Social Work Supervisor
State of Iowa
Posted: January 7, 2026 (8 days ago)
This job has been posted for 1-2 weeks. Still a good time to apply.
State of Iowa
400 Health & Human Services - Family Well-Being and Protection
Location
Iowa, 50319
Salary
$29.97 - $46.49
per hour
Type
Full Time
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This job involves leading a team of social workers who help families dealing with child abuse and neglect, by overseeing investigations, planning support services, and ensuring kids are safe.
You'll manage daily operations, train staff, handle paperwork, and be available for emergencies, including nights and weekends.
It's a great fit for someone with experience in social services who enjoys guiding others and working closely with communities and courts to support vulnerable families.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Division of Family Well-Being and Protection, Bureau of Child Protective Services is seeking a Social Work Supervisor to join our team!
This position will be domiciled in Waterloo and will provide services in that and surrounding counties.
Do you have experience/education in Social Work; Social/Human/Community Services; Case Management; or experience closely related to these fields? If so, this is a great opportunity!
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has a current opening for a team member in the Family and Child Well-Being Division.
HHS is responsible for working with families who have experienced abuse and neglect. You play a key role in preparing and supporting children and families to be successful.
You will also assist families in realizing their full potential by working with them as experts, case planning with team members, and the courts, and connecting families to community resources.
HHS, Family Well-Being and Protection Division, is seeking Child Protection Supervisors (Social Work Supervisors) to plan, direct and supervise a unit of social workers who conduct child abuse assessments and/or provide child welfare services.
This is a full-time opportunity, Monday – Friday with typical hours being from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM with extra hours as needed including after-hours and weekend on call rotation.
These positions require an in-office presence to your assigned location and travel to various other offices within the Service Area to meet with staff, attend court hearings and meet with clients and families as needed.
Mileage is paid at $0.50/mile travelled according to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) State Accounting Enterprise Procedures.
A valid driver’s license is required; however, you may request to reserve a state vehicle if available.
Daily responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
Coordination and implementation of goals and objectives to achieve desired outcomes
Clinical supervision around case outcomes to assure the safety of children
Communicating and adhering to current policy and procedure affecting the work
Assignment work to ensure efficiency in service delivery and equitable workload and approve travel claims, payroll, leave requests and other personnel functions
Assigning and monitoring all work schedules, manage overtime allocations, and providing input to administration
General supervision around job duties and performance through regularly scheduled individual supervisory conferences
Training all new employees and providing regular performance evaluations to all staff at least annually
Reviewing and approving all legal documents prior to their submission and assuring staff maintain compliance with Iowa Code
Conducting case record reviews to ensure compliance and quality Reviewing worker written work, computer documents, and various other documents to ensure accuracy and timeliness
Use of various forms of technological resources to monitor, track, approve and direct workflow Conducting regular unit meetings
Responding to customer and employee inquiries and concerns in a timely manner to assure that issues are resolved
Establishing and maintaining working relationships with collaterals and maintaining a working knowledge of community resources
On a rotating basis, be available to all staff after hours and on-call as needed providing case consultation, crisis resolution, and approval of emergency removals.
The ideal candidate will be able to meet the following requirements:
Within an office environment, provides support to large segment of agency through managing internal and external requests for information and legislative reviews requiring comprehension of request, independent judgment to assign and adherence to agency formatting of timely response or communication
Knowledge of the principles of supervision, including delegation of work, training of subordinates, performance evaluation, discipline, and hiring
Knowledge of interviewing skills and techniques
Obtains information from a wide variety of sources, including written materials, telephone conversations and through computer databases and to be able to read and interpret the data. Ability and knowledge of Word, Excel, and the Internet
Applies essential elements of management and administration in assigned office.
Recognizes and defines problems, gathers facts using problem-solving tools, develops practical solutions, analyzes each potential solution, compares the outcome of each solution, and select the best solution to solve the problem
Effectively communicates orally by expressing ideas and facts to individuals or groups
Makes clear and convincing oral presentations
Listens to others
Facilitates an open exchange of ideas
Build, foster and maintain partnerships at a variety of levels
Applies innovative solutions to problems
Designs new methods where established methods and procedures are inapplicable or are unavailable
Identifies a need for and knows where or how to gather information by prioritizing, organizing and maintains information to meet completion deadlines
Identifies rules, principles, or relationships that explain reasonable facts, data, or other information that analyzes information and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions
Displays high standards of ethical conduct. Exhibits honesty and integrity. Refrains from theft-related, dishonest, or unethical behavior
Maintains regular attendance at work and report to work on time. Field Operations processes contain critical time frames and excessive absenteeism impacts the meeting of the time frames, which negatively impacts customer satisfaction
Responds appropriately to supervision. Follows policy and cooperates with supervisors
Coordinates and oversees office budget and budget control mechanism. Plans, administers, and monitors expenditures to ensure cost-effective support of programs and policies
Works in a team environment. The ability to manage group processes
Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity, fosters commitment and team spirit
Works with others to achieve goals
Deals calmly and effectively with high stress situations (For example, tight deadlines, hostile individuals, emergency situations, dangerous situations)
Communicates effectively in writing as well as orally to express ideas and facts to individuals or groups. Actively listens to facilitate the exchange of information to provide positive and professional customer service both within the agency and in the community
Ability to travel, which will involve some overnight travel
Ability to work extra hours as needed to get tasks completed.
Preference will be given to the ability to speak more than one language. Please list any additional languages you speak in your application.
Preference will be given for education or experience which correlates directly with the requirements and duties of the position.
Benefits
Working for the State of Iowa comes with its perks. In addition to a competitive salary, you'll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being and professional growth:
For additional information on benefits click here.
Click here to see how we compare with other employers or offers by using our Total Compensation Calculator.
Background Checks
Applicants will be required to complete a background check to be considered for this position.
The State of Iowa is an EEO/AA Employer
HHS values those with “lived experience” and encourages adults who were fostered as youth, foster parents, and/or parents who were in the DHS system to apply.
Minorities, women, persons with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply (Hearing and Speech Impaired – Relay Iowa 1-800-735-2942 TDD).
E-Verify and Right to Work
The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.
Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States.
The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization.
For more information, please visitwww.e-verify.gov.
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