County Administrator

Greenville County, SC; Greenville (SC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Greenville County seeks a seasoned local-government executive to serve as County Administrator, protecting financial strength while guiding growth, infrastructure, and public service. The ideal candidate will translate complex budgets into clear decisions for Council and residents, and lead with integrity and strategic vision.

The administrator will build trust with Council, staff, and the community, ensuring accountable, collaborative leadership and a durable path forward for Greenville County.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in local government management, including experience as a City/County Manager, Deputy/Assistant County Administrator, or equivalent senior executive role in a large and complex environment.
• An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered.
• Experience working within a County with a population of 350,000 or more is ideal.

Responsibilities

• Lead a large, multifaceted county government with breadth across policy, operations, finance, infrastructure, and public safety.
• Translate complex financial information into clear budgetary choices for Council, staff, and the public.
• Maintain fiscal stewardship, strengthen bond ratings, and oversee capital investments.
• Serve as a visible, credible ambassador for Greenville County in diverse settings.
• Provide candid, fact-based advice to Council while protecting confidentiality and professional neutrality.
• Guide growth, development, infrastructure, and service-delivery decisions across departments.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Financial stewardship

Public presence

Council partnership

Empowering management

Growth leadership

Integrity and judgment

Long-term orientation

Education

Master's degree in Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, or a related field

10+ years of progressively responsible experience in local government management, including senior executive roles

Equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered

Experience in a county with population 350,000+ ideal

Job description

GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC - COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR

The Opportunity

Greenville County seeks a seasoned, principled local-government executive who can protect the County’s financial and operational strengths while leading its next chapter with greater visibility, communication, collaboration, and strategic focus. The successful candidate will inherit an organization with respected employees, experienced department leadership, strong fiscal stewardship, and a stable service-delivery platform. The mandate is not change for its own sake. It is thoughtful leadership evolution: listening first, preserving what works, and advancing the organization’s capacity to respond to growth, infrastructure demands, public expectations, and an increasingly complex governing environment.

To view the full position profile, including job description, please visit: Greenville County Administrator Profile

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate will be an accomplished public-sector executive with the breadth, judgment, and presence to lead a large, multifaceted county government. This individual will understand how policy, operations, finance, infrastructure, public safety, land use, technology, and community expectations intersect. Candidates should bring experience at a scale that meaningfully prepares them for a substantial workforce, a complex budget, multiple service portfolios, rapid growth, and relationships with a twelve-member Council and independently elected officials.

This leader will be financially fluent, not merely financially aware. The County needs an administrator who can understand the underlying facts of a complicated governmental budget, test assumptions, weigh competing priorities, explain tradeoffs, oversee capital investments, and sustain the discipline that supports strong financial performance and favorable bond ratings. The successful candidate will be able to translate financial information into clear choices for Council, staff, and the public while balancing service expectations, deferred needs, revenue limitations, and sensitivity to tax increases.

Equally important, the next administrator will be a visible and credible ambassador for Greenville County. The individual should be comfortable in Council chambers, employee meetings, civic gatherings, business settings, intergovernmental discussions, and public forums. Visibility should be purposeful rather than performative. The administrator will use accessibility, factual communication, and consistent follow-through to strengthen trust, explain County decisions and accomplishments, reduce misinformation, and help residents understand the realities behind complex financial, infrastructure, development, and operational issues.

The ideal candidate will possess political acumen without political alignment. This leader will work for the governing body collectively, build an appropriate professional relationship with every Council member, understand district concerns while maintaining a countywide perspective, and remain neutral as Council dynamics and priorities change. The individual will give candid, fact-based advice, protect confidentiality, clarify the respective roles of Council and administration, and help manage potential areas of disagreement to help build consensus. Diplomacy, independence, discretion, calm judgment, and resilience will be essential.

Internally, the successful candidate will lead through trust, clarity, accountability, and empowerment. Greenville County’s experienced department heads and senior leaders are accustomed to meaningful autonomy. The next administrator should respect that expertise, ask informed questions, set clear expectations, delegate real authority, and avoid micromanagement. The strongest candidate will know when to support professional staff, when to challenge assumptions, and when to intervene. Changes should follow listening, evidence, and consultation.

The next Administrator must also be prepared to guide the County through sustained growth and its consequences. Relevant experience should include some combination of land-use policy, development pressures, transportation, road capacity, capital facilities, public-safety needs, planning and permitting, economic development, community engagement, and intergovernmental coordination. The ideal candidate will connect growth decisions to infrastructure, service capacity, financial sustainability, and quality of life, while communicating those connections in language that is practical and understandable.

Finally, Greenville County seeks a leader who views this position as a long-term professional and personal commitment. The desired candidate will bring humility and curiosity to the transition, invest time in learning the County’s people and systems, and build durable relationships with Council, employees, constitutional officers, municipalities, state and federal partners, business and civic leaders, and residents. Success will be measured by decisions made and by the trust, stability, leadership capacity, and institutional strength created over time.

Leadership Characteristics

Enterprise leadership: Leads across functions and through senior executives; integrates financial, operational, capital, workforce, and community priorities.

Financial stewardship: Maintains command of budgets, forecasts, capital plans, controls, funding strategies, audits, and bond-rating considerations.

Public presence: Communicates consistently, explains complicated issues clearly, and represents the County with credibility in varied settings.

Council partnership: Builds trust across the full governing body, provides equal access to information, offers candid advice, and remains professionally neutral.

Empowering management: Respects expertise, delegates appropriately, establishes accountability, develops leaders, and avoids unnecessary operational control.

Growth leadership: Connects development, land use, transportation, facilities, public safety, revenue, and service capacity in long-range decisions.

Integrity and judgment: Uses facts, protects confidentiality, manages sensitive matters carefully, and stands behind sound decisions under pressure.

Long-term orientation: Values continuity, institutional knowledge, durable relationships, talent development, and sustained community commitment.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

Education and Experience

• Master's degree in Public Administration, Public Policy, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Ten (10) or more years of progressively responsible experience in local government management, including experience as a City/County Manager, Deputy/Assistant County Administrator, or equivalent senior executive role in a large (preferably population of 350,000 or more) and complex environment.
• An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered.
• Experience working within a County with a population of 350,000 or more is ideal.

Certifications & Licensure

• Valid South Carolina driver's license, maintained throughout employment.
• ICMA Credentialed Manager (ICMA-CM) designation desirable, but not required.

Other Preferred Experience and Credentials

• Demonstrated leadership in an organization of comparable scale, complexity, budget, workforce, public visibility, and governing-body dynamics. A deputy or assistant from a larger organization may be compelling if the candidate has broad executive exposure rather than a narrow functional portfolio.
• Substantial experience with governmental budgeting, financial reporting, capital planning, resource allocation, internal controls, and long-range fiscal strategy. Experience supporting strong bond ratings and major financial or capital decisions is highly desirable.
• Experience working effectively with a politically diverse governing body, independently elected officials, municipalities, public agencies, community partners, and external stakeholders.
• A record of leading through growth, development, infrastructure, transportation, planning, public-safety, facility, technology, or service-delivery challenges.

The County of Greenville is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position, consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state law.

CONFIDENTIALITY

South Carolina FOIA laws require the release of the finalist’s names (at least three finalists) should the agency receive a FOIA request. Confidential interest will be possible early in the process; however, candidates should be aware of the FOIA requirements as the process moves towards finalist selection.