Associate Commissioner

City of New York•New York City, NY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) is seeking an experienced leader to serve as Associate Commissioner of Life Skills, Education, and Programs (LEAP) within the Division of Youth & Family Justice (DYFJ). Reporting to the Deputy Commissioner of DYFJ, this role provides strategic direction and executive oversight for education, youth programming, workforce development, case management, and family engagement for youth in detention. The Associate Commissioner oversees the LEAP unit to ensure youth receive coordinated, high-quality, trauma-responsive, culturally responsive, and developmentally appropriate services while in custody. This facility-focused position requires spending most working time at the detention facilities, engaging directly with youth, frontline staff, facility leadership, and program partners. The role oversees the development, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of programs supporting educational progress, physical and emotional well-being, positive development, family connections, and successful transitions to communities.

Requirements

A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of satisfactory experience qualifying the candidate for the duties and responsibilities of the position, including at least 18 months in an administrative, managerial, consultative, or executive capacity, or supervising personnel performing related activities; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
All candidates must have at least 18 months of administrative, managerial, executive, consultative, or supervisory experience as described in the qualifications.

Responsibilities

Provide executive leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for the LEAP Unit’s education, programming, and workforce-development portfolios.
Maintain a consistent, visible presence across both detention facilities, spending most working time on-site and engaging with youth, frontline staff, facility leadership, and program partners.
Supervise and mentor the Executive Directors of Workforce, Education and Programming, as well as the LEAP unit overall.
Establish priorities, performance expectations, work plans, and accountability measures.
Set clear performance expectations for vendors and staff; issue and monitor performance-improvement or corrective-action plans when needed.
Advise DYFJ executive leadership on educational services, youth programming, workforce development, and positive youth-development strategies.
Oversee the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational, recreational, cultural, life-skills, vocational, and workforce-development programming for youth in Secure Detention, coordinating with the Associate Commissioner of Close to Home and Nonsecure Detention sites.
Ensure programming is youth-centered, trauma-responsive, equitable, and aligned with young people’s interests, strengths, developmental needs, and educational and career goals.
Develop strategies to reduce idle time, increase youth participation, and provide consistent, meaningful programming across detention facilities.
Strengthen continuity of educational and workforce-development services as youth transition from detention to placement, school, employment, or community-based programming.
Develop and strengthen partnerships with facility leadership, frontline staff, central-office teams, NYC Public Schools, CUNY, contracted providers, and other external partners.
Oversee LEAP budgets, contracts, interagency agreements, and resources, including provider performance, deliverables, spending, and compliance with scopes of work.
Use program data, youth feedback, research, and performance outcomes to identify service gaps, evaluate effectiveness, and guide continuous improvement and resource allocation.
Identify staff-development needs and ensure managers and staff receive appropriate guidance, training, coaching, and professional-development opportunities.
Represent DYFJ in interagency meetings, planning groups, public forums, and oversight discussions, and perform related duties and special assignments as directed by DYFJ executive leadership.