TJJD - Director VII - Director of Secured Faciliti

Agency committed to transforming lives and building safer communities through collaboration, open communication, and upholding the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. The team models accountability, transparency, and respect, ensuring the physical and emotional safety of youth, staff, and the community while striving for excellence through continuous growth and mission-driven collaboration.

About the role

Performs highly advanced executive-level correctional management work, providing statewide leadership, direction, oversight, and accountability for the safe, secure, orderly, and effective operation of all Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) state-operated secure facilities.

Responsible for establishing and maintaining effective correctional operations, institutional security, staff and youth safety, operational discipline, emergency preparedness and response, and consistent compliance with agency policies, procedures, standards, and applicable state and federal requirements.

Primary responsibility includes ensuring secure facilities maintain operational stability, structure, staffing practices, security protocols, and a correctional environment necessary to safely and effectively implement the Texas Model of trauma-responsive corrections and deliver education, treatment, behavioral health, rehabilitative, and other youth services.

Responsibilities

• Provides executive leadership and direction to secure facility superintendents, establishing clear expectations for institutional operations, security practices, staff accountability, youth supervision and movement, dorm management, staffing deployment, use of force, emergency response, incident management, and overall operational readiness.
• Directs continuous assessment of facility safety and operational performance, ensuring timely corrective action when security, operational, staffing, policy, training, or leadership deficiencies are identified.
• Uses incident data, operational assessments, investigations, audits, security reviews, and other performance measures to identify trends, evaluate risk, and improve facility operations.
• Works collaboratively with the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director for State Services, Director of Integrated Treatment, facility leadership, and other agency executives to maintain safe and effective correctional environments while advancing evidence-based treatment and rehabilitation.
• Oversees daily operations and provides executive direction for safe and secure practices at all campuses, including establishing strategic goals and objectives, developing and enforcing policies, procedures, standards, and expectations, and evaluating facility activities and performance.
• Reviews and approves budgets, allocates resources, and interacts with internal and external stakeholders.
• Supervises all secure facility superintendents and holds facility leadership accountable for safety, security, operational performance, staff competency, policy compliance, and effective facility management.
• Directs and maintains executive oversight of statewide secure correctional operations, including institutional security, youth supervision and movement, dorm operations, staffing deployment, searches and contraband control, use of force, mechanical restraints, chemical agents, emergency response, incident management, facility lockdowns, and restoration of normal operations following significant incidents.
• Establishes clear correctional standards and operational expectations for facility superintendents, ensuring consistent implementation of agency security policies, procedures, post orders, standard operating procedures, staffing plans, and correctional practices.
• Ensures facility leadership maintains effective command, control, communication, supervisory oversight, and staff accountability across all shifts and operational areas.
• Monitors and evaluates facility safety and security performance using incident data, staff and youth assault trends, use-of-force data, staffing information, security audits, and operational assessments.

Schedule

May be required to work in excess of 40 hours per work week, be on-call 24 hours per day, respond to significant facility incidents and emergencies, and travel frequently.