IT Program Manager

Working Title: IT Program Manager
Job Class: Information Technology Specialist 5
Agency: Minnesota IT Services

• Who May Apply: Open to all qualified job seekers
• Date Posted: 11/15/2023
• Closing Date: 11/21/2023
• Hiring Agency/Seniority Unit: Minnesota IT Services
• Division/Unit: DEED / Architect/DBA/Middleware
• Work Shift/Work Hours: Day Shift
• Days of Work: Monday – Friday
• Travel Required: No
• Salary Range: $37.45 – $64.04 / hourly; $78,195 – $133,715 / annually
• Job Class Option: Project Management
• Classified Status: Classified
• Bargaining Unit/Union: 214 – MN Assoc of Professional Empl/MAPE
• FLSA Status: Exempt – Professional
• Telework Eligible: Yes #LI-Hybrid
• Designated in Connect 700 Program for Applicants with Disabilities: Yes

Make a difference in the lives of Minnesotans.

The work you’ll do is more than just a job. Join the talented, engaged and inclusive workforce dedicated to creating a better Minnesota.

Join the 2,500+ professionals of Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) who connect Minnesotans to services that will improve their lives. This position serves our partners at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The MNIT DEED team provides technical support to help improve employment conditions in Minnesota. The team supports work that improves workforce and community development, increases business recruitment, and helps Minnesota small businesses to expand into international trade.

This Program Manager is responsible for bringing numerous high visibility projects to completion in the technical development and implementation of the Paid Leave Minnesota Program with the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). The Paid Family and Medical Leave program is a start-up environment without legacy systems, data, or preconceived ways of working. DEED envisions the product management function working alongside the Paid Leave Minnesota Chief Product Officer to scale a team that will include vendors, contractors, and full-time MNIT and DEED employees working together as a single team comprised of technical and business representation.

This position exists to assure structure and predictability in the technical development and enhancement of complex information technology & business area solutions, systems, processes, and services that will be delivered on a statewide basis. Included are technologies that span the complete spectrum of IT systems, solutions, and processes to support, and enhance foundation infrastructure, services, systems and enterprise software applications. Close collaboration with DEED’s Chief Product Officer, product owners and product teams will be essential to aligning business requirements with technical implementation.

The incumbent will be the focal point for project and/or program initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure using industry best practices for service/systems creation and development and generally accepted standards (e.g., SAFe Agile, Project Mgmt Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)) and by MNIT. The incumbent will also act as a Senior Scrum Master, facilitating and aligning across one or more teams including Product Owners, stakeholders, other Scrum Masters and the Program Team to iteratively and incrementally deliver value. This position acts as a catalyst for change by making the evolving processes work for the entire team. Servant leadership is expected to align teams by creating an environment that empowers and energizes team members, with a focus on accountability, adaptability, collaboration, and high-performance. The Senior Scrum Master performs moderately complex to complex work necessitating independent initiative, judgement, as well as a need to react quickly and adapt to changing department or team needs.

The incumbent ensures quality and consistency across multiple projects in the use of project planning, scheduling, scope and risk management, status reporting, change control, issues resolution and other project management controls and practices. The end goal of the position is the successful delivery of projects in a consistent and documented manner.

The incumbent will manage complex programs, made up of multiple sub-projects, i.e., project portfolio. This position will act as a coordinator between the multiple sub-projects, aligning business goals, coaching, and mentoring the sub-project staff, and reporting to upper management on the portfolio of sub-project efforts that make up the program(s). The position works with DEED’s Chief Product Owner, supporting the programs’ strategic direction, budget and operating plans.

This position is currently eligible for full-time telework: 

• Telework for Minnesota IT Services allows an employee to perform work from a telework location and an employee may be required to be in the office based on business needs and other dependencies in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

• Only candidates located in Minnesota and bordering states (Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin) are telework eligible. 

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates must clearly demonstrate all of the following qualifications in their resume:  

This position requires a minimum of five (5) years of experience in performing IT project management functions.

Experience must include:

• Experience with managing and deploying projects with large scale technology solutions.
• Experience with testing practices and DevOps.
• Experience as a Senior Scrum Master leading Scrum of Scrums, SaFe Agile and/or lean portfolio and product.
• Ability to deliver effective verbal or written messages that facilitate a mutual understanding on both parties.
• Customer service skills that include active listening, empathy, and problem-solving.

A master’s degree in Information Technology or a related field substitutes for three (3) years of experience, OR a related bachelor’s degree substitutes for two (2) years, OR a related associate’s degree substitutes for one (1) year.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Portfolio tools such as Planview.
• Experience with AzureDevOps as a product backlog and repository tool.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Agile Scrum Master Certification (CSM).

Additional Requirements

It is the policy of Minnesota IT Services that a successful candidate must pass all legally required checks prior to employment which may consist of the following:

• SEMA4 Records Check (applies to current and past state employees only)
• Criminal History Check
• Reference Check
• Social Security and Address Verification
• Education Verification
• Other legally required checks

Minnesota IT Services will not sponsor applicants for work visas. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.