Lead Child Welfare Specialist

Role Description

The Product Lead will guide the product strategy, roadmap, and stakeholder alignment for the Child Welfare Reviews Project (CWRP) technology ecosystem, including the Child and Family Services Review Data Management System (CFSR DMS), CFSR Portal, Online Monitoring System (OMS), E-Learning Academy, PIP-related tools, reporting capabilities, and future integration of the automated Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Review instrument.

This role will serve as the bridge between program stakeholders, technical teams, security/compliance staff, data/reporting teams, training teams, and end users. The Product Lead will help ensure that system operations, modernization, and enhancements are driven by user needs, mission value, security requirements, accessibility, federal IT governance, and continuity of review operations.

This position works closely with the IT Modernization & Operations Lead, ISSO, Cloud Engineer/System Administrator, Application Support Lead, Data Analytics Lead, UX/CX resources, developers, QA/508 specialists, helpdesk staff, and program SMEs. In a lean staffing model, this role may also perform Product Owner/Business Analyst responsibilities until the modernization backlog or IV-E integration workload justifies additional support.

Remote, with possible travel for project meetings, stakeholder engagement, user discovery, or federal program activities as required.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the product vision and modernization roadmap for the CWRP IT ecosystem.
• Work with CB, ACF Tech, program leadership, child welfare SMEs, reviewers, state users, helpdesk staff, and technical teams to identify needs, pain points, risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Translate strategic priorities into a structured product roadmap, enhancement backlog, and release sequencing plan.
• Support the transition from current-state operations to a governed modernization model that preserves continuity while enabling incremental improvements.
• Lead discovery activities, including stakeholder interviews, user journey mapping, workflow analysis, helpdesk trend review, and prioritization of system enhancements.
• Coordinate with the Technical Architect, Cloud/O&M Lead, ISSO, developers, UX/CX staff, QA testers, data/reporting staff, and change/release management resources.
• Help define requirements for modernization of the CFSR DMS, Portal, OMS, training platforms, reporting dashboards, user support workflows, and related applications.
• Support planning for the future integration of the automated Title IV-E instrument into the broader CFSR DMS/secure portal environment.
• Ensure product decisions account for FedRAMP, FISMA, ATO, Zero Trust, Section 508, privacy, records management, and ACF Tech governance requirements.
• Maintain a prioritized list of user needs, user stories, acceptance criteria, dependencies, risks, and release priorities.
• Facilitate product governance discussions and help leadership make informed tradeoff decisions among user value, cost, schedule, risk, security, and technical debt.
• Support sprint planning, backlog refinement, UAT coordination, release readiness, and post-release feedback when Product Owner support is not separately staffed.
• Ensure product enhancements are documented, traceable, accessible, secure, and aligned with federal digital service and user-centered design expectations.
• Track and communicate product progress, risks, dependencies, and outcomes to project leadership and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in product management, product ownership, business analysis, digital services, IT modernization, or related roles.
• Experience leading or supporting modernization of complex web-based systems, portals, workflow tools, case management systems, learning platforms, reporting systems, or federal/state program support applications.
• Demonstrated ability to translate stakeholder needs into product roadmaps, backlogs, user stories, requirements, acceptance criteria, and release priorities.
• Experience working in agile delivery environments, including backlog prioritization, sprint planning, release planning, UAT, and iterative product improvement.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including experience working with program leaders, technical teams, end users, security/compliance staff, and operational support teams.
• Ability to balance product value, user experience, technical feasibility, security/compliance obligations, cost, and schedule.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience supporting systems that require strong documentation, change control, governance, and operational continuity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting federal, HHS, ACF, child welfare, human services, grants, oversight, compliance, or monitoring programs.
• Familiarity with Child and Family Services Reviews, Title IV-E Foster Care Eligibility Reviews, program improvement planning, case review workflows, or child welfare data/reporting.
• Experience with federal IT environments, including FedRAMP, FISMA, ATO, NIST, Zero Trust, Section 508, and privacy/security requirements.
• Experience with AWS-hosted systems, Drupal/PHP/Symfony applications, MySQL, Jaspersoft, Tableau, Qualtrics, learning management systems, or secure portals.
• Experience applying user-centered design, customer experience, accessibility, journey mapping, and digital service best practices.
• Experience coordinating modernization initiatives that involve legacy systems, technical debt, incremental upgrades, and integration with SaaS platforms.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner, Certified Scrum Product Manager, SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, PMP, or similar credential preferred but not required.

Pay Range

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: $81,499.00 - $138,549.00.