IT PROJECT SPECIALIST

The New York City Department of Probation (DOP) helps build stronger and safer communities by working with and supervising people on probation, fostering positive change in their decision-making and behavior, and expanding opportunities for them to move out of the criminal and juvenile justice systems through meaningful education, employment, health services, family engagement and civic participation. We are located in every borough across the City and provide three core services –pre-sentence investigations, intake and probation supervision. In summary, DOP ensures that people who enter our system are supervised according to their risk level and receive the support and services they need to abide by the law and be an asset to their communities.

This class of positions encompasses professional responsibilities unique to the assessment and implementation of complex information technology initiatives which require specialized expertise and experience beyond what is expected of a generalist in any given area. With varying levels of difficulty and with high degrees of latitude for independent action. All personnel perform complex information technology project work that delivers usable software systems and technology solutions for business needs.

In addition to using traditional project methodologies and best practices throughout all phases of the IT project lifecycle, where appropriate, an IT Project Specialist applies their experience with specific and/or emerging technologies and non-standard IT projects to identify patterns and make recommendations on approach, methodologies and policies. All personnel must have a specialization in a technology, platform, methodology and/or domain that distinguishes them and their contributions to the strategic development of a unit or program. May supervise project staff or a unit of project managers, business analysts, designers or testers.



Examples of Typical Tasks
- Recommends and manages the application of a specific methodology or technology on IT projects or advocates for exceptions to established practices in order to account for complexities and achieve project objectives.

- Effectively articulates project nuances and complexities to City executives, Agency Heads, Assistant Agency Heads, City business partners, and other stakeholders while being responsive and sensitive to underlying politics.

- Leads teams in the execution of iterative workflows and the use of collaboration tools that focus on speed to market, return on investment and delivery of business value.

- Manages a program or portfolio of projects and/or processes in order to ensure strategic alignment with the organization, streamline dependencies, track total cost of ownership and report on metrics.

- Drives improvement initiatives using creative collaboration techniques, emerging methodologies and automation tools.

- Oversees, plans, manages and coordinates complex information technology projects from initiation to completion, including defining project scope, creating/updating project plans and work breakdown structures, scheduling project deliverables, goals and milestones, identifying and managing IT project risks, determining resource needs, obtaining signoff on project deliverables, etc.

- Provides day-to-day oversight and leadership of multidisciplinary project teams including teams working on IT integration projects and consultants. Coordinates, tracks, and reports on project tasks and progress to management, stakeholders and relevant teams. Supports project deliverable readiness for service operations.

- Elicits, documents and analyzes business requirements on information technology projects in order to recommend business and information technology solutions. Assesses business problems and process gaps; identifies opportunities for new requirements. Creates functional deliverables such as business scenarios, as-is/to-be flow diagrams, use cases, functional designs, screen mock-ups, etc. Facilitates user acceptance testing.

- Creates interaction models and interface designs for IT projects based on established standards, business and technical requirements and input from functional team members. Participates in human-centered design activities, user research, software prototyping and usability testing.

- Ensures that software products and solutions are appropriately tested to meet functional (usability) and technical (performance) requirements. Creates test cases, test scripts and defect reports. Execute test scripts and document progress and results. Collaborates with business analysts to understand business requirements. Collaborates with technical teams to understand application capabilities, environment set up and defect fixes.

- Researches and identifies emerging technologies; coordinate demonstrations and proof of concept initiatives. Liaises with vendors, as necessary.

IT PROJECT SPECIALIST - 95710

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college in computer science, engineering, human computer interaction, interactive media, digital and graphics design, data visualization, communication or a related field, and four years of satisfactory full-time experience related to the area(s) required by the particular position and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology and/or domain; or

2. An associate degree from an accredited college in computer science, engineering, human computer interaction, interactive media, digital and graphics design, data visualization, communication or a related field, and six years of satisfactory full-time experience related to the area(s) required by the particular position and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology and/or domain; or

3. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college, and eight years of satisfactory full-time experience related to the area(s) required by the particular position and a specialization in a relevant technology, process, methodology and/or domain; or

4. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1", "2", or "3" above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.