Social and Community Service Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of a social service program or community outreach organization. Oversee the program or organization's budget and policies regarding participant involvement, program requirements, and benefits. Work may involve directing social workers, counselors, or probation officers.
Most important skills
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Therapy and Counseling
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Establish and maintain relationships with other agencies and organizations in community to meet community needs and to ensure that services are not duplicated.
- Prepare and maintain records and reports, such as budgets, personnel records, or training manuals.
- Direct activities of professional and technical staff members and volunteers.
- Evaluate the work of staff and volunteers to ensure that programs are of appropriate quality and that resources are used effectively.
- Establish and oversee administrative procedures to meet objectives set by boards of directors or senior management.
- Participate in the determination of organizational policies regarding such issues as participant eligibility, program requirements, and program benefits.
- Research and analyze member or community needs to determine program directions and goals.
- Speak to community groups to explain and interpret agency purposes, programs, and policies.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (50.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (26.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (33.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Social and Community Service Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 74% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 77% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 89% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 70% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 54% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 85% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 90% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 53% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 5.12%
- Contact with others most of the time: 22.96%
- Constant contact with others: 71.92%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9.31%
- Important: 16.41%
- Very important: 28.33%
- Extremely important: 45.96%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 28.59%
- Extremely important: 71.41%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 64.96%
- A lot of freedom: 35.04%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.71%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 34.15%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 35.77%
- Every day: 28.37%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.35%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.57%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.83%
- Every day: 23.25%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 11.48%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 35.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.98%
- Every day: 35.3%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 19.79%
- Fairly serious: 9.92%
- Serious: 48.42%
- Very serious: 1.81%
- Extremely serious: 20.05%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 11-9151.00 · SOC 11-9151 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8