County Administrator

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, 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.
 

Preferred Experience and Credentials

• 10-15 years of progressively responsible leadership in local government or a comparably complex public organization, including service as a city or county manager, county administrator, deputy or assistant administrator, or an equivalent senior executive with broad enterprise responsibility.
• 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.
• Master’s degree in public administration, public policy, business administration, or a related field is preferred. An equivalent combination of education, training, and executive experience may be considered. ICMA Credentialed Manager designation is desirable but not required.

Role Purpose

Serves as chief administrative officer of Greenville County government, implementing policy set by County Council, directing the Deputy and Assistant County Administrators, and ensuring effective, efficient delivery of county services in accordance with Council policy and applicable law.

Statutory Duties

Per South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 4-9-630, the powers and duties of the administrator include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. to serve as the chief administrative officer of the county government;
2. to execute the policies, directives and legislative actions of the council;
3. to direct and coordinate operational agencies and administrative activities of the county government;
4. to prepare annual operating and capital improvement budgets for submission to the council and in the exercise of these responsibilities he shall be empowered to require such reports, estimates and statistics on an annual or periodic basis as he deems necessary from all county departments and agencies;
5. to supervise the expenditure of appropriated funds;
6. to prepare annual, monthly and other reports for council on finances and administrative activities of the county;
7. to be responsible for the administration of county personnel policies including salary and classification plans approved by council;
8. to be responsible for employment and discharge of personnel subject to the provisions of subsection (7) of Section 4-9-30 and subject to the appropriation of funds by the council for that purpose; and
9. to perform such other duties as may be required by the council.

Key Responsibilities

In addition to the statutory duties noted above, the County Administrator:

• Serves as chief administrative officer of county government, implementing policy set by County Council and ensuring effective, efficient delivery of services county-wide.
• Directs the activities of Assistant and Deputy County Administrators, holding them accountable for their respective portfolios (Administration, Public Safety, Public Works, Parks/Recreation/Tourism, Strategic Advancement, Finance).
• Advises County Council on policy, legislative, and operational matters, and implements Council directives across all departments.
• Represents the county in relations with municipal, state, and federal government, other public agencies, community organizations, and the media.
• Recommends and implements organizational structure, staffing, and policy changes to improve county government’s effectiveness.
• Negotiates and executes contracts, economic development agreements, and intergovernmental agreements on behalf of the county, subject to Council approval as required by law.
• Oversees hiring, evaluation, and personnel decisions for direct reports and sets performance expectations for the broader organization.

Core Competencies

• Communication: Conveys information clearly and listens effectively, adapting style and content to the audience.
• Problem Solving & Judgment: Identifies problems, gathers relevant information, and makes sound, timely decisions.
• Accountability & Ownership: Takes personal responsibility for commitments, decisions, and outcomes — including mistakes.
• Integrity & Ethics: Acts consistently with organizational values, is honest and transparent, and upholds ethical standards even when inconvenient.
• Initiative & Drive for Results: Takes proactive action and maintains focus on achieving quality outcomes, even without direct instruction.

Leadership Competencies

• Decision-Making at Scale: Makes and stands behind decisions that affect a team, function, or organization, under ambiguity and competing priorities.
• Vision & Strategic Alignment: Translates broader strategy into clear direction and priorities for the team; connects day-to-day work to the bigger picture.
• Talent & Team Building: Builds a team with the right mix of skills, and fosters an environment where people want to stay and do their best work.
• Delegation & Empowerment: Assigns work appropriately, gives others real ownership, and trusts them to deliver.

Functional Competencies

• County-Wide Executive Leadership: Directs the overall operations, staff, and strategic direction of county government as its chief administrative officer, through Assistant and Deputy County Administrators, in accordance with Council policy and applicable law.

• Financial Management & Budgeting: Manages county financial operations including budgeting, financial reporting, and internal controls.
• Strategic & Capital Facilities Planning: Plans and evaluates the County’s long-term facility, infrastructure, and organizational growth needs, translating strategic priorities into capital and operational plans.
• Council & Intergovernmental Representation: Represents the County Administrator’s office to Council, governmental agencies, boards, commissions, and the public, explaining policy and gathering input.

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.

The salary range at the time of hire is expected to be between $300,000 – $325,000. The salary offered will be negotiated depending on qualifications/experience.

A comprehensive benefits package will be provided to complement the salary compensation. The County also participates in the State of SC Retirement System.

The deadline to apply is October 23rd. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis by the FGP team with final review occurring the week of October 26th.

Candidates must meet the qualifications listed above in order to be considered. Questions about the role may be directed to Christin Mack, Practice Lead, Public Sector, Nonprofit, and Community Impact Executive Search, at cm***@*gp.com.