What are the responsibilities and job description for the County Manager position at Onslow County?
The County Manager leads a team consisting of a Deputy County Manager and two Assistant County Managers to carry out goals, objectives, and policies established by the Board of Commissioners. The position recommends and administers an annual budget in excess of $300 million, oversees over 1400 employees (24 departments), and holds executive-level responsibility for day-to-day management of the organization. The ideal candidate will have significant and successful local government experience and a demonstrated passion for public service that supports the vision and values of the County.
Click here to learn what Onslow County Government has to Offer!
Click here to learn what Onslow County Government has to Offer!
Our core values—Resilience, Excellence, Accountability, Customer Service, and Honesty—are the foundation of our work and the standard by which we operate. As a member of our team, you are expected to demonstrate these values in every aspect of your role. This means delivering high-quality work, taking responsibility for your actions, providing exceptional service, and maintaining integrity in all interactions. Your commitment to these principles is essential to fostering a positive workplace culture and ensuring the success of our organization and the community we serve.
Leadership & Governance
- Provides clear, professional, resilient, and apolitical leadership across all County departments.
- Ensures efficient and ethical implementation of Board policy decisions, even in the face of challenges or change.
- Demonstrates sound judgment, adaptability, and decisiveness in complex, uncertain, or sensitive situations.
- Promotes a culture of excellence, accountability, service, and organizational resilience.
- Fosters innovation, continuous improvement, and the ability to recover and thrive amid adversity.
Operational Management
- Day-to-day administrative and service delivery.
- Manages County operations efficiently, equitably, and with a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
- Ensures departmental performance consistently aligns with County goals, values, and standards of high-quality service.
- Addresses personnel and human resource matters promptly, fairly, and with professionalism that promotes a culture of excellence and respect.
- Implements, monitors, and uses performance metrics to drive efficiency and superior results. Demonstrates decisive action, adaptability, and steady leadership when responding to crises and operational challenges.
Fiscal Stewardship
- Prepares balanced, transparent, and strategically aligned annual budgets that reflect County priorities, long-term planning, and responsible stewardship of public resources.
- Manages County resources responsibly, maintaining high standards of financial accountability and ethical oversight.
- Identifies and implements cost-saving initiatives and revenue-enhancing opportunities to strengthen the County’s financial position while ensuring prudent fiscal management.
- Ensures strict compliance with all financial policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements, demonstrating transparency and accountability.
- Communicates fiscal issues clearly and effectively to the Board, staff, and public, fostering trust, accountability, and informed decision-making.
Communication & Collaboration
- Communicates proactively, transparently, and with a focus on delivering excellent customer service to the Board, staff, and public.
- Builds strong, trust-based relationships with department heads, employees, and stakeholders to support collaboration and service excellence.
- Promotes interdepartmental collaboration that enhances efficiency, responsiveness, and the quality of services provided to the community.
- Engages respectfully and attentively with the public and external partners, ensuring a positive customer service experience.
- Maintains professionalism, courtesy, and clarity in all communications, modeling a culture of accountability and service-oriented leadership.
Strategic Priorities & Community Impact
- Progresses the County’s strategic plan and Board priorities with integrity and a commitment to honest, transparent leadership.
- Monitors performance indicators and reports progress openly, ensuring accountability to the Board and public.
- Promotes economic development and initiatives that enhance community quality of life, guided by ethical and honest practices.
- Strengthens partnerships with regional and state agencies through candid, trustworthy, and transparent engagement.
- Uses accurate data to inform policy, resource allocation, and strategic decision-making.
Professional Development & Ethics
- Demonstrates high ethical standards, impartiality, and honesty in all decisions and actions.
- Handles confidential information responsibly, maintaining trust and accountability across the organization.
- Seeks out professional growth opportunities to strengthen resilience, knowledge, and leadership excellence.
- Encourages staff development, mentorship, and succession planning to promote a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and service excellence.
- Models' integrity, resilience, commitment to excellence, accountability, customer service, and honest leadership in all organizational interaction.
- Demonstrates integrity, high moral standards, respect, professional demeanor, and transparency.
- Demonstrates independence, self-directed initiative and drive with the appetite to take on new challenges over time.
- Analytically thinks to prioritize work, make data driven decisions, meet established deadlines, delegate duties, and attend to details as appropriate.
- Possesses exceptional organizational and time management skills, accompanied by a strong capability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and assignments simultaneously.
- Possesses strong creative, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
- Possesses excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate with a community that encompasses urban and rural interests and represents forward-looking and creative ideas from a well-educated, diverse community.
- Demonstrates ability to lead and motivate by example with excellent interpersonal and consensus-building skills, inspiring staff to high performance.
- Ability to work collaboratively, maintain effective relationships and advance the vision of the Board of Commissioners.
- Ability to work collaboratively and maintain effective relationships with County staff, advisory boards and committees, partner municipalities, state and federal regulatory agencies and institutions, vendors, and consultants.
Master's degree with coursework in Public Administration, Business Administration, or related field and extensive experience in public administration with an emphasis on process development, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Special Requirements:
Salary will be determined based on candidate's experience and qualifications.Special Requirements:
- ICMA-CM certification preferred
- AICP preferred
- Completion of the University of North Carolina School of Government County and Municipal Government course preferred
- Valid driver’s license with a safe driving record.
- Willingness to establish residency in Onslow County within reasonable timeframe after appointment.