Project Manager

Rate: 80/hr. on 1099

Tuesdays Onsite in Denver CO

• Lead the full project lifecycle, from requirements and procurement through design, build, data migration, testing, statewide rollout, and decommissioning of ICON/JPOD.

• Develop and maintain the master schedule, budget, scope baseline, and benefits realization plan.

• Translate the Branch's strategic goals for probation into clear project objectives and measurable success criteria.

Vendor and procurement management

• Support the solicitation, evaluation, and selection of a solution vendor under state procurement rules.

• Hold vendors and internal teams accountable for quality, schedule, and cost.

Legislative and policy compliance

• Track Colorado statutes, Chief Justice Directives, and probation standards affecting system requirements, and build them into the solution.

• Coordinate with legal, policy, and research staff so the system supports required reporting, risk and needs assessments, and evidence-based practices.

Stakeholder engagement and change management

• Engage chief probation officers, officers, supervisors, judges, court staff, and partner agencies across all 23 judicial districts, urban and rural alike.

• Lead human-centered design activities, such as field observation, user testing, and feedback loops with frontline staff.

• Direct organizational change management, training, communications, and go-live support.

• Make sure the client-facing parts of the system are accessible, plain-language, and equitable for justice-involved individuals.

Risk, quality, and reporting

• Identify, track, and mitigate risks and issues; escalate decisions promptly.

• Plan cutover so probation supervision is never interrupted.

• Report status, risks, and outcomes to leadership. 

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in project management, information systems, public administration, criminal justice, business, or a related field. Additional relevant experience may substitute for the degree year for year.

• Ten years of progressively responsible project management experience, including at least five years leading large, complex technology implementations with multiple vendors and stakeholder groups.

• Demonstrated experience managing a multi-year schedule.

• Experience leading enterprise system replacements that included data migration and organizational change management.

• Ability to pass a criminal background check. 

Preferred qualifications

• Project Management Professional (PMP), PgMP, or equivalent certification.

• Agile and change management certifications.

• Experience with Waterfall Project methodology.

• Experience applying Waterfall governance and procurement controls in conjunction with Agile solution delivery. 

• Experience implementing case management systems for courts, probation, parole, corrections, or other justice agencies.

• Familiarity with Colorado state government, the Colorado Judicial Branch, or CICJIS data exchanges.

• Experience with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or configurable SaaS platform implementations in the public sector.

• Experience working with geographically distributed users in both urban and rural settings.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Project and program management: command of predictive, Agile, and hybrid methods, and the judgment to choose between them.

• Systems thinking: ability to understand how technology, policy, operations, and people interact, and to see downstream effects of design choices.

• Communication: clear, plain-language writing and speaking for audiences ranging from judges and legislators to frontline officers and vendors.

• Facilitation and influence: ability to build consensus among stakeholders with competing priorities, without direct authority.

• Empathy for users: genuine interest in how probation officers and clients experience the system, and the discipline to design around their needs.

• Analytical skills: ability to interpret data, evaluate trade-offs, and make sound decisions under uncertainty.

• Integrity and discretion: sound handling of confidential criminal justice information and sensitive organizational matters.

• Resilience: steady leadership through ambiguity, setbacks, and the pressures of a high-visibility public project.

• Benefits orientation: understanding of business outcomes and the ability to support measurement of adoption and value realization objectives.