State Recruiting for Business Director, Procurement Engineer

The state Employment Development Department is recruiting for a skilled executive to oversee the business side of its Benefit Systems Modernization, a massive overhaul of how unemployment benefits are distributed, among other things.

The position is Business Director, and it’s a Career Executive Assignment (C.E.A.) with oversight for “the coordination and preparation of program activities for EDD’s Benefit Systems Modernization (BSM) project. This includes the development and implementation of modernized technology used to request and pay benefits to unemployed and disabled claimants, collect labor market information, ensure the benefit charge and unemployment insurance rating process is effective and accurate, ensure benefit overpayment identification and collections are accurate, and carry out the department’s marketing activities with employers and constituency groups.” 

EDD's benefit programs have flaws that state officials acknowledge and which the modernization is intended to address: Partial system modernizations for disability and unemployment insurance have “resulted in overly complex and not fiscally sustainable benefit systems that will continue to degrade at an increasing rate,” says a budget change proposal from fiscal year 2018-2019. “The EDD’s customers experience a lack of consistency when utilizing the various benefit systems. Certain customer groups cannot utilize online services and must submit information manually or through contacting a department representative. ln addition to the many technology challenges, recruitment and retention of technical staff with the required legacy systems skillset is increasingly difficult. These types of customer experiences have resulted in specific complaints to the EDD surrounding delays in processing claims or general confusion with the various benefit systems.”

The business director will develop an enterprise strategy for the BSM project, and in doing so will work with the project’s technical director, the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the California Department of Technology, and other internal and external individuals, departments and other entities.

“Among the primary responsibilities of the business director are driving the effective integration of program and automation solutions, including business process re-engineering, development of legislative proposals, organizational change management, education, training and communications, in partnership with all EDD divisions and business programs,” the job posting says. “As a member of EDD’s Executive Staff, the business director will participate in executive-level policy and decision-making regarding the direction and effective application of the BSM project (and) … will work closely with executive leadership in the EDD programs and the Information Technology Branch as well as with business and technology project teams to drive a cohesive and timely project implementation strategy, and will continually evaluate processes for future legal, legislative, policy, process and procedural revisions in order to ensure the success of the project.”

The position has a monthly salary range of $10,360 to $12,341, and the application deadline is Nov. 9.

The Department of General Services (DGS) is recruiting for an Associate/Assistant Procurement Engineer, who will report to the Senior Procurement Engineer, to help state agencies that are conducting procurements.

“The position will support and lead the development of specifications, standards, life cycle costing tools, bid evaluation, and guidance documents in order to conduct best value procurements for a variety of goods and services in accordance with state laws, regulations and mandates,” the job posting says. The position requires a variety of skills and insights, including:

• Knowledge of California Public Contract Code, Government Code, Business and Professions Code, State Administrative Manual, State Information Management Manual, and Uniform Commercial Code.
• Knowledge of Invitation for Bid (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), and Request for Offer (RFO) development processes.
• Familiarity with procurement specification development for various types of goods and services including on- and off-road vehicles, heavy equipment, and air and water craft, HVAC, signal processors, conduits and other electronic or electric system products, and information technology, telephone systems or electronic components.
• Familiarity with state procurement processes and state protest process.
• Familiarity with US Green Building Council, Leadership in Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
• Knowledge of California Environmental Protection Agency organization and programs.

The position has a monthly salary range of $8,294 to $10,376, and the application deadline is Oct. 25.