Project Manager - MT Customer Care Services DDI

Senior Project Manager MT Customer Care Services DDI

The Senior Project Manager will serve as the lead delivery manager for the Montana Customer Care Services Design, Development, and Implementation project, leading a customer call center implementation beginning immediately and continuing through 9/30/2027. This role is responsible for driving contract deliverables, managing implementation on an aggressive schedule, coordinating business, technical, operational, vendor, and State stakeholders, and supporting the long-term strategy to assess and, if feasible, convert the solution for ongoing operations. The position requires strong public-sector Health and Human Services experience, customer care/contact center implementation knowledge, disciplined project governance, proactive risk management, and the ability to deliver high-quality outcomes aligned with contractual commitments and program objectives.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of the Montana Customer Care Services DDI/customer call center implementation, including planning, requirements, design, configuration, integration, testing, training, deployment readiness, go-live, and stabilization.
• Own and manage contract deliverables, acceptance criteria, review cycles, approval tracking, and formal submission timelines to ensure obligations are met on schedule and with consistent quality.
• Develop, manage, and maintain integrated project plans, aggressive implementation schedules, milestones, dependencies, resource plans, deliverable calendars, and implementation roadmaps.
• Establish and manage project governance, including status reporting, executive briefings, steering committee materials, decision logs, RAID management, issue escalation, and action item tracking.
• Coordinate across State leadership, customer care operations, Health and Human Services program areas, eligibility and Medicaid stakeholders, technical teams, vendors, system integrators, quality assurance teams, and operational SMEs.
• Drive productivity and volume planning by coordinating call center operational readiness activities, including workload assumptions, staffing inputs, service level expectations, workflow design, escalation paths, reporting needs, and performance monitoring.
• Oversee requirements definition, business process design, contact center technology implementation, call routing/IVR considerations, knowledge management, workforce readiness, training, reporting, testing, and operational transition activities.
• Manage project scope, schedule, budget, quality, risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, and change requests to ensure delivery remains aligned with State priorities, contractual commitments, and the 9/30/2027 implementation timeframe.
• Facilitate cross-functional workgroups and decision-making sessions to resolve business, technical, operational, policy, customer experience, productivity, and volume-related issues.
• Ensure project activities support applicable federal and State requirements, Health and Human Services program objectives, privacy/security expectations, accessibility considerations, and customer service standards.
• Partner with technical teams to support system configuration, telephony/contact center integrations, data interfaces, reporting validation, testing, defect resolution, cutover planning, and production readiness.
• Drive stakeholder communication and change management to support adoption by State staff, customer service representatives, supervisors, operational users, program teams, and executive stakeholders.
• Monitor vendor performance, deliverable quality, contractual obligations, service expectations, corrective actions, and implementation risks.
• Support procurement, contract management, deliverable review, acceptance criteria validation, and documentation of formal approvals.
• Lead readiness assessments, go-live planning, cutover coordination, contingency planning, issue triage, and post-implementation stabilization activities.
• Support the long-term strategy to assess the implemented solution and, if feasible, convert the solution for ongoing operational use or future-state service delivery.
• Mentor project team members, promote accountability, and foster a collaborative delivery culture focused on transparency, quality, customer experience, productivity, and continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of project management experience leading complex technology, healthcare, customer service, operations, or public-sector implementation initiatives.
• 5+ years of experience supporting Medicaid, Health and Human Services, Integrated Eligibility, customer care, call center, contact center, or related healthcare administration systems.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, multi-stakeholder projects for State government or other public-sector clients.
• Strong knowledge of project management disciplines, including scope management, schedule management, risk and issue management, budget tracking, quality management, communications, governance, and change control.
• Experience managing Design, Development, and Implementation projects across requirements, design, configuration, integration, testing, training, deployment, readiness, and operational transition.
• Experience managing customer contact center or customer service transformation initiatives, including operational readiness, call routing/workflow considerations, training, reporting, productivity tracking, and service level planning.
• Experience coordinating vendors, system integrators, business stakeholders, operational leaders, technical teams, quality assurance resources, and executive leadership.
• Ability to translate business needs, customer experience goals, State policies, contractual expectations, operational priorities, productivity targets, and volume assumptions into actionable project plans and delivery activities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare executive-level status reports, decision materials, risk summaries, implementation updates, deliverable trackers, and stakeholder communications.
• Demonstrates transparent program leadership by openly communicating progress, decisions, and challenges; proactively identifies and mitigates risks before they impact delivery; takes initiative to drive solutions and continuous improvement; and fosters a culture of strong team accountability, ensuring commitments are owned, tracked, and consistently met.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities, resolve conflicts, escalate issues appropriately, and drive decisions in a complex delivery environment.
• Working knowledge of Health and Human Services program operations, Medicaid and eligibility operations, customer service processes, federal and State compliance considerations, and healthcare privacy/security requirements.
• Proven track record of identifying and managing risks proactively, with demonstrated success delivering initiatives on aggressive schedules and within scope.
• Experience driving initiatives independently, influencing stakeholders, and leading through ambiguity.
• Strong background in fostering team accountability, performance management, ownership, and delivery discipline across diverse teams.
• Proficiency with project management tools, collaboration platforms, reporting dashboards, issue tracking tools, and Microsoft Office applications.
• PMI Project Management Professional certification.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading customer care, call center, contact center modernization, CRM, telephony, IVR, workforce management, knowledge management, or customer service platform implementation initiatives within a Medicaid, Health and Human Services, or public-sector environment.
• Direct experience with State Medicaid agency governance, federal funding processes, CMS expectations, Medicaid Enterprise Systems, or Health and Human Services program operations.
• Experience with operational readiness planning, customer service process design, volume forecasting, staffing inputs, productivity metrics, service level expectations, supervisor workflows, escalation models, and post-go-live stabilization.
• Experience managing vendor deliverables, contractual obligations, acceptance criteria, formal review cycles, and executive-level reporting in a regulated government technology environment.
• Experience managing Agile, waterfall, or hybrid delivery approaches in a regulated government technology environment.
• Familiarity with Medicaid eligibility, member services, provider services, benefits administration, claims inquiries, appeals, notices, correspondence, or other Health and Human Services customer support functions.
• Experience using tools such as Microsoft Project, ServiceNow, SharePoint, Power BI, CRM/contact center platforms, workforce management tools, telephony reporting tools, or similar project delivery and operational reporting platforms.
• Certifications such as PMI-ACP, Certified ScrumMaster, SAFe, ITIL, Prosci, contact center management, customer experience, or related delivery, change management, service management, or operational excellence credentials.