Sydney Rose

Sydney T. Rose has over thirty-six years of Federal service, all of which have been spent in human-resources related occupations.  She has served as the Chief Human Capital Officer and Director of the Human Resources Center of the U.S. Department of Labor since February 2012.  Ms. Rose is responsible for all the Department’s human capital policies and programs including recruiting and staffing, work-life and benefits, executive resources, training and development, employee and labor-management relations, human resources information systems, and diversity and inclusion.  Since the summer of 2013, she has been a key advisor to Departmental leadership on employee engagement efforts involving a diverse workforce of over 17,000 employees.

Ms. Rose works closely with Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to improve workforce engagement through conducting employee listening sessions and town hall discussions; expanding workplace flexibilities and developmental opportunities for all DOL employees; and collaborating on various workplace issues with managers and union officials. These efforts did not go unnoticed by the U.S. Department of Labor workforce, who responded to the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) at much higher rates.  The results indicated significantly higher levels of workforce engagement and global satisfaction.  The Partnership for Public Service recognized the Department of Labor as the most improved Department and Large Agency for both 2014 and 2015. 

Ms. Rose joined the U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in January 2011 as the Deputy Human Resources Director and Chief Labor Negotiator.  She previously served eight years as the Human Resources Director for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  From 1996 to 2003, she was the HR Director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  With over twenty years experience as a senior HR official and the highest ranking HR official at two cabinet-level agencies -- the Departments of Labor and Commerce -- Ms. Rose managed all human resources policy, programs and operations.

She began her Federal career in 1980 as an Investigator with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and was recognized in 1987 as the agency’s Investigator of the Year.  While at OPM, Ms. Rose conducted and managed security clearance and EEO investigations, and investigations of Trust Fund fraud and Merit Systems violations.  She also served as liaison to the White House, U.S. Congress, U.S. Supreme Court and the Central Intelligence Agency.  Ms. Rose’s employee relations work included the successful prosecution of the first Internet stalking case in the Commonwealth of Virginia.    

Ms. Rose has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Mary Washington College.  She lives in Virginia and has a grown daughter who lives and works in Boston for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   Sydney is known for her love of horses and is a horse racing aficionado.  She experienced the thrill of a lifetime attending the Belmont Stakes in June 2015 to see American Pharoah win the first Triple Crown in 37 years.