Erie County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity.

**********************Application Fee Waiver**********************

Employees of Erie County CSEA collective bargaining unit shall have all fees associated with County provided promotional civil service examinations waived.

********************Amendment Issued 5-12-2021********************

See updated salary (2021) info. 

Residence Requirements:

THIS EXAMINATION IS OPEN TO ALL QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES OF THE ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES.  At present there is one  vacancy at the Erie County Department of Social Services. 

The eligible list resulting from this examination will not supersede currently existing promotional eligible lists for this title, if any.  The duration of all promotional eligible lists is four years from date of establishment unless otherwise indicated.

Examples of Duties:

A Management and Organizational Consultant  acts as a management and organizational consultant to analyze divisions identified by the Office of the Commissioner; 

Oversees the management, organizational and fiscal components of contract administration functions;

Makes recommendations to the department head regarding the development of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with State, Federal and Local laws, rules and regulations;

Supervises fiscal operations and works with senior staff to ensure the integration of program budgeting, evaluation, and accounting processes;

Under the guidance of senior staff, develops fiscal guidelines and cost assumptions associated with Requests for Proposals and service provider contracts Facilitates department, contract agency and interdepartmental quality improvement teams;

Ensures that fiscal operations are within County Administration guidelines and approved County Legislative appropriations and coordinates necessary revisions to County budget line item appropriation levels;

Provides management and supervision to lower level staff including fiscal, financial records and administrative operations personnel;

Provides in-depth analysis of organizational and management structures of the department and identifies areas for improvement;

Coordinates studies and surveys directed toward producing improvements in Departmental operations;

Design and conducts work analysis and measurement studies;

Assists the Commissioner and Executive Staff in developing long-range organization and management strategies;

Assists Senior Staff with Annual Budget Preparation;

Works on special projects, as requested, for the DSS Commissioner, the Budget Office or outside auditors.

Qualifications:

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST: Candidates must be permanently employed in the competitive class and must be serving and have served continuously on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class for 12 months immediately preceding the date of the written test in the position of Job Grade XI, XII, or XIII and in addition the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Master's degree in Business or Public Administration, Financial Management or related field and three (3) years experience in management and administration including fiscal management; or,

B. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor's degree in Business or Public Administration, Financial Management or related field and five (5) years experience in management and administration including fiscal management; or,

C. An equivalent combination of education and experience requirements as defined by the limits of A and B.

Notes:

1.  Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements. 

2. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Fiscal management

These questions test for a general knowledge of the financial environment within which governments must operate. Questions may deal with, but are not necessarily limited to, such matters as capital and operating budgeting; general and governmental accounting; cost analysis; financial analysis; cash management; internal controls; general and governmental purchasing; storeskeeping and inventory control.

Understanding and interpreting tabular material

These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will notbe permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

Evaluating conclusions in light of known facts

These questions will consist of a set of facts and a conclusion. You must decide if the conclusion is proved by the facts, disproved by the facts or if the facts are not sufficient to prove or disprove the conclusion. The questions will not be specific to a particular field.

Supervision

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline. 

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", "Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

INFORMATION FOR PROMOTION CANDIDATES

Unless otherwise indicated, the eligible list resulting from this examination will have a duration of four years and will not supersede existing promotional lists, if any.

RATINGS REQUIRED:  Test is rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70.  Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.

Points will be added to scores of candidates who achieve a passing mark as follows: Seniority:  For each year of service in the classified service:

Less than 1 year……………………..................…0 points

1 year up to 6 years…………….…........................1 point

Over 6 years up to 11 years.....………......….........2 points

Over 11 years up to 16 years….…........….........…3 points

Over 16 years up to 21 years………..................…4 points

Over 21 years………………………..................…5 points

VETERANS:  Disabled and non-disabled veterans as defined in Section 85, New York State Civil Service Law, will have 5 and 2.5 points, respectively added to their earned scores if successful in the PROMOTIONAL examination.  You must claim these credits when you file application but you have an option to waive them any time prior to appointment.  If you have already used these credits for a permanent position in NYS, you may not claim them again.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A None filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.