Project Manager
Denver, CO - USA
Job Summary
Position summary
Strategic Project Manager to lead the replacement of its legacy probation case management system. This role bridges technical infrastructure legislative and policy compliance and the daily experience of probation officers judicial staff and justice-involved individuals across Colorados 23 judicial districts. The position will operate within a multi-level governance framework supporting executive decision-making managing stakeholder alignment and facilitating issue escalation across business technology and judicial leadership.
The Branchs ICON/JPOD Case Management Information System provides probation case management statewide and tracks all felonies juvenile cases and about 90% of misdemeanors (CICJIS). Replacing it is a multi-year high-visibility modernization that touches every probation department in the state.
ICON/JPOD also exchanges data with partner agencies through the Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (CICJIS) including the Department of Corrections the Division of Youth Services the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Colorado District Attorneys Council. The new system must preserve those exchanges without interruption.
Success means more than a working system. It means probation officers spend less time on data entry and more time with clients supervisors get reliable data for decisions and justice-involved individuals experience clearer fairer and more consistent supervision.
Strategic leadership and governance
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 Branchs 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.
Bachelors 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.
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.
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.
Governance and executive engagement:ability to operate within complex governance structures prepare executive decision materials facilitate escalations and support leadership decision-making across multiple organizational levels.
Change management: ability to support organizational readiness stakeholder engagement communications training and user adoption activities.
Working conditions. This is a hybrid position based in Denver. Regular in-state travel to judicial districts including rural districts may be required especially during training and rollout. Occasional work outside normal hours is expected around go-live and cutover events.