Human Services Consultant

Position: Human Services Consultant

Duration: 9 months

Location: Saint Paul, MN

Schedule

• Anticipated Project Start Date: April 20, 2026
• Anticipated End Date: December 31, 2026

The State retains the option to extend the work order in increments determined by the State.

Job Description:

The Minnesota Agency is in the early stages of implementing an integration platform as a service (iPaaS).

The first critical service will be to introduce integration and automation between the legacy eligibility system, MAXIS, and the online application system, MNbenefits. This solicitation is meant to provide the State with a vendor partner who can support the implementation of a Worker Interface that will serve as the central, stabilizing connection between MAXIS and MNbenefits.

The TEAM will lead implementation, stakeholder engagement, training, and change management to ensure the Worker Interface is usable, policy aligned, and responsive to county and Tribal Nation needs. The work includes broad early stage engagement, iterative design, pilot testing with selected local agencies, and preparation for potential statewide rollout. The initiative ultimately aims to modernize the eligibility systems by reducing manual data entry, improving worker experience, and enabling scalable, long term operational success.

The scope of this integration will be determined more fully through collaboration with county and Tribal Nation partners as it is critical to have county and Tribal Nation engagement, support, and feedback throughout this effort.

To propose a team to balance of software implementation with expertise in: product development, and training prowess. Teams with proven experience in human services, human-centered design principles and familiarity with the Whole Family Approach, are preferred and valued. A team driven to identify what’s possible and acutely aware of the needs of workers, striking a balance between forward momentum and meeting local agency partners where they are is required. Team resumes should include a mix of expertise outlined below.

Human Services Consultant

• Brings tactical and thoughtful leadership to the current human services environment
• Understands and exemplifies a multi-pronged approach to solving problems
• Leads with listening and structured feedback

Deliverables

Phase 1 Deliverables: Discovery, Stakeholder Engagement, Design, and Iterative Build

The TEAM will lead the Worker Interface implementation by initiating and managing structured engagement and validation activities with participating pilot local agencies. With a strong focus on county and Tribal needs and Agency program standards and positioned to guide and frame the requirements of the Worker Interface, the vendor is responsible for bridging the functional and technical conversations with the project team and pilot local agency partners.

Deliverable 1: Identify, engage, and build relationships with a cohort of counties and Tribes to participate in the pilot, including:

• Aligning the 4-7 local agencies to the project goals and objectives
• Consistent and clear outreach and coordination with agency leadership and frontline staff
• Lead the onboarding of pilot agencies to the project
• Building and communicating clear plans, schedules, designs, success outcomes and readiness goals
• Engaging directly and indirectly with the workers that will utilize the Worker Interface to facilitate confidence and success in the pilot
• Establish norms and guidelines for pilot agency engagement and participation criteria

Deliverable 2: Participate fully in the project team designing, building and deploying the Worker Interface.

• The project team consists of MNIT, DCYF, DHS, an iPaaS vendor (20-40 ppl depending on the deliverable)
• Participation requires adopting the internal meeting schedule, following established program procedures and leading local agency project meetings
• Responsible for providing structured user feedback on potential development

Deliverable 3: Drive the documentation and prioritization of the requirements for the Worker Interface by:

• Conducting interviews, workshops, and/or surveys with the local agencies participating in the pilot
• Representing the needs and requirements of the workers in all internal project meetings and through consistent documentation
• Building and facilitating clear communication channels and feedback loops between the local agencies and the project team
• Adhering to human services program and policy directives, specifically around SNAP and the cash and food benefits programs
• Building and documenting user stories, bugs, and issues to further define the requirements of the Worker Interface
• Helping to identify, flag, resolve and document program-driven constraints, policy requirements, and compliance considerations
• Identifying and documenting operational and program needs at the local agency level into actionable requirements and backlog enhancements
• Incorporating User Experience Research conducted by MNIT UX teams into design recommendations and user stories

Optional Phases

Optional phases may include such things as UAT support, pilot implementation, application support, training, statewide rollout support, and future modernization road mapping.