TRENTON, NJ — Commissioner Rolando Torres, Jr. is pleased to announce the appointment of Bari Simpkins as the Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Personnel. Her appointment was effective July 23.

“Our new appointment exemplifies the kind of experienced, forward-thinking, responsive professionals who can help us move forward and make what’s good about our Department even better. I’m pleased to have her on my senior management team,” said Personnel Commissioner Torres.

As the Chief of Staff, Ms. Simpkins will work closely with the Commissioner to shape and implement human resource policy for the State’s executive-branch agencies as well as coordinates the oversight of the State’s Merit System, which serves more than 190,000 employees at the municipal, county and state level.

Ms. Simpkins joined the Department’s Office of the Commissioner in 2007 as a Confidential Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner. Prior to joining the Department, she worked in the health care management industry for more than 12 years. She has extensive experience in organizational dynamics and development.

"I look forward to helping the Department strengthen the State’s personnel delivery system to ensure we both promote workforce excellence and customer focused professionalism,” said Ms. Simpkins.

Ms. Simpkins received a Bachelor of Science degree in child development from Howard University in Washington D.C. and received her Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics from University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Simpkins is a resident of Franklin Park.

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The mission of the New Jersey Department of Personnel is to attract, develop and retain a high quality workforce for State, county and municipal governments and to partner with management and labor to develop a fair, efficient human resource delivery system rewarding quality, merit, and productivity.