Director of Social Services

The Director of Social Services provides executive leadership for the Roanoke County Department of Social Services and is accountable for the effective, lawful, consistent, and responsive delivery of public assistance and social services to residents of Roanoke County and the City of Salem. The Director establishes clear priorities and operating expectations; develops capable and accountable leaders; maintains an effective organizational structure; promotes consistent and objective decision‑making; and fosters a professional culture. Working under the general direction of the County Administrator, the Director provides executive oversight of Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, Foster Care and Adoptions, Employment and Training Initiatives, Workforce Development, TANF, Medicaid, SNAP, Child Care Assistance, the Children’s Services Act, and other assigned programs.

• Establishes the Department’s strategic, operational, and service priorities; sets clear expectations and measurable goals; anticipates emerging workforce, regulatory, service‑delivery, and operational challenges; and advances disciplined planning and execution.
• Maintains an organizational structure, reporting relationships, decision‑making authority; and accountability appropriate to the Department’s size and complexity; defines decision‑making authority and accountability; and delegates appropriately while maintain effective executive oversight.
• Regularly evaluates organizational and service performance, identifies systemic barriers and recurring operational issues, and ensures timely and effective corrective action.
• Builds and develops an effective management team through clear expectations, coaching, mentoring, training, performance feedback, succession planning, and accountability; ensures managers and supervisors fulfill both technical and people‑leadership responsibilities; and addresses performance concerns promptly, fairly, and consistently.
• Promotes a culture of trust, accountability, collaboration, shared purpose, employee engagement, continuous improvement, and public service.
• Directs the development, review, communication, and consistent application of local policies, procedures, guidelines, and operating practices; promotes consistent onboarding, training, and supervisory practices.
• Uses workforce, financial, caseload, operational, and service data to identify trends, evaluate performance, and guide decisions; partners with Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance, legal counsel, and others to improve processes, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and use technology effectively.
• Develops and implements a workforce strategy addressing recruitment, onboarding, training, workload, employee development, retention, succession, and hard‑to‑fill positions; evaluates turnover, vacancies, workload, and employee feedback to identify needs and effective interventions.
• Directs preparation and administration of the Department’s budget; ensures responsible stewardship of public resources; evaluates staffing and resource requests based on workload, service requirements, risk, efficiency, and priorities; and projects future staffing, technology, facility, program, and other resource needs for County Administration.
• Ensures public assistance and social service programs are administered in accordance with federal and state law, applicable regulations, County policy, and professional standards.
• Ensures appropriate, timely, and responsive services to vulnerable children, adults, individuals, and families and maintains systems of oversight that support service quality, consistency, safety, and compliance.
• Develops productive relationships with Roanoke County, the City of Salem, state and federal agencies, schools, law enforcement, courts, health and behavioral‑health providers, community organizations, and other partners; serves on the Community Policy and Management Team and other boards and interagency groups as assigned.
• Represents the Department effectively before employees, elected and appointed officials, clients, partner organizations, the media, and the public and performs other duties and special projects as assigned.

Education

Required: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in social work, psychology, counseling, public administration, business administration, organizational leadership, or a related field.

Preferred: Master’s degree in social work, psychology, counseling, public administration, business administration, organizational leadership, or a related field.

Experience

Required: Ten years of progressively responsible human‑services experience, including at least five years in a senior‑management capacity.

Preferred: Experience leading significant organizational improvement, including organizational restructuring, developing supervisory responsibilities and management accountability, standardizing polices and processes, improving recruitment and retention, strengthening employee engagement and collaboration, and using workload and performance data to guide staffing, budget, technology, and process‑improvement decisions.

Licenses/Certifications

Required: Valid driver’s license with a good driving record.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Comprehensive knowledge of the principles, practices, and legal requirements governing public assistance programs and social services. Demonstrated ability to lead a large or complex organization through organizational change and operational improvement; establish effective organizational structure, delegation, management accountability, and decision‑making processes; develop supervisors and managers; build trust and collaboration while maintaining accountability; establish consistent policies and processes without unnecessary bureaucracy; analyze workforce, caseload, financial, operational, and performance data; exercise sound judgment under significant financial, regulatory, staffing, and service pressures; and communicate effectively with diverse internal and external stakeholders. Requires demonstrated integrity, emotional maturity, resilience, consistency, and willingness to address difficult issues directly.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Exercises executive oversight of a large organization of professional, technical, administrative, and clerical employees.

Additional Requirements

Subject to complete criminal history background search with acceptable results. Must also be able to perform the job as described in the Physical and Environmental Demands section of this job description.