Executive Director

Executive Director

The selected candidate will be offered a salary of $110,067 - $126,000. This position is only open to candidates who are permanent (not provisional) in the civil service title of administrative staff analyst. The Administration for Children's Services (ACS) protects and promotes the safety and well-being of children and families through child welfare and juvenile justice services and community supports. ACS manages community-based supports and foster care services and provides subsidized childcare vouchers. ACS child protection staff respond to allegations of child maltreatment. In juvenile justice, ACS oversees detention, placement, and programs for youth in the community. The Family Services Division (FSD) and its network of contracted providers deliver one of the largest and most diverse continuums of community-based child welfare prevention services in the nation and across New York City to improve safety, well-being, and permanency for thousands of families and children each year.

The Executive Director will support the unit to implement processes that inform practice guidance, develop metrics for implementation, support the use of data for decision making, and successfully carry out the strategic goals of ACS leadership. The team oversees a portfolio of multi-stakeholder (internal, intergovernmental, and external) prevention strategy, improvement, and innovation projects. The team manages other cross-functional project teams with expertise in a wide range of topic areas to design and implement projects. This includes a mix of service provider, legal, finance, procurement, compliance, policy/regulation (city, state, and federal), technology, and data analysis stakeholder groups and topic areas. The ideal candidate can synthesize complex issues, be flexible to develop strategies to respond to identified challenges and has experience to support and guide staff on all levels (Directors, Program Officers and Program Associates) when there are competing priorities. The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate cognitive flexibility when leading initiatives, has strong interpersonal and lateral leadership skills and can facilitate large groups to promote cross-collaboration to drive towards a path forward.

The Executive Director will report to the Assistant Commissioner and will be tasked to fulfill the following duties:

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the unit including providing support to the director overseeing Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT), Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Functional Family Therapy - Child Welfare Adaptations, Multisystemic Therapy - Prevention (MST-PRV), Multisystemic Therapy – Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) & Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) and oversee the portfolio of programs implementing the family support frameworks (Solution-Based casework, Family Connections, Mobility Mentoring).
• Develop team processes and facilitate procedures for claiming for Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA).
• Provide direct supervision of staff and guide strategic thought partnership using project management, research methods, data analytics, and human-centered design to spearhead high-level, highly visible initiatives that require collaboration with major stakeholders for the therapeutic treatment programs and family support programs.
• Trains staff in performance of work activities, by holding individual and unit informational meetings, inviting and answering questions, demonstrating/providing examples of proper work methods, to increase employees' areas of capacity.
• Promotes training sessions/workshops for staff, by presenting information/using activities/experiences/audio visual/other aids/following training designs/lesson plans/notes/encouraging discussion/participation/ eliciting/answering questions, to achieve training objectives/offer an opportunity to increase employee's areas of capacity.
• Conducts/participates in staff meetings, by attending/facilitating agenda, encouraging relevant discussion, to keep staff informed of unit goals and changes in programs/policies/procedures.
• Monitors staff involved in the development and implementation of new initiatives/projects, by observation, conveying information, directing the analysis/analyzing data, to provide reports/recommendations to improve customer service and workflow.
• Collaborate with the division's leaders and staff to develop strategies to ensure models across prevention programs are implemented in alignment to service model fidelity and in alignment with NYC child welfare requirements and state policies.
• Develop workflows and processes to collect practice themes from all cohort and admin meetings, and fidelity reports, and develop an ongoing reporting structure and strategy to share findings with internal ACS teams.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of unit's strategy to define and assess fidelity measures for individual programs and across a cohort of programs implementing a model and charts approaches for improving implementation.
• In partnership with the Division of Financial Services and Division of Policy, Planning and Measurement, this role will lead to build out guidance and support ongoing training and development of staff to learn and perform contract management functions for prevention programs that include monitoring fiscal and programmatic activities.
• Plan, facilitate, and lead communication strategies with internal and external stakeholders regarding the prevention continuum and intersections between prevention and other critical programmatic and policy areas within ACS and at other city agencies.
• Represent the Family Services Division (FSD) and OPMS team at meetings with Federal, State, and City Officials; local and national stakeholders and at conferences and external learning events.
• Apprise FSD's leadership on emerging and operational issues and technical assistance for the provider agencies.
• Act as a liaison between ACS and its contracted prevention service providers; facilitating close collaboration with other key City agencies to promote access and availability of needed resources on a community level.
• Incorporate various partner voices into systemwide projects and initiative, including those of children and families, providers, and advocates.
• Work closely with contracted resources to ensure that the prevention service systems are responsive to the needs of families involved with the child welfare system and to maximize efficiency in the delivery of those services.

Additional Information: Section 424-A of the New York Social Services Law requires an authorized agency to inquire whether a candidate for employment with child-caring responsibilities has been the subject of a child abuse and maltreatment report.

Minimum Qualifications:

1. A master's degree from an accredited college in economics, finance, accounting, business or public administration, human resources management, management science, operations research, organizational behavior, industrial psychology, statistics, personnel administration, labor relations, psychology, sociology, human resources development, political science, urban studies or a closely related field, and two years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in one or a combination of the following: working with the budget of a large public or private concern in budget administration, accounting, economic or financial administration, or fiscal or economic research; in management or methods analysis, operations research, organizational research or program evaluation; in personnel or public administration, recruitment, position classification, personnel relations, employee benefits, staff development, employment program planning/administration, labor market research, economic planning, social services program planning/evaluation, or fiscal management; or in a related area. 18 months of this experience must have been in an executive, managerial, administrative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must have included supervising staff performing professional work in the areas described above; or 2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of professional experience in the areas described in "1" above, including the 18 months of executive, managerial, administrative or supervisory experience, as described in "1" above.

Preferred Skills:

The ideal candidate can synthesize complex issues, be flexible to develop strategies to respond to identified challenges and has experience to support and guide staff on all levels (Directors, Program Officers and Program Associates) when there are competing priorities. The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate cognitive flexibility when leading initiatives, has strong interpersonal and lateral leadership skills and can facilitate large groups to promote cross-collaboration to drive towards a path forward. The candidate will have strong knowledge of the child welfare system and have at least 4 years in leadership roles with experience that demonstrates progressively more responsibilities leading a large team from various backgrounds.

This position is also open to qualified persons with a disability who are eligible for the 55-a Program. Please indicate at the top of your resume and cover letter that you would like to be considered for the position through the 55-a Program.

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

The 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.