Special Projects Manager - Strategic Solutions (Innovation)

Special Projects Manager - Strategic Solutions (Innovation)

Employment Type: 0 - Full-time Regular

Pay Range: $78,364.00 - 117,546.00

Location: Castle Rock, CO

Overtime Exempt: Y

Elected Office / Department: STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS

The Special Projects Manager – Strategic Solutions (Innovation) facilitates achievement of Douglas County’s innovation and modernization objectives by ensuring that efficiency tools and approaches are applied responsibly, effectively, and in alignment with County priorities. The position partners with departments, County leadership, and key stakeholders to identify high-value opportunities to streamline operations and implement sustainable improvements that elevate service delivery, empower staff, and create measurable impacts. This position translates business needs into actionable solutions, and coordinates execution from discovery through sustainment, thereby enhancing staff productivity, improving employee retention rates and citizen satisfaction and reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement.

Generally, the hiring range is $78,364-$97,955 annually. Qualifications, education and experience as it relates to the position will be taken into consideration when determining hiring salary.

Your future is important to us.

Douglas County offers a comprehensive benefits package — including medical, dental, vision, and retirement plans — plus a wide range of additional resources to support your health, growth, and overall well-being. View the full Employee Benefits Guide.

View the full job description here

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: (The following examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be all inclusive.)

Support the execution of the County’s enterprise innovation strategies through facilitation, automation and AI-enabled initiatives, application of Lean Six Sigma methodologies and internal training.

Assist with the reduction of manual steps and rework to streamline workflows in departments and offices that may also include external partner agencies where overlap or dependency exists.

Research, evaluate, and stay current on AI tools and emerging technologies relevant to public-sector services, advising County leadership and departments on potential applications, risks, and implementation considerations.

Partner with departments to understand operational challenges, conduct business and process analysis, and identify AI- and technology-enabled solutions; guide approved initiatives from problem definition to solution implementation and through sustainment with measurable outcomes.

Plan, organize, and lead complex, cross-department improvement initiatives and special projects, either independently or through ad hoc teams, addressing technical, operational, legal, and change-management considerations.

Maintain visibility into AI- and automation-based initiatives being launched in other jurisdictions by tracking adoption, outcomes, risks, and dependencies and providing regular updates and recommendations to County leadership.

Represent the County in meetings, working groups, and intergovernmental or partner forums related to AI, innovation and process improvement, when requested.

ADDITIONAL PREFERRED TECHNICAL AND SYSTEMS ABILITIES

Design and lead enterprise-wide trainings and workshops that instruct on Lean Six Sigma methodology and tools and deliver other targeted, related and practical curriculum.

Deploy applications to streamline departmental workflows, replace manual processes, and improve data accuracy and user experience.

Create and maintain Power BI reports and dashboards, including data modeling, measures and visual design to support operational and executive decision-making.

Collaborate with business stakeholders and IT staff to translate functional requirements into technical designs and solution architectures.

Perform systems analysis to understand data sources, file structures, Application Programming Interfaces, security constraints, and integration points across Microsoft 365 and other enterprise systems.

Implement error handling, logging, and monitoring for automated solutions to ensure reliability, transparency, and auditability.

Troubleshoot, debug, and optimize existing improvements, apps, and reports to improve performance, scalability, and maintainability.

Document solutions, configurations, and operational procedures to support sustainment, knowledge transfer, and continuity.

Support user adoption through light training, documentation, and iterative enhancement based on feedback.

Perform other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor’s degree in public administration, industrial systems engineering, information technology, data/AI-related disciplines, or a related field.

Five (5) years of experience in program or project management, business analysis, process improvement, technology enablement, or AI/automation initiatives.

Experience working with AI tools and/or workflow automation is preferred.

Equivalent combination of education and experience demonstrating competence will be considered.

CERTIFICATIONS, LICENSES & REGISTRATIONS:

Successful completion of a criminal background check.

AI-, automation-, or business-analysis-related certifications preferred.

Project Management certification preferred; Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, or Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) preferred.

Lean Six Sigma certification or demonstrable understanding of the application of the tools and methodologies are highly desirable.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Closing Date: 6/12/2026 4:59PM MST. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a suitable candidate is selected.

The job details outlined in this posting may represent a modified summary of the full job description. For a full copy of the job description CLICK HERE to view our job classifications.

In the event of an emergency/disaster in or near the County, all County employees are expected to make every effort to be available to assist the County Manager, Elected/Appointed Officials and Department Directors to ensure the continued operation of any and all necessary County functions. This may mean being available to perform additional duties and hours beyond what is normally required. In the event that an exempt employee does work more than 40 hours a week in support of County operations during an emergency, such employee may receive overtime or other appropriate wage compensation in accordance with existing County policies or at the discretion of the County.