Philadelphia Managing Director Adam K. Thiel is on leave from city government to serve in the Army Reserve

Philadelphia Managing Director Adam K. Thiel — whose job entails overseeing agencies including the prisons, fire, water, and streets departments — is taking a break from city government this summer to go on military leave, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration confirmed Wednesday.

Tiffany W. Thurman, Parker’s chief of staff, said that the administration is “supportive and proud that he serves his country.” Thiel is scheduled to return to his job in the fall, Thurman said.

“His military service to his country reflects very positively on the values of the Parker administration,” she said. “His military service makes him a better prepared and efficient managing director.”

Thiel’s last day on the job before going on leave was during the eight-day city workers strike that ended two weeks ago. The administration did not announce his departure.

Michael Carroll, the deputy managing director for transportation and infrastructure, has replaced Thiel on an interim basis, Thurman said.

“The Managing Director’s Office is as productive and efficient in providing services to residents as it has been since the beginning of Mayor Parker’s administration,” Thurman said.

Thiel is a major in the Army Reserve, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“As a military government specialist (38G/5Y) in the U.S. Army Reserve, Major Thiel helps provide emergency management subject matter expertise to combatant commands and partner nations,“ Thiel wrote in his profile.

Thurman declined to say where Thiel is on active duty, citing “operational security reasons.”

The managing director is essentially the city’s chief operating officer, and oversees almost all of the departments through which residents interact with city government.

Thiel, who was fire commissioner under former Mayor Jim Kenney, became managing director in January 2024, when Parker took office. He joined the Army Reserve in August 2024, according to his LinkedIn.

At the time of his appointment, neither Parker nor Thiel publicly mentioned that he might go on military leave during his tenure as managing director, a high-profile role that involves running everyday city services while also being front and center during emergencies.

Parker’s office did not respond to a question on whether the mayor was aware Thiel had planned to go on leave for military duties before she appointed him to be the No. 2 official in city government.

He already has plenty on his plate.

Thiel runs two consulting firms he founded — Pantheon Global Strategies and FACETS — and teaches courses at universities. Last year, while serving as managing director, he earned $305,000 in income from Pantheon and FACETS, and $7,000 from lecturing work at George Mason University, according to financial disclosure reports.

That combined income was slightly higher than his $310,000 city salary last year.

FACETS is publicly advertised as a fire safety consultancy. Thiel has refused to discuss Pantheon’s work in any detail or disclose its clients.

This year, Thiel is listed as a candidate for a master’s degree in philosophy in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, according to the school’s website. That would be his third graduate degree.

Thiel is also listed as a health innovation fellow for the Aspen Institute, an Eisenhower Fellow, and an advisory board member for the UL Research Institutes, a fire safety organization. Last year, he disclosed about $2,500 in travel costs linked to those professional development roles.