Ryan has been with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families since 1991. He began his career as a Juvenile Rehabilitation Counselor at Maple Lane School, working in the special needs unit, and left Maple Lane in 1994 to work in Community Programs for JR Region 6 Parole. In 1995, Ryan relocated to Hawaii to work as a Senior Probation Officer for the State Judiciary for four years until returning to Washington in 1999.
Ryan held various roles in JR from 1999 to 2007, including in the Central Office as the Drug and Alcohol Program Administrator, CDDA Program Administrator, Associate Superintendent (temp) at GHS, Juvenile Court Program's Administrator, and the Deputy Interstate Compact on Juveniles Administrator for the State of Washington. From 2008-2015, Ryan worked for the Department of Social and Health Services Secretaries office as the Director of the Office of Juvenile Justice, where he and his staff supported the State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice Policy and the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice. In 2015, Ryan was appointed as the King County Juvenile Court Probation Manager, where he served until 2018 when he returned to DCYF Juvenile Rehabilitation.
Ryan is currently the Regional Administrator for Region 3 and 4 Community Programs, oversees three parole offices, and manages Woodinville Community Facility and Parke Creek Community Facility. Ryan has a master's in counseling psychology and a bachelor’s in psychology from Saint Martin’s University.