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Career Description

Plan, direct or coordinate the activities of a social service program or community outreach organization. Oversee the program or organization's budget and policies regarding participant involvement, program requirements and benefits. Work may involve directing social workers, counselors or probation officers.

What Job Titles Social and Community Service Managers Might Have

• Program Director
• Program Manager
• Social Services Director
• Vocational Rehabilitation Administrator

What Social and Community Service Managers Do

• Evaluate the work of staff and volunteers to ensure that programs are of appropriate quality and that resources are used effectively.
• Provide direct service and support to individuals or clients, such as handling a referral for child advocacy issues, conducting a needs evaluation, or resolving complaints.
• Recruit, interview, and hire or sign up volunteers and staff.
• Establish and maintain relationships with other agencies and organizations in community to meet community needs and to ensure that services are not duplicated.
• Establish and oversee administrative procedures to meet objectives set by boards of directors or senior management.
• Direct activities of professional and technical staff members and volunteers.
• Plan and administer budgets for programs, equipment, and support services.
• Participate in the determination of organizational policies regarding such issues as participant eligibility, program requirements, and program benefits.
• Prepare and maintain records and reports, such as budgets, personnel records, or training manuals.
• Research and analyze member or community needs to determine program directions and goals.
• Implement and evaluate staff, volunteer, or community training programs.
• Represent organizations in relations with governmental and media institutions.
• Act as consultants to agency staff and other community programs regarding the interpretation of program-related federal, state, and county regulations and policies.
• Speak to community groups to explain and interpret agency purposes, programs, and policies.
• Direct fundraising activities and the preparation of public relations materials.
• Analyze proposed legislation, regulations, or rule changes to determine how agency services could be impacted.

What Social and Community Service Managers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

What Social and Community Service Managers Need to Learn

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.