Job DescriptionTHE SELECTED CANDIDATE WILL BE OFFERED A SALARY BETWEEN $105,000 - $115,000.THIS POSITION IS ONLY OPEN TO CANDIDATES WHO ARE PERMANENT (NOT PROVISIONAL) IN THE CIVIL SERVICE TITLE OF ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICESThe Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of New York City’s children and families by providing child welfare, juvenile justice, and early care services. In child welfare, ACS contracts with private nonprofit organizations to support and stabilize families through community-based programming and preventive services and provides foster care services for children not able to safely remain at home. Each year, the agency’s Division of Child Protection responds to more than 50,000 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. In juvenile justice, ACS manages and funds services including detention and placement, intensive community-based alternatives for youth, and support services for families. ACS is also a key part of NYC’s early childhood and education continuum, providing childcare assistance to thousands of child welfare involved and low-income children so they can access safe, affordable, quality care.The Division of Child and Family Well-Being (CFWB) seeks a strategic, inclusive senior leader with substantive experience in customer service and operations to lead our newly formed Client Experiences Unit and to advise on customer experience throughout childcare operations. Experience with call centers and/or family-facing application facilitation is preferred. The Client Experiences Unit will house (1) the existing Call Center– to manage quick turn-around inquiries from families and providers; (2) the existing Provider Inquiry Unit – to provide in depth support to providers who have questions about pending enrollments in their program and other issues; and (3) a new Family Support Unit – to provide in depth support to families with applications, recertification, child care enrollment and other issues through scheduled calls, video chats, & in-person appointments. The Executive Director of the Client Experience Unit will develop and implement strategies to deliver a high-quality, supportive, and individualized experience for families seeking childcare assistance and for childcare providers that serve children with vouchers. This includes creating and improving policies and processes regarding client support, conducting research to evaluate how well programs are running, using qualitative and/or quantitative research methods to collect data and evaluate programs and business processes, analyzing data to investigate performance, identifying targeted training needs for staff, coaching staff and leaders toward continuous growth and learning, and elevating systemic issues arising from client communications that are in need of policy or operational changes. The Executive Director will also be responsible for building the Family Support Unit from the ground up and developing a cohesive, collaborative culture of high-quality customer support across the Division. The role requires the ability to carry multiple priorities forward at once, to communicate effectively across multiple internal and external stakeholders, present research in reports and present to different audiences, and to leverage patience, creativity, and team building to solve difficult or entrenched issues. A successful candidate will also have a solution-oriented mindset and a passion for process improvement and modernization to benefit the workforce and families across New York City. This position reports to the Associate Commissioner for Child Care Operations. The Executive Director of the Client Experience Unit tasks and responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Manage the Call Center, Provider Inquiry Unit, and Family Support Unit, developing a cohesive strategy of external-facing customer support.
Enhance customer service strategies and operations, aimed at providing the highest-level of customer support to all families and providers in contact with CFWB.
Develop performance metrics to address customer service concerns and implement systemic improvements to client-facing communication.
Conduct research to evaluate how well programs are running and use mixed methods of data analysis to develop reports and implement improvements
Collaborate with Operations and Policy/Compliance to ensure that client-facing staff have the information they need to communicate effectively with families and providers, particularly when policies or operational processes change.
Analyze data to investigate performance; manage research projects to evaluate and improve programs and business processes
Advise on changes to operational processes and procedures that will enhance customer service and/or address systemic issues arising from your unit’s engagement with families and providers.
Work closely with ACS External Affairs to ensure that external/public facing messages and guidance are aligned across channels (311, ACS website, etc.)
Serve as a senior advisor to the Associate Commissioner for Child Care Operations and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Division of Child and Family Well-Being.
ADDITIONAL INFO:Section 424-A of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized agency to inquire whether acandidate for employment with child-caring responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse andmaltreatment report.TO APPLY:APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY USING ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW:For current city employees, go to Employee Self Service (ESS), Recruiting Activities, Careers and search for Job ID# 626728. For all other applicants go to www.nyc.gov/careers and search for Job ID# 626728. Click on the "Apply" button. If you do not have access to a computer, most public libraries have computers available for use. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.Qualifications
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and four years of progressively responsible experience, in a large governmental agency, business firm, civic or community organization operating in the area of social services, including one year at the administrative or managerial level; or
Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" above. Graduate education or a license may substitute for up to a maximum of three years of experience in the area of social services, but not for the one year of experience at the administrative or managerial level as described in "1" above, as follows:
(A) A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, business, child welfare, counseling, economics, education, finance, human resources, labor relations, management, management science, nursing, operations research, organizational behavior, personnel or public administration, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, statistics, and/or urban studies may substitute for two years of experience; and/or(B) Graduate education beyond the baccalaureate degree may be substituted at the rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college or university in the area(s) listed in “2(A)” above for each year of experience up to a maximum of three years; or(C) A valid New York State Registration as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) may substitute for three years of experience.However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and one year of experience at the administrative or management level as described in "1" above.Additional InformationThe City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.