Project Manager- Hybrid

the project•Denver, CO

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Strategic Project Manager will lead the Colorado Judicial Branch’s multi-year replacement of its legacy ICON/JPOD probation case management system. The statewide modernization affects probation departments across all 23 judicial districts and must preserve data exchanges 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 role spans the full project lifecycle, from requirements and procurement through design, development, data migration, testing, statewide rollout, and decommissioning. It operates within a multi-level governance framework, supporting executive decisions and coordinating business, technology, judicial, and partner-agency stakeholders. Success includes reducing probation officers’ data-entry burden, providing supervisors with reliable decision-making data, and supporting clearer, fairer, and more consistent supervision for justice-involved individuals. This is a hybrid position based in Denver. The candidate must be local and will be asked to come into the office once a week, ideally on Tuesdays. Regular in-state travel to judicial districts, including rural districts, may be required, particularly during training and rollout. Occasional work outside normal hours is expected around go-live and cutover events.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in project management, information systems, public administration, criminal justice, business, or a related field; additional relevant experience may substitute year for year for the degree.
Ten years of progressively responsible project management experience.
At least five years leading large, complex technology implementations involving 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.
Command of predictive, Agile, and hybrid project management methods and the judgment to choose between them.
Ability to understand how technology, policy, operations, and people interact and to assess downstream effects of design choices.
Clear, plain-language communication for audiences ranging from judges and legislators to frontline officers and vendors.
Ability to build consensus among stakeholders with competing priorities without direct authority.
Empathy for users and ability to design around the needs of probation officers and clients.
Analytical skills to interpret data, evaluate trade-offs, and make sound decisions under uncertainty.
Integrity and discretion in handling confidential criminal justice information and sensitive organizational matters.
Resilience and steady leadership through ambiguity, setbacks, and the pressures of a high-visibility public project.
Understanding of business outcomes and ability to support measurement of adoption and value realization objectives.
Ability to operate within complex governance structures, prepare executive decision materials, facilitate escalations, and support leadership decisions.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Lead the full project lifecycle, including requirements, procurement, 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 probation strategic goals into project objectives and measurable success criteria.
Support solicitation, evaluation, and selection of a solution vendor under state procurement rules.
Hold vendors and internal teams accountable for quality, schedule, and cost.
Track applicable Colorado statutes, Chief Justice Directives, and probation standards, and incorporate them into system requirements.
Coordinate with legal, policy, and research staff to support required reporting, risk and needs assessments, and evidence-based practices.
Engage chief probation officers, officers, supervisors, judges, court staff, and partner agencies across all 23 judicial districts.
Lead human-centered design activities, including field observation, user testing, and feedback loops with frontline staff.
Direct organizational change management, training, communications, and go-live support.
Ensure client-facing system features are accessible, use plain language, and support equitable experiences for justice-involved individuals.
Identify, track, and mitigate risks and issues, and promptly escalate decisions.
Plan cutover to ensure probation supervision is not interrupted.
Report project status, risks, and outcomes to leadership.
Prepare executive decision materials, facilitate escalations, and support leadership decision-making across organizational levels.
Support organizational readiness, stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and user adoption activities.