Review Vacancy

Date Posted: 02/27/13
Applications Due: 03/14/13
Vacancy ID: 6697

Position Information

AgencyState Comptroller, Office of the

TitleProject Assistant (Assistant Director of Business)

Occupational CategoryNo Preference

Salary GradeNS

Bargaining UnitM/C - Management / Confidential (Unrepresented)

Salary RangeFrom $101149 to $127794 Annually

Employment Type Full-Time

Appointment Type Temporary

Jurisdictional Class Non-competitive Class

Travel Percentage 0%

Schedule

Workweek Mon-Fri

Hours Per Week 37.50

Workday

From 8:30 AM

To 4:30 PM

Flextime allowed? No

Mandatory overtime? No

Compressed workweek allowed? No

Telecommuting allowed? No

Location

County Albany

Street Address Division of Retirement Services Redesign Project

110 State Street

City Albany

StateNY

Zip Code12236

Job Specifics

Minimum Qualifications At least twelve (12) years of public retirement benefits administration experience, including the following (which may be concurrent experience):

• At least eight (8) years of progressively responsible supervisory experience in an environment supportive of the core business functions of a retirement system; and
• At least three (3) years of experience in interpreting retirement laws and regulations as they apply to retirement business processes and drafting policies, and implementing their administration.

Also;

At least three (3) years of project management leadership experience, within the last 10 years, utilizing project management tools and methodologies in one or more governmental project(s);

At least three (3) years experience in business process analysis as it relates to the development of business process improvement solutions to enhance performance and productivity;

At least three (3) years of experience in developing and reviewing training materials, documentation and/or informational publications for internal and external customers.
A bachelor’s degree may be substituted for four (4) years of the public retirement benefits administration experience.

Duties Description Under the general direction of the Project Director, the Business Assistant Director will serve as the project team lead for the Business Subject Matter Experts for the Retirement System’s Redesign Phase 2 Project and is responsible for assisting in overseeing this large scale multi-year initiative.
The Business Assistant Director’s role is to provide leadership, direction and guidance to New York State & Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) Business project team members ensuring that the team excels at meeting its deliverables. The Business Assistant Director is fully accountable for the performance of the Business team and has full supervisory and management authority to fulfill this responsibility. The Business Assistant Director will oversee the management of Business project team activities, assist in project planning and status reporting, the preparation of other project management reports, as necessary, and assist in monitoring the full lifecycle of project management strategies, processes and techniques (e.g., workload planning, change management, procurement and contract management, etc.) that must be successfully deployed to ensure project success.
In addition to leading NYSLRS Business project team staff, the Business Assistant Director is the Retirement Division’s secondary liaison to vendors that will be procured for this project including, but not limited to:
• Line of Business (LOB) Vendor – responsible for the activities to replace the current information system at NYSLRS, including, but not limited to:

o Project planning and management
o Technical and business requirements development and detail design:
o Hardware/software installation and configuration
o Training and documentation;
o Testing;
o Implementation of phased roll-outs;
o Change management activities, and
o Warranty and post-implementation support.

• Quality Assurance (QA) Vendor – responsible for the quality assurance aspects of the project including, but not limited to the review of all deliverables from the LOB vendor during all stages of the project, and advise NYSLRS on potential problems, including security concerns, in an effort to provide a quality solution.

• System Security Testing Vendor – responsible to provide application and security testing services that shall validate the integrity of NYSLRS high quality product, including but not limited to:
- Vulnerability Testing – Automated/Scripted review of the system configuration, software levels and patching that correlate to known security weaknesses.
- Intrusion Testing – Active attempts to demonstrate that vulnerabilities or combinations of deficiencies will lead to actual or potential loss of data, elevated rights, incorrect rights, or other system failures.

The Business Assistant Director will also oversee the development and tracking of progress against project plans, schedule and events. Particular skills must be exhibited to coordinate the work effort of the project team and vendors as well as key NYSLRS operating bureau management. The Business Assistant Director will assist in coordinating the overseeing the review and acceptance of consultant deliverables and the development of all Project Planning and Management deliverables for the Redesign Project. The Business Assistant Director will use the RFPs that were issued to procure the LOB, QA and System Security Testing vendors as the initial guide to understanding both the technical and functional requirements of the project.

Additional Comments • Direct and coordinate Subject Matter Experts (Business) project team and NYSLRS personnel and resources to ensure that the appropriate staff is assigned and other resources are assessed to ensure that all project goals and objectives are met;
• Assist in partnering with the LOB, QA and System Security Project Managers and staff in the planning, development, execution and review of project activities;
• Oversee all NYSLRS-led business oriented aspects of the project including scope, plan, cost, quality, human resources, internal and external communication, organizational change management, training, knowledge transfer, testing, documentation, contingency planning, detailed requirements definition, development, integration, risk management, and solution security;
• Work with the Project Director and the project team to develop a work plan to meet the Redesign goals and monitor progress to ensure that the project is completed successfully;
• Manage and supervise the participation of Subject Matter Experts (Business) project staff in redesign activities, adjust activities and/or staffing when necessary, report project status to the Project Director on a regular basis, and respond quickly to management questions and concerns;
• In collaboration with NYSLRS’ Operational Division Managers:
o Oversee the development of training material for use and understanding of the new system as it relates to business staff usage;
o Oversee the development of the content for informational publications for use and understanding of new system as it relates to employers and other external stakeholders;
o Oversee the analysis of existing business processes as it relates to the development of improved business process, ensuring that the new processes enhance productivity, performance and effectiveness;
o Oversee the interpretation of retirement laws and regulations as they are applied against the development and implementation of new automated systems;
o Oversee the drafting and implementation of new policies (or the revision of existing policies) in support of new automated systems;

• Assist in overseeing the human resource aspect of the project, including the review of hiring qualified and appropriate staff with special attention paid to staff diversity, succession planning and long-term positioning for project ramp-down, awareness of change management and the impact to staff morale, and monitor the proper usage of overtime;
• Assist in monitoring and assessing the performance of the project vendors to ensure that the vendors meet contractual obligations.
• Assist in the review of vendor work products and take corrective action when necessary;
• Work with vendors, the Project Director and executive staff to manage efforts to explore and develop the functional business requirements, processes and rules that will contribute to how the replacement system works;
• Oversee the monitoring of the Requirements Traceability Matrix, to ensure that all identified requirements are properly accounted for in the development and testing of automated systems;
• Assist in building upon existing partnerships with NYSLRS employers to solicit input and feedback on project activities, especially as they relate to employer reporting;
• Act as secondary liaison with key Operational Division Management to communicate evolving business requirements for work processes, staffing resources for detail design requirements, testing, training and roll out;
• Assist the Project Director in coordinating the following project activities, including, but not limited to:
o Developing Business Requirements
o Developing and writing Business Rules;
o Specification Development;
o Development of Training plan and training documentation
o Development of Test plans, test scripts testing documentation and testing activities;

• Assist the Project Director with the OSC Divisions for aspects of the project which may impact those divisions, including, but not limited to:
o Chief Information Office (CIO) – for coordination of NYSLRS information technology needs with OSC;
o Operations/Finance – for all procurement and administration activities as required;
o Human Resources & Administration – for personnel issues and mailroom activity as it relates to scanning & documents as they come in the door;
o Payroll and Revenue Services – for interfaces related to employer reporting of state members;
o State & Local Government Accountability – for possible employer/municipality reporting and/or location code changes and relationship-building with state and local governments;

• Oversee the design and implementation of a framework for managing the capture, documentation and ongoing transfer of business knowledge;
• Assist the Project Director in the management of any change orders that are developed after performing a full cost-benefit analysis of potential changes; and
Provide NYSLRS’ assistance to vendor-led development of a business function help desk to assist business staff during functional roll-outs and beyond.

Additional Comments

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience in representing business interests while working collaboratively with technology staff to develop, test and implement automated business solutions;
• Demonstrated organizational, collaboration, leadership and decision making skills;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead a team, with responsibility for managing a cohesive staff to ensure achievement of objectives.

Other Desired Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Extensive working knowledge of retirement laws, policies and procedures;
• Experience in business rule development;
• Facilitation skills which initiate discussions with business partners, both internal and external, in order to continually improve customer service;
• Ability to translate user-defined business requirements into detailed and comprehensive specifications;
• Familiarity with all aspects of NYSLRS business practices, policies, rules, regulations and law, including, but not limited to:
o Services for members, such as registrations, loans, service credit purchases, member account maintenance, withdrawals, transfers, etc.
o Services for/from employers, such as salary and service reporting, billing, new plan adoptions, Chapter 430 costing,
o Services for members pending retirement, such as service determinations, general estimates, retirement estimates, benefit calculations, post-retirement re-calculations, member death, etc.
o Services for pensioners and beneficiaries, such as pension payroll account maintenance, beneficiary maintenance, death benefits and survivor services, post retirement employment, etc.
o Information services, such as individual counseling and group seminars, call center services, integrated voice response (IVR) support, benefit projections, etc.
o Disability services, such as disability determination, medical board review, accidental deaths, etc.
o Hearing Administration services (et al), such as administration of retirement system hearings, review of hearing officer decisions, findings on Conclusions of Law, processing of Domestic Relations Orders, administrative services, etc.
• Ability to understand how individual business functions integrate into an overall system replacement;
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills;
• Strong analytical thinking, negotiation and problem solving skills;
• Partnership and collaboration skills;
• Ability to work independently.

Some positions may require additional credentials or a background check to verify your identity.

Contact Information

Name Amy Lauricella

Telephone

Fax (518) 474-7457

Email Address recruit@osc.state.ny.us

Address

Street 110 State Street

City Albany

State NY

Zip Code 12236

 

Notes on ApplyingInterested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter and the attached template summarizing required qualifications to “Recruit” to recruit@osc.state.ny.us no later than March 14, 2013. Please reference Item # 07777-GOERjc in the subject line and on the cover letter.

PLEASE NOTE: All candidates MUST complete the attached template in full to demonstrate they meet the Minimum Qualifications. Eligibility will be assessed SOLEY on the contents of the template. The resume and cover letter will be referenced to enhance the understanding of the items listed in the template. Ambiguity, vagueness, or omissions will be not be decided in the candidates favor. Additionally, candidates are strongly encouraged to fully describe in their materials how they fulfill the Preferred Qualifications.

To obtain the required template; copy and paste the following hyper link into your browser, download and save the template:
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/recruit/docs/07777_template.doc
When responding, please include the reference number and letters listed in this section. The GOER ID # should not be included.