State of Maryland

A Social Service Administrator IV is the managerial or executive level of administrative social work in a local Department of Social Services or in the Social Services Administration of the Maryland Department of Human Services.  Employees in this classification direct the activities of a small local department or administer the Bureau of Special Services, Baltimore City Department of Social Services.  Employees in this classification also may administer a major division of the Social Services Administration or act as Regional Supervisors in the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.  Employees in this classification may be responsible for establishing and maintaining procedures and administrative controls and evaluating the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of services rendered in the local department or assigned areas.

Employees in this classification supervise administrative and supervisory positions and their subordinates.   Employees in this classification receive managerial supervision from a higher level administrator.  The local board of Social Services also acts as an advisory body to the department director.

Position allocation within the Social Service Administrator I-VI series is determined on the basis of relative job evaluation among similarly functioning positions.  The job evaluation factors include: qualifications; nature and purpose of personal contacts; nature of recommendations, commitments, decisions and conclusions; creative thought; responsibility for planning; responsibility for administration; and nature of supervision received.

As a Local Director, is responsible for agency operations in the areas of social and income maintenance services, child support enforcement, financial operations and other assigned programs;

As a Director of a small department, acts as a County department head as well as a State official;

Reviews the development of programs, policies and procedures and reports regarding social services for children and adults;

Deploys staff as necessary to attain maximum efficiency and effectiveness;

Provides consultative social work services to other Social Service Administrators and supervisors;

Acts as an advocate for assigned social service programs;

Provides supervision and administrative direction to subordinate administrators and supervisors;

Coordinates the delivery of services in the assigned areas;

Meets with local, State and federal representatives and officials;

May be responsible for developing and negotiating local department budgets;

May be required to represent the department with local boards of Social Services’ planning, advisory, advocacy and issue-oriented groups as well as the general public and community groups;

May administer the programs of the Bureau of Special Services for Children of the Baltimore City Department of Social Services;

May act as appointing authority for a local department;

May administer a major division at the Social Services Administration;

May act as Regional Supervisor in the Baltimore City Department of Social Services’ District Operations;

May provide administrative guidelines and procedures to district managers in one of three city regions;

May follow up on corrective action plans;

May review regular activity reports from district offices;

May participate in planning activities for Baltimore City District Operations;

May establish and maintain systems to monitor and evaluate compliance to policies and procedures;

May plan for the delivery of services projecting staff needs and needs for supplies and equipment, program changes required or desirable and recommend priorities for action;

May be responsible for the management of building services and general administrative aspects of operation;

Performs other related duties.

Class Descriptions are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies.  Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

Class Descriptions provide information about the Nature of Work, Examples of Work, General Requirements and Acknowledgements.  The Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities; Minimum Education and Experience Requirements; Special Requirements; and recruitment and testing procedures are set by the using agency.

This is a Management Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Management Service positions.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential).  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102 Annotated Code of Maryland, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.