR's conscience and religious freedom program, ensuring the consistent, lawful, and effective implementation of Federal statutes and regulations protecting conscience and religious freedom in HHS-conducted or HHS-funded programs and activities, as well as related Departmental policies. Provides executive leadership for OCR's national conscience and religious freedom program, with accountability for achieving measurable outcomes in enforcement, policy and regulatory development and implementation, and program performance. Leads priority enforcement initiatives within the conscience and religious freedom program, including coordination of high-impact investigations and compliance reviews. Ensures timely resolution of assigned conscience and religious freedom complaints to Conscience and Religious Freedom staff consistent with performance metrics and compliance standards. Implements enforcement and policy priorities established by the Secretary and OCR Director, in coordination with other OCR components, translating strategic direction into operational plans, program guidance, and performance expectations across OCR headquarters and field offices. Provides subject-matter leadership for outreach, public education, and technical assistance efforts, in coordination with field-based outreach conducted through the Enforcement Division, to promote awareness of and compliance with applicable laws and policies. Leads the development and implementation of program-specific tools, model templates, and guidance to support OCR's enforcement, policy, and outreach activities and promote consistency, efficiency, and quality in program execution. Identifies and designs conscience and religious freedom-specific training and technical guidance for OCR staff to support consistent implementation of program requirements. Collaborates with other OCR Deputy Directors to identify areas of overlap, ensure coordination, and integrate conscience and religious freedom activities with broader OCR programs and operations. Ensures the consistent and legally sound implementation of Federal conscience and religious freedom statutes, regulations, and policies, including that enforcement and policy activities achieve legal sufficiency and consistency in their application across OCR programs and regions. Oversees the development and execution of regulations, sub-regulatory guidance, and policy interpretations in alignment with governing legal authorities and Departmental priorities. Serves as the principal advisor to the OCR Director on complex and sensitive enforcement and policy matters. Advises senior leadership on risks related to inconsistent interpretation or application of Federal conscience and religious freedom laws and implements strategies to mitigate such risks. Directs program operations to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. Works in collaboration with the Deputy Director of Enforcement on strategies for improving timely resolution of civil rights case backlogs, and for meeting CRF-specific OCR performance outcomes. Oversees the development and use of data systems, analytical tools, and performance metrics to identify national trends, assess program effectiveness, and improve operational processes. Ensures the integrity and maintenance of program data to support reporting requirements and inform decision-making. Collaborates with organizational leadership responsible for operations, resources, and performance management to ensure effective collection, analysis, and use of data to assess program efficiency and effectiveness.