Lead a portfolio of product teams, support improved UX, and strengthen delivery of software to support kids and families across Colorado.
About Us
If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). Our professionals strive to design and deliver high quality human and health services that improve the safety, independence, and well-being of the people of Colorado. In addition to a great location and rewarding and meaningful work, we offer excellent benefits:
- Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including a PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus 401(k) and 457 plans
- Medical and dental health plans
- Employer supplemented Health Savings Account
- Paid life insurance
- Short- and long-term disability coverage
- 10 paid holidays per year plus vacation and sick leave
- BenefitHub state employee discount program
- Employee Wellness program MotivateMe
- Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, training and more
*Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. For more
information, go to https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/student-loan-forgiveness-programs
Our Culture & Environment
- We believe in a people-first approach: To serve the people of Colorado, we develop a culture and work environment that creates an energized, inspired, and healthy team capable of giving their best to Coloradans.
- Balance creates quality of life: We want our team to be resilient through a supportive workplace that values flexibility, health and wellness, and employee engagement.
- We hold ourselves accountable: We take responsibility through our actions, programs, and results for the state of health and human services in Colorado.
- Transparency matters: We are open and honest with employees, our partners, the Coloradans we serve, and the public.
- We are ethical: We abide by what is best for those we serve by doing what is right, not what is easy.
- Collaboration helps us rise together: We work together with all partners, employees, and clients to achieve the best outcomes for Coloradans.
Description of Job
The Division of Child Welfare welcomes your interest in the Trails Product Manager position. Trails is Colorado’s child welfare system of record, housed in the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF). In an effort to help OCYF and its partners connect children and families with critical supports, Trails is used to track child abuse and neglect cases as well as services deployed to help strengthen families. Trails supports three main activities: 1) Providing services and case management for children who have experienced abuse and neglect with goal of preventing children from going into foster care, 2) Licensing and monitoring providers (foster parents, adoptive parents, child care centers, etc.), and 3) Providing services and case management for youth involved with juvenile justice. Trails has over 5,400 users, who in turn have 70,000 unique contacts with children and families each month.
Responsibilities in this position include:
- Direct all work on the statewide Colorado Trails system, including database, new development, interface work, etc.
- Develop product strategies that align with and support business objectives and customer needs, including long-term direction around incorporation of any off-the-shelf products, custom builds, interoperability with other systems, and connectivity with county auxiliary systems
- Define and manage high-level product Trails roadmap, the Trails product vision, and product backlog (features)
- Prioritize Trails work and features based on value to end users, technical complexity, security and statutory requirements and deadlines, and resource availability
- Subject matter expert on developing and maintaining Colorado’s Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS), Trails
- Provide agency determinations related to an agile development process, including prioritization of all work, sprint planning, deployment, and post-deployment support
- Assess CCWIS needs and develops the roadmap for both Trails modernization and ongoing operations and maintenance of Trails
- Maintain working relationships with county departments, the Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), and all vendors
- Strategic planning and funding for Trails-related resources (approximately $6 million)
- Oversee work plans and manages performance of the Division of Child Welfare’s Trails Team
Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights
Experience: Five (5) years of experience applying product management and research methodology in complex environments.
AND
Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Organizational Management, Professional Development, or any other closely related field.
Substitutions:
- A combination or work experience in the occupational field or specialized subject area of the work assigned to the job, which provided the same kind, amount, and level of knowledge acquired in the required education, may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for the Bachelor’s degree.
- A Master’s or Doctorate degree from an accredited college or university in Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Counseling, Organizational Management, Professional Development, or closely related field may be substituted for the Bachelor’s degree and, at the agency’s discretion, one (1) year of professional experience (for a Master’s Degree) or two (2) years of professional experience (for a Doctorate degree).
Preferred Qualifications:
- Proven ability to deliver products and services.
- Proven ability to establish strong cross-functional relationships across different disciplines and teams.
- At least one year of experience leading organizations and building teams to drive product initiatives across organizational silos.
- Extensive experience using customer data and user research to drive an organization to become more user-centric.
- Experience working collaboratively with cross-functional teams across the product delivery lifecycle using modern software development practices, while building capacity for innovation.
Highly Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Ability to develop constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintain them over time;
- Demonstrates expertise in multiple areas of product management (e.g., product roadmaps, user research, product analytics, etc.).
- Strong communication and leadership skills.
- Self-motivated and able to effectively manage time and tasks.
- Ability to solve complex problems creatively, participate in continuous improvement, and adapt to the ideas of others.
- Strategic thinking and ability to motivate cross-functional teams.
- Ability to derive logical conclusions from available information, utilizing a combination of judgment and formal guidance, in order to determine if departmental objectives have been met;
- Ability to effectively communicate in both written and oral format;
- Ability to effectively facilitate and negotiate with diverse customer groups;
- Ability to manage and resolve conflicts, confrontations, and disagreements in a positive and constructive manner to minimize negative personal impact;
- Ability to adapt behavior and work methods in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles;
- Ability to collaborate and work with internal and external stakeholders as part of a team, develop group objectives, and ensure those objectives are effectively met in a timely manner;
- Ability to set and prioritize workload, identify short- and long-term goals and develop strategies to achieve them;
- Ability to follow-through on work assignments and complete projects in a timely manner;
- Ability to help others learn through formal or informal methods, identify training needs, and coaches others on how to perform tasks; and
- Ability to anticipate potential problems and institute controls and contingency plans to address them.
Conditions of Employment:
- Ability to pass a standard background check
- Travel – some travel is required
- Former State employees who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination must disclose the information on the application and provide an explanation why the prior termination or resignation should not disqualify the applicant from the current position. Absent extraordinary circumstances, prior disciplinary termination or resignation in lieu of termination will disqualify the applicant from future State employment with CDHS.