Senior Operations Advisor (internal candidates only)

Full Job Description

Colorado Governor Jared Polis is committed to building a Colorado For All, a place where everyone has an opportunity to succeed and live the Colorado way of life. Governor Polis is focused on lowering health care costs for hardworking Coloradans, transitioning the state to renewable energy sources, ensuring every Colorado child gets a quality education, and building an economy that works for everyone. The Governor's staff includes offices for budgeting, communications and outreach, legal counsel, legislative liaison, operations, policy and research, and scheduling.

Requirements

Internal Opportunity

This announcement is open only to eligible individuals currently employed within the Office of the Governor, currently working within the Governor's Office of Operations. The announcement is for transparency purposes only to comply with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act.

Only applications from eligible individuals currently employed within the Governor's Office of Operations will be accepted.

Department: Governor’s Office of Operations
Position Title :Senior Operations Advisor

Full Time, 40 hrs/week

Salary: Sr. Advisor: $90,000-$95,000

Term Limited: The position is funded through the end of Governor Polis' Administration

Organizational Relationships: The Senior Operations Advisor reports to the Deputy Director of Operations, and possesses no supervisory responsibilities.

This posting may be used to fill multiple positions.

Summary of Functions: This role supports the execution of the initiatives of the Governor’s Office of Operations to achieve the Governor’s priorities and strategic projects, and supports agency goals as outlined in their annual performance plans.

This is a generalist position within the Governor’s Office of Operations.

The hired individual(s) will be part of a team of roughly six operations advisors, with specific projects and assignments based on individual interests and experience, as well as the needs of the team.

The position will interact closely with multiple state Departments and Offices to ensure they are receiving adequate support, open communication channels, and assist in building highly effective teams.

The incumbent in this role will interact regularly with multiple departments and must gain a working knowledge of the various divisions and overall operations of the agencies supported by the team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performance Management

  • Coach state agencies and teams in strategic planning processes to ensure State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) Government Act compliance for performance plans and reporting

  • Ensure agencies comply with data and goal reporting submissions, tracking progress toward agency goals and the Governor’s Priorities

  • Coach agencies in SMART Goal development, identifying lead and lag measures, developing strategies and mapping out a plan for goal achievement and tracking

• Facilitation of Working Groups (as needed)

  • Facilitate ongoing, cross-agency working groups that support execution on the Governor’s priorities

  • Lead groups in developing annual goals, and monitoring progress towards those goals

• Talent Development

  • Coordinate the team’s professional development portfolio, including the Governor’s Professional Development Academy and the Executive Fellowship

  • Coordinate the recruitment of top talent into executive leadership positions across State government

  • Supporting the organization of team development activities, including team retreats and trainings

  • Oversee and support the annual Tom Clements Better Government Award

Operational Excellence InitiativesSupporting short and long-term statewide initiatives to improve operational performance, which may include support with implementation design and planning, meeting facilitation, expert identification, and/or overall sponsorship.

Examples may include implementation of the Governor’s Greening Government Executive Order, the realization of the vision of the State’s Digital Government Strategic Plan, and the Governor’s Operational Agenda

Project ManagementProvide project and change management and direction to agencies to ensure overall success of statewide initiatives.

This includes developing project plans such as project charters or scopes of work, objectives, timeline, deliverables, trackers, and success criteria that support organizational goals

• Issue Identification & Resolution

  • Identify and elevate operational or performance issues across State government, and make recommendations to address those issues

  • Work with agencies to address those issues by creating accountability, and ensuring clear communication of expectations

Senior Advisors tasks may also be more complex, urgent, or institutionally critical. Demonstrated skills for a Sr. Operations Advisor will include:

• Mastery of concepts and processes related to statewide performance management

• Ability to independently lead complex projects or processes, including standing up new projects or processes

• Utilizing subject matter expertise and/or experience from past achievements to drive success in State initiatives

• Demonstrated ability to get things done without active engagement required from team leadership

• Proactively identifying operational, communications, or other issues within state government for team leadership, and recommending steps to address them

• Coaching and training other members of the team

General

• Adheres to all health and safety policies in the planning and execution of activities

• Uses word processing, spreadsheet, database, and scheduling software applications to prepare correspondence, plans, reports, schedules, and other documents related to projects

• Provides continuous effort to improve operations, streamline processes, and work cooperatively and jointly to provide quality customer service

• Participates in project teams as required

• Participates in and coordinates conferences and workshops

• Represents the Governor's Office and regularly interacts with Departmental Executive Staff

• Other duties as requested and required

Expected Annual Travel

Minimal

Qualifications

Qualifications:

The incumbent in this role will contribute to the development of a culture of operational excellence throughout the executive branch by demonstrating the following attributes:

• A skilled project leader, who has a demonstrated ability to mobilize and motivate teams around shared goals, to set direction and approach in a complex and ever-changing environment, to make difficult decisions, and to deliver tough messages with grace.

• Strong analytical skills, with a sound understanding of statistics and ability to identify and use data to inform decisions and to make recommendations.

• Strong organizational skills, and self motivation to follow-up on projects, information, and issues until resolved.

• Empathetic and creative problem solver able to listen, understand, and lead various decision makers at all levels of state government in an emotionally intelligent manner.

• Enthusiastic about the power of performance management, data, and information to drive action toward positive outcomes.

Minimum Education/Experience: At least six (6) years of relevant experience. This may be exclusively work experience OR a combination of higher education, training, and work experience.

Senior Operations Advisors must have an additional two years of highly relevant work experience, for a minimum of eight (8) years of professional and/or educational experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

Note that the above are minimum qualifications. Additionally, we value:

• Graduate degree in public policy, public administration, business administration, statistics, economics or a relevant field

• Previous experience in government or a related sector

• Familiarity with performance management principles in the public sector

Please apply if you believe would bring a unique perspective or enthusiasm to this position, even if you do not have all of the above preferred qualifications. We’re always looking for individuals with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.

FLSA Status: Exempt

Additional Information

To Apply:

Please submit an online application for this position at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado. Reach out to the Department Contact to apply using a paper application, including any supplemental questions. Failure to submit a complete and timely application may result in the rejection of your application. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that application materials are received by the appropriate Human Resources office before the closing date and time listed.

The State of Colorado/Office of the Governor offers a generous benefits package including:

• Annual leave accrued at 13.33 hours per month (4 weeks a year)

• Sick leave accrued at 6.66 hours a month (10 days a year)

• 12 paid holidays per year

• Medical and dental plans

• State paid life insurance policy of a minimum of $50,000 or 1x annual salary

• Choice of 2 retirement plans

• 401K and 457 plans

• State paid Short Term Disability coverage

• Additional optional life and disability plans

• Credit Union Membership

• RTD pass

• Training and professional development

To learn more about State of Colorado benefits visit: https://www.colorado.gov/dhr/benefits.

Inclusion and Belonging

The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply.

The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them.

Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

ADAAA Accommodations

The Office of the Governor is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals.

As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship.

If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAAA Staffing Coordinator (the Senior Human Resources Director) at gov_hr@state.co.us.