City hires new personnel director

The City of Oak Ridge has selected Janice Harris as its new personnel director.

Harris, a retired Air Force master sergeant, was among 68 applicants. Five people were selected to advance to a final round before she was ultimately chosen for the role, a press release said.

“She is no stranger to the City of Oak Ridge, and she’s excited to get started,” the press release said. She has lived in the city since 2018.

“I’m excited for everything—just being able to work for the city,” Harris said in the press release. “Even though we’ve been living here for two years, I’ll get to see the city through a different set of eyes now.”

Before moving to Oak Ridge, Harris spent 16 years working her way through the ranks of the Air Force, where she was responsible for coaching managers on the importance of understanding mission values and how to quantify their teams’ future objectives, the press release said. She also provided guidance for subordinates’ personal and professional growth by facilitating interpersonal conversations between supervisors and staff, the release said.

“She then spent about four years working for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, where she wore many hats,” the press release said. She began as a customer service specialist, then financial service specialist, and eventually obtained the role of office manager for the Trent Community Service Office.

“Being in the military, I was moved around so much and had so many different careers. I can’t wait to have just one job,” she said. “Now I have something to actually hone in on.”

In June 2019, Harris took on a six-month contract as a records coordinator with TFE, where she differentiated U.S. Department of Energy-decommissioned nuclear facility records for retention from non-records based on National Archives and Records Administration Guidelines and placed them into an electronic database.

“I am very pleased to add Ms. Janice Harris to the senior leadership team of the City of Oak Ridge,” said Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. “I have found through the interview process that she is hard-working, detail-oriented, personable, ethical, and has a long-term commitment to Oak Ridge. Already a resident, she is familiar with the community and the goals of the city. As an Air Force veteran, she has worked with people of different backgrounds, ages, and skills, and can take our personnel to new training levels, enhanced diversity, and increased awareness of the City of Oak Ridge as a great place to have a career.”

Harris began working for the city on Tuesday, September 8.