Project Manager - SME

Experience

Ten or more years of experience managing complex technology programs or projects within the required areas of expertise, specifically government, health and human services, benefits administration, childcare, or other regulated environments delivering critical services to the public. Demonstrated experience managing large-scale IT modernization or system re-procurement efforts, including navigating multi-vendor environments, organizational complexity, and high-stakes delivery risk. Experience recovering or redirecting troubled projects is a plus.

Direct involvement with programs operating under data sensitivity requirements — including PII, CJIS-protected information, or protected health and disability records — sufficient to recognize implications, apply appropriate judgment, and engage privacy, security, or legal resources as needed. Hands-on engagement with product or system portfolios involving sensitive data (PII, CJIS, health/disability records) and appropriate engagement of privacy/security/legal resources, including prior experience in product lifecycle management, user research, requirements definition, and translating stakeholder needs into actionable product roadmaps.

Responsibilities

Program Oversight

• Defines requirements, performs analyses, and develops plans for operating and enhancing systems while maintaining current awareness of the status, performance, planned maintenance, and upcoming changes across the CCATS/CCS system family, including the family and provider portals, the legacy CCATS system, and all connected systems and integrations.
• Serve as the primary point of coordination between client and all vendors supporting the childcare systems portfolio.
• Monitor system health, availability, accessibility, and security posture; escalate issues promptly and track resolution to closure.
• Prioritize and track system enhancements, corrections, and mandated changes — including those required by new law or executive direction — ensuring forward motion and clear accountability. This requires translating stakeholder, customer, policy, and technical needs into clear requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead product backlog development, refinement, and prioritization to ensure alignment with business goals, policies, and user needs
• Recognize data sensitivity implications across the system portfolio, protected information, and protected health and disability records; engage appropriate client resources as needed.
• Serve as subject matter expert for the enterprise application, providing technical and analytical guidance to the program and project teams and the ways the application(s) can best support the stated mission and goals of DEC
• Lead team in identifying the root cause of problems and implementing durable solutions.
• Cook up task assignment and system quality for all teams supporting the system including security, networking, hosting, system administration, database administration, level 2 help desk, development, testing, and implementation and other technical specialties as needed to deliver system services.

Vendor Management

• Manage day-to-day vendor performance across the multi-vendor environment supporting CCATS/CCS systems, based on direction from the ITB and DEC leadership.
• Facilitate cross-vendor collaboration as needed to resolve issues, align on priorities, and maintain service continuity.
• Cook with with the multiple state agencies (i.e., the Department of Information Technology (DoIT), the MD Benefits platform team) to ensure the uptime, security, accessibility, and functionality of the various systems within the enterprise application architecture.
• Review and approve contractor invoices; maintain current statements of work; track costs and provide regular budget updates to MSDE leadership.
• Provide input on procurements for hardware, software, or services related to childcare systems; support development of scopes of work and evaluation criteria as requested.
• Ensure vendor deliverables meet both project objectives and product quality standards, while holding the vendors accountable to the terms of services required by the existing contracts and State requirements.

Governance and Compliance

• Submit system changes and modernization initiatives through applicable client governance processes, including privacy, security, accessibility, and AI reviews, ensuring timely and complete submissions. If the process stands to be amended, the Project Manager may assure a responsible and appropriate change management process with proper and recorded approvals is used instead, with approval from the ITB.
• Operate within client PMO standards, tools, and reporting requirements; prepare and maintain project documentation consistent with DoIT policies, including Project Charters, the DoIT Quad Report, and risk and issue logs.
• Proactively identify, document, and manage project risks and issues; develop mitigation strategies and escalate when risks threaten timeline, budget, or program objectives.
• Remain current on applicable laws, regulations, and state IT policies affecting the childcare systems portfolio, including Maryland SDLC, IT security standards, and non-visual accessibility standards.
• Provide outcome-based reports that provide insight on product success metrics and KPIs as established and requested by DEC and ITB.
• Ensure the applications, technology, environments, and supporting procedures adhere to all applicable laws and client policies and practices especially as applies to accessibility, AI, security, and data privacy.

Modernization

• Lead requirements development for the childcare systems modernization, ensuring requirements are comprehensive, traceable, and stakeholder-approved; serve as a strong contributor to the RFP process in coordination with leadership, and procurement staff, serving as a subject matter expert.
• Manage the modernization project from award through implementation, applying structured project management methods (PMI, Agile, or hybrid) appropriate to the scope and complexity of the effort.
• Brief client executives on modernization goals, approach, status, risks, and decisions throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain the modernization product roadmap, ensuring user-centered design and iterative value delivery

Team Coordination

• May supervise contract business analysts or junior project managers supporting the childcare systems portfolio; assign work, ensure quality, and maintain forward momentum across concurrent initiatives.
• Convene appropriate groups regularly to assure proper oversight and timely approvals.
• Reports to the IT Director of Project Management.
• Collaborates with the Finance Department and various functional managers to ensure project budgets are properly estimated and controlled; provide overall financial recommendations and develop controls and measurements to monitor progress.