Program Strategist
Jackson, MS – REMOTE
6 Months Contract
Position Description and Job Skill Set
The Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services seeks a PS/PMO to support a proof-of-concept demonstration using natural language processing and other machine learning methods to improve the intake process. This work is critical to demonstrate the potential of the latest technology to improve the lives of children at risk.
The Program Strategist will play a key role in realizing strategic initiatives for the State by overseeing interviews, discovery sessions, workshops, and documentation to further the objective of developing tools and methods to improve the intake process. The PS/PMO must possess excellent communication skills, a proven record of delivering meaningful results, and the ability to work in an Agile environment. Furthermore, the PS/PMO should be familiar with the data systems commonly used by Child Protective Services.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure the Objectives of the Project are Satisfied
- The PS/PMO will ensure the State’s objectives of protecting children and reducing the use of State resources are maintained throughout the proof-of-concept.
- The PS/PMO will add to the project objectives based on requests from the State.
- Oversight of Exploratory Interviews, Discovery Sessions, and Workshops
o Provide leadership of exploratory interviews, discovery sessions, and workshops with State representatives to understand and document current workflows and shortcomings.
Contribute to the Development of a New Intake Process
- Oversee discussions related to the development of the new intake process to ensure the objectives of the State are being met.
- Contribute to the development of key metrics associated with measuring the prototype’s efficacy.
- Review documentation as appropriate for the purposes of transparency to the State.
- Engage State at All Levels
- Ensure proper communication and coordination of key stakeholders at all levels within MDCPS to ensure their understanding, participation, and support of the project.
- Gain support by understanding what is working and what could be improved in the current intake process.
- Coordinate Conference Room Demonstrations
- Oversee the conference room demo for key stakeholders.
- Review the framework for the demonstration to ensure the objectives of the State are satisfied.
o Oversee the development of a roadmap that illustrates how the developed technology could be integrated into the State’s ecosystem of technologies and processes.
o Oversee the development of the final report of the project, documenting all significant aspects.
Required Skills/Experience
- Masters, MBA or Executive MBA type degree in business administration, finance, or a related field.
- Minimum twenty (20) years of experience in project management roles for either state, local, or corporate clients.
- Proven expertise in AI product management, product requirements definition, and solution prototype development.
- Proven expertise in Pattern of Life analysis and Geospatial analysis of State Gov’t problems, including but not limited to, child welfare, public safety, fraud/program integrity and risk management.
- Deep knowledge and successful experience implementing IT enterprise solutions involving data analytics.
- Skill in engaging all levels of an organization and gaining their support.
- A successful history of using Agile, Pert, and Gant methodologies to manage complex developments.
- An understanding of how to advance a strategy and devise tactics to achieve incremental goals.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience identifying key stakeholders and winning their support.
- Skill in managing budgets, scope, project risk, and delivering results.
- A successful history of conducting extensive interviews, leading workshops, discovery sessions, collaborating on technology roadmaps, and drafting reports.