Elections Director, Deputy

Are you an experienced elections or public administration professional with a strong commitment to public service? New Hanover County is seeking an Elections Deputy Director to support the Elections Director in overseeing daily operations and ensuring the successful delivery of election services. This role provides staff supervision and assists with procedural and technical improvements, voter education programs, public communications, in-person voting operations, Board of Elections meeting preparation, and election official training. The Deputy Director ensures continuity of operations in the Director’s absence and directly supervises teams responsible for voter registration, outreach, and logistics, maintaining a high level of customer service during large-scale election events and periods of increased demand.

New Hanover County, located on the North Carolina coast with a population of over 240,000 and approximately 183,400 registered voters. The mission of the NHC Board of Elections is to provide the highest level of professional standards to ensure accurate, honest, and fair elections through accountability and integrity and to provide all citizens our services in the most efficient, effective, and timely manner. The New Hanover County Board of Elections administers elections with the highest commitment to accuracy, integrity, and public trust. The department oversees all aspects of election administration, including voter registration, polling site operations, ballot preparation, and election result certification while ensuring compliance with all applicable election laws. With an annual operating budget of approximately $2,123,000, the department maintains a strong focus on transparency, collaboration, and voter confidence, working closely with local, state, and federal partners to ensure fair and accessible elections for all citizens.

Key Responsibilities include: 

• Supervises staff, prioritizes, and assigns work; conducts performance evaluations; and ensures staff is trained. 
• Develops and implements procedural and technical improvements.
• Provides assistance and develops and conducts voter education and registration drive programs in cooperation with candidates, political parties and civic organizations.
• Ensures Elections website is updated properly following all statutory and administrative guidelines. Develops and integrates enhancements to improve website.
• Provides supervision to the Elections Education & Communications Coordinator and Programs & Outreach Coordinator overseeing social media, marketing, and press releases.
• Provides overall operational support and oversight of election official training, in-person voting processes to include voter registration, One-Stop voting, Election Day voting, post-election processes, and reconciles and reviews provisional ballots.
• Assists the Director in fulfillment of Public Records Requests, including Election Events Records, Party Requests, Press Requests.
• Supervises Voter Registration Processes, providing supervisory support to the Registrar to ensure usual, special, and annual voter registration processes are performed. This includes, execution of special mailings and annual list maintenance tasks, processing same day registrations during early voting, and management of incomplete submissions
• Oversees Community Engagement and Education (in-person and virtual), as well as management of processes related to board meetings and special event press releases.
• Oversees Inventory Management and Distribution and provides supervisory support to the Elections Logistics Specialist.
• Ensures continuity of operations in the event of the Director’s absence.
• Maintains contact with county municipalities concerning election matters, prepares the budget and conducts other election business.
• Performs other duties required of a county elections director by NC statutes and by the State or County Boards of Election.
• Performs work with regular and predictable attendance consistently meeting the scheduling needs as required by the county.
• Performs work during emergency/disaster situations.
• Performs other duties of a similar nature or level. 

Knowledge of and principles and practices related to the area of assignment; applicable local, state, and federal statutes; Specifically, N.C. General Statute Chapter 163, as well as the rules, orders, and directives of the State Board of Elections; basic management principles; comprehensive understanding of in-person voting procedures; department-wide procedures and their implications on the in-person voting process. basic human resources and performance evaluation principles; community resources and organizations; basic finance principles; marketing and promotion principles; educational practices, especially pertaining to adults.

Skill in using a computer and related software programs; using general office equipment; managing databases; preparing formal documents and reports; assessing client needs; preparing and creating schedules; developing and implementing programs; supervising and training employees, volunteers, and clients; communication, interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisor, the general public, etc. sufficient to exchange or convey information and to receive work direction.

• Employer paid 401k contributions;
• Retirement plan through the NC Retirement system;
• Flex time and telework availability, depending on your position;
• Paid sick and personal leave + 13 paid holidays per year;
• Paid parental leave;
• Paid community services leave to give back to our community;
• Education leave to obtain a degree within your line of work; 
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance + many other insurance options; 
• Onsite, employer-paid health and wellness clinic;
• Professional development trainings & leadership initiatives; 
• Opportunities to make a difference in your community;
• And so much more!

Knowledge, skills, education, training, and experience sufficient to thoroughly understand the functions of the role and successfully perform the essential duties, with six (6) years of experience in elections or a similar role or performing similar duties; and three (3) years of supervisory experience. 

Must be able to perform the physical responsibilities required by this position unaided, or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation. These physical tasks include: the ability to remain standing/move about the different work spaces that include both indoor and outdoor locations, move/transport boxes and equipment weighing up to 50 pounds, position oneself to maintain equipment, computers, cords and other materials under desks and along floors and walls. The work is performed primarily in an office or indoor setting with typical levels of noise and disruptions.

Required:

• Valid Driver's License (from any state) and good driving record required at time of application.
• Valid North Carolina Driver’s License required by first date of employment with good driving record.
• Must receive NC State Board of Elections certification as an Elections Administrator within three (3) years of employment.

• Certified Elections Registration Administrator (CERA) certification

Applicant Information:
This position is open until filled; however, priority consideration will be given to applications received through March 10. 2026. After the priority consideration date, applications will be screened by Human Resources. Applicants referred to the department will receive an email requesting important information pertinent to the position applied for. All updates regarding an application can be viewed through your applicant portal.

In compliance with G.S. 153A-94.2(b), if this position requires an applicant for employment to work with children in any capacity, the county must require the applicant to undergo a criminal history record check conducted by the SBI for all offers of employment made after October 1, 2025. These checks must be performed in accordance with G.S. 143B-1209.26, which authorizes the SBI to provide fingerprint-based state and national criminal record checks to cities and counties. Additional information on how to complete this required check will be provided to the selected candidate after an offer of employment is accepted.

New Hanover County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.