Assistant Secretary Unemployment Insurance; EXEC VIII

Main Purpose of Job

The Assistant Secretary for Unemployment Insurance (UI) serves as the senior executive responsible for the administration, oversight, and continuous improvement of Maryland’s Unemployment Insurance program. This position provides strategic, operational, and policy leadership to ensure the timely, accurate, and compliant delivery of UI benefits and services to workers and employers, while safeguarding trust fund integrity and meeting federal and state requirements.

This individual is responsible for ensuring that the unemployment insurance system operates effectively and serves as a reliable safety net that meets the needs of unemployed individuals and employers, maintaining workforce attachment and supporting economic resilience. The Assistant Secretary leads a large, complex organization operating in a highly regulated environment and is accountable for translating policy into effective operations, strengthening business processes, improving customer experience, and sustaining measurable performance outcomes.

This executive must lead the Division to ensure timely and efficient administration of the UI program, which includes improving customer service, meeting performance metrics, increasing efficiency, evaluating and adopting new technologies, and safeguarding privacy and security.

Duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

The Assistant Secretary:

• Serves as a member of the executive leadership team of the Maryland Department of Labor.
• Working with the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief of Operations, plans, directs, and oversees all operations of the Division of Unemployment Insurance, including benefits administration, adjudication, employer tax operations, appeals support, fraud prevention, and program integrity activities.
• Leads continuous improvement initiatives to strengthen end‑to‑end business processes, improve timeliness and quality of claims processing, and enhance service delivery for claimants and employers.
• Establishes performance expectations, monitors results against federal and state benchmarks, and implements corrective actions to ensure sustained compliance and accountability.
• Ensures full compliance with federal and state UI laws, regulations, directives, and reporting requirements.
• Oversees development and management of federal and state budgets, grant funding, and legislative and policy recommendations for the UI program.
• Monitors the health and solvency of the UI Trust Fund and recommends operational or legislative strategies to promote fiscal stability and tax equity.
• Serves as the primary liaison with the Department of Labor on program administration, grants, audits, and national initiatives.
• Directs workforce planning, staff development, and organizational capacity‑building efforts to support effective program delivery.
• Builds and maintains partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, including other government agencies, workforce partners, and employer organizations.

Education: Possession of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or Juris Doctor Degree.

Experience: Eight years of progressively responsible executive‑level experience in operations management, organizational leadership, business process improvement, or administration of large‑scale public programs.

Preference will be given to applicants who possess the following preferred qualification(s). Include clear and specific information on your application regarding your qualifications.

Experience and expertise in the formulation and implementation of UI policy, providing high‑level guidance on legislative matters, fraud integrity initiatives, and strategic management.

Personnel employed in this classification will have access to federal tax information and must undergo a state and FBI criminal background check as a condition of employment. All candidates are subject to a background check against files maintained by the Division of Unemployment Insurance (MD Labor/DUI) to determine whether any monies are owed to MD Labor/DUI as a result of unemployment insurance…