APPLICANTS MUST BE PERMANENT IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNITY RELATIONS SPECIALIST CIVIL SERVICE TITLE, BE PERMANENT IN A COMPARABLE TITLE ELIGIBLE FOR 6.1.9 TITLE CHANGE. OR BE IMMEDIATELY REACHABLE ON EXAM NO. 1120.

Under the direction of the Executive Director of DSS's Office of Constituent Services (OCS), with wide latitude for the exercise of independent initiative, judgment, and decision-making, the Constituent and Community Special Project Manager works with DSS, HRA and DHS program areas to promote community relations, advocate and mediate on behalf of clients, attend advocate meetings, improve constituent communications, coordinate internal planning, policy-making, and business analysis and responds to clients, elected officials, advocates, and communities about New York City social services, including federal, state, and city benefits for low-income residents..

The Office of Constituent Services is recruiting for one (1) ADMIN COMMUNITY REL SP (NM) II to function as the Constituent and Community Special Project Manager.

The Constituent and Community Special Project Manager will:

- Represent OCS Deputy Commissioner and/or Executive Director at community advocate meetings and shelter leadership presentations to promote effective community relationships. Evaluate and utilize community feedback, suggestions and recommendations obtained during meetings and visits to develop additional OCS procedures that improve customer experience, client access, client services and business processes. Escalate high level cases to ensure timely responses and concerns are addressed.

- Represent OCS at various internal meetings with ITS, DOI IT and external agencies to develop additional means that help clients communicate via multiple channels. These include launching 311 and NYC.gov DHS Correspondence within the Ombudsman, launching DHS Hotline to Infoline to address facility issues and overall shelter conditions, launching Hurricane Hotline after the Puerto Rico disaster to ensure concerns were addressed quickly and shelter was provided and benefits were issues. These initiatives and services promote effective community relations and respond to problems and concerns from the constituents, community advocates, and elected officials in regard to SNAP, Cash Assistance, Medicaid, Housing and Shelter.

- Develop OCS responses and work to expand communication channels for the most vulnerable populations of New York City, such as shelter residents, Americans with disabilities including people who are homebound, facing evictions, the LGBTQI community, immigrants and non-English-speaking constituents.

- Collaborate with DSS/HRA/DHS, DOB, HPDI DOITT, and 311 programs to improve current communication channels including the IVRS, IQ, 31 1 and NYC-gov.

- Administer the DHS 311-NYC,gov correspondence and Shelter Hotline. Ensure client concerns are triaged, sent and escalated to the appropriate departments including Families, Adults, DV, PCS, Homebase, HASA and HRA programs.

- Coordinate and integrate the use of the agency's main correspondence-tracking system, Intranet Quorum (IQ) by DSS units such as HRA units: FIA, HASAI HCM, HEAP, HPA, IDNYC. Home Care Services, Mayoral Action Plan, and Legislative Affairs, and DHS units: Ombudsman Office and Facilities Operations to share data across the agency. Customize and optimize business processes for the staffs' recording of inquiries by subject and for reporting to detect trends, address new issues, improve New Yorkers' access and the agency's responsiveness, and analyze and streamline operations.

- Create monthly customer service metrics in a work group for the Mayor's Management Repon (MMR), a public account of the performance of City agencies, which publishes data twice a year on the efficiency and effectiveness of the City government's delivery of services. Utilize information to implement corrective action and meet with shelter senior staff to address client concerns. Develop and manage the Commissioner's monthly report with IQ data.

- Provide, create and revise OCS policies and procedures for ongoing improvement of call center performance, technological support, and reporting to agency management. Work with the OCS managers and workers to meet the Mayors customer service standards, establish goals and best practices for optimal response time and comprehensiveness and compassion of OCS responses by email, letter, and telephone call.

- Manage projects and special initiatives to ensure seamless execution of all OCS operations, including organizing and communicating with multiple stakeholders and managing and completing projects with defined scope, quality, and timeframes.


Work Location:
4 World Trade Center, New York, NY

Hours/Schedule:
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, accredited by regional, national, professional or specialized agencies recognized as accrediting bodies by the U. S. Secretary of Education and by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and four years of satisfactory, full-time community liaison, community organization or community relations experience, at least two years of which must have been in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity with responsibility for planning, organizing, coordinating, developing, evaluating and/or administering a large community service program or activity; or
2. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a State's Department of Education or a recognized accrediting organization and eight years of satisfactory, full-time experience as described in "1" above, at least two years of which must have been in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity with responsibilities as described in "1" above; or
3. Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" or "2" above. Undergraduate education above the high school level may be substituted for the community liaison, community organization or community relations experience, but not for the two years of broad administrative or policy-making experience described in "1" above, at the rate of 30 semester credits from an accredited college or university (as described above) for each year of experience, up to a maximum of 4 years. Graduate education beyond the baccalaureate degree may be substituted for the community liaison, community organization or community relations experience, but not for the two years of broad administrative or policy-making experience described in "1" above, on the basis of 30 graduate credits from an accredited college or university (as described above) for each year of experience, up to a maximum of 2 years. However, all candidates must possess a four-year high school diploma or its educational
equivalent approved by a State’s Department of Education or a recognized accrediting organization and two years of full-time experience in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity with responsibilities as described in "1" above.

- Excellent communication skills, both in writing and speaking - Strategic and critical thinking capacity with an ability to identify innovative solutions - Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse partners and stakeholders - Superb time-management and multi-tasking skills, including the ability to take initiative, prioritize duties, pay close attention to detail, prioritize tasks, and meet specific deadlines - Familiar with multiple DSS databases - Excellent problem-solving skills - Ability to balance multiple projects at the same time

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 https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

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.