Family Justice Center Assistant Director (20704228)

The County of San Mateo is seeking a capable and multifaceted Assistant Director to assist the Director of the Family Justice Center with strategic planning, program development, and management of the County’s new Center. 

Under the Leadership of the Family Justice Center Director, the County is working with community partners and stakeholders to develop a one-stop holistic service and support center for families and survivors of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, and other forms of abuse. The mission of the Center is to support survivors and their families by creating a single destination to receive crucial services and support. 

The San Mateo County Family Justice Center is a County-run multi-agency, multi-disciplinary service center where both public and private partner agencies assign staff on a full-time or part-time basis to provide services from one location. The Center’s focus will be on reducing the number of times survivors tell their story, reducing the number of places they must go for help, and through active collaboration with community-based organizations, increasing the quality of services and support they receive.

This is an opportunity for a committed public servant with extensive program management experience to successfully navigate the opportunities and challenges in developing and building new programs, collaborations, and a space that achieves the County’s goal of providing comprehensive, wrap-around services to victims of violence. The Assistant Director will be instrumental in carrying out the vision and goals by working alongside the Director.

Examples Of Duties

As the Assistant Director, you will have the opportunity to:

• Participate in the planning process to establish the Center which is modeled after successful Family Justice Centers across the country.
• Join in the effort to establish interagency collaborations.
• Engage with survivors to gather input and feedback that will inform the development and operation of the Family Justice Center, ensuring that their experiences and needs shape the center’s services and policies.
• Assist in facilitating focus groups and conducting best practice research as needed.
• Consult with County and external subject matter experts on relevant program issues.
• Participate in securing contracts with outside vendors, consultants, or organizations.
• Provide oversight for the program budget that ensures the accomplishment of program and service objectives within budget restrictions.
• Prepare detailed written reports, policies, procedures, and contracts.
• Assist in completion of phase one of the Family Justice Center

Qualifications

This project requires extensive research, careful planning, and successful collaborations. As such, the selected Assistant Director will need the following competencies:

• Leadership Skills – Influences, motivates, and challenges others effectively. Adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations.
• Subject Familiarity – Has comprehensive knowledge of the most current information, theories, techniques, practices, and procedures regarding victim assistance and family justice, or a strong willingness to learn the subject.
• Fact Finding – Identifies information needed to address an issue. Locates appropriate sources and pursues leads to additional sources. Effectively questions and digs for details and quality information.
• Effective Communication – Possesses the interpersonal skills needed to build relationships with interagency partners, the County Board of Supervisors, other County departments, and community-based organizations.
• Planning and Organizing – Ability to facilitate effective courses of action to ensure that work is completed efficiently.
• Problem Analysis and Problem Solving – Uses sound and logical judgment to spot and analyze problems, develop alternative solutions, and initiate corrective action.
• Emotional Intelligence – Perceives, understands, and manages personal emotions and the emotions of others during interpersonal interactions.
• Collaboration – Works with others toward an agreement and negotiates to find mutually acceptable solutions. Effectively gains consensus between differing parties in sensitive situations.

In addition to possessing the above-listed competencies, any combination of education, training, and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying.  A typical way to qualify is:

• A minimum of five years of increasing responsible experience in the areas of project management, victim assistance program management, program development, or management of non-profit or community-based organizations.

Application/Examination

Open and Promotional. Anyone may apply. Current County of San Mateo employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in classified regular, probationary, extra-help, or limited term positions prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on the examination. 

The examination process will consist of an Application Screening (weight: pass/fail), and a Panel Interview (weight: 100%), which may include the evaluation of a brief writing exercise given immediately preceding the interview.  Applicants must successfully pass the Application Screening to move forward to the interview.  Candidates must successfully pass the interview to be placed on the hiring (eligible) list.

Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations, or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California, and applicants must participate at their own expense. Interviews may be conducted virtually using MS Teams.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button.  If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.orgto apply. 

To apply:

• Complete the County of San Mateo Employment Application Form
• Provide responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire, which includes these two subjects:

1. Explain how your education, training, and experience have prepared you to be successful in this position.
2. Describe your experience developing and working in programs that provide assistance to victims of violence.

• Attach a Cover Letter expressing your interest in the position.
• Attach a Resume

Tentative Recruitment Schedule
Final Filing Date: February 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM

Application Screening (tentative): March 3-5, 2026

Panel Interviews (tentative): March 19-20, 2026

San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities. 

The County of San Mateo, as an employer, is committed to advancing equity to ensure all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.
 

The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels.

Analyst: Chet Overstreet (01302026) (Program Services Manager II)