Leave Management Manager (Manager III), Grade M3

Please Note: The salary range above represents this position’s earning potential. The anticipated hiring range for this position will be $101,474 to $169,032, based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

WHO WE ARE

Montgomery County Government's Office of Human Resources (OHR) is the driving force behind a high-performing, diverse, and engaged County workforce, delivering programs that span talent acquisition and development, classification and compensation, and employee health and wellness. We partner with departments across the County to build sound HR policy, modernize our systems and processes, and provide the kind of responsive, people-centered service that public employees and residents deserve. We serve 10,000 employees across 35 departments and impact a community of over 1 million.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The Office of Human Resources (OHR) is seeking an experienced, knowledgeable, and people-centered leader to manage the Leave Management unit within the Policy, Practice & Strategic Engagement Division. In this role, you will lead a team of leave management specialists, serve as the County’s primary subject matter expert on employee leave law, and ensure that every case, from a straightforward FMLA request to a legally complex situation involving protected leave, is handled with accuracy, consistency, and care.

This job is for you if you:

• Are known as the person others come to when a leave situation gets complicated — and you consistently provide guidance that is accurate, clear, and legally sound.
• Take pride in building teams that get the details right, and you know how to coach people toward higher performance with both honesty and encouragement.
• Approach sensitive situations with discretion, professionalism, and empathy.
• Approach every case, even the most frustrating or repetitive ones, with the understanding that for the employee involved, it may be one of the most stressful experiences of their working life.
• Thrive in a structured, compliance-driven environment and welcome opportunities to improve how things work.

This is a role for someone who brings both deep technical expertise in leave administration and the leadership presence to build a high-performing team, advise senior stakeholders, and drive meaningful improvements in how the County supports employees through some of the most important moments of their lives.

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Directly supervise a team of leave management specialists, managing their caseloads, performance, customer service delivery, and professional development.
• Serve as the County’s primary subject matter expert on FMLA, MD FAMLI, USERRA, PWFA, and related federal, state, and local leave statutes.
• Review and approve complex or escalated leave determinations, including intermittent FMLA designations and cases intersecting with multiple leave types.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, policy guidelines, and compliance audit processes that keep the unit operating at the highest standard.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders in developing the County’s program to comply with the new state-mandated FAMLI program. 
• Manage case records in the leave management system from intake through closure, maintaining complete and accurate documentation.
• Coordinate with HR and Payroll teams to ensure proper application of leave pay and benefit continuation. 
• Develop and deliver group training sessions for employees and supervisors on leave rights, responsibilities, and processes.
• Review leave program data to surface trends, identify operational risks, and inform management decisions.
• Lead process improvement efforts that reduce administrative burden, improve case timeliness, and enhance the employee experience.

Experience: Five years of progressively responsible professional experience in leave management or employee benefits.

Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree.

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.