Director, Program Solutions

The Director, Program Solutions leads the design, development, and continuous improvement of technology-enabled program tools and solutions to improve the delivery of LT services to our kamaliʻi (beneficiaries). This position oversees a team that plays a pivotal role in equipping teams with the knowledge, tools, and skills to deliver quality programs and services. While this roles primarily focuses on serving as the product owner for our Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system, this position also supports a range of technology-enabled solutions to ensure a consistent, scalable experience so our direct services teammembers can best serve our kamaliʻi.

This position requires a self-driven, technical leader who can partner with senior leadership, IT, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment with LTʻs Strategic Plan while building capabilities that provide the most value to stakeholders and end users alike. The Director will be responsible for working closely with user groups, program leadership, and IT to develop product roadmaps, design and validate new user experiences, and work across teams towards a common product vision. The Director will also coach and guide their team to develop their technical skills and proficiency in the LT program and services solutions they support. The Director will lead by influence and foster an inclusive, team environment for innovation and continuous improvement.

• Responsible for product strategy, development, test, and execution to deliver on-time and impactful launches.
• Develops and manages product roadmaps, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, service provider and user needs, and resource availability. Reviews technology solutions to ensure alignment with product roadmaps.
• Documents product requirements, prioritizes backlogs, and coordinates with business teams to align and prioritize needs that deliver the highest value.
• Builds strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels, understanding their needs, and ensuring clear communication throughout the product development lifecycle. Level-sets stakeholders’ expectations and facilitates the art of the possible.
• Conducts market research, ideation sessions, and experiments to discover opportunities for new product features and technology solutions to solve user and business problems.
• Collaborates with multiple stakeholders to understand end user behaviors, define use case, develop the launch plan, and improve adoption.
• Collaborating closely with IT and other stakeholders, oversees the development of solutions to improve the program delivery experience across different platforms.
• Defines key performance indicators for program-related products and digital initiatives.
• Directly engages users and leverages tools, such as A/B testing, focus groups, customer journey mapping, and personas, to design, validate, and improve the user experience.
• Applies change management best practices to promote adoption and ease the onboarding of users to program solutions and tools.
• Develops and implements streamlined processes to align service delivery with the department’s growth and evolving needs.
• Monitors the performance of program tools and solutions to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness, making recommendations for enhancements, replacements, or retirement of solutions.

Leadership and Mentoring

• Serves as a key advisor and thought leader to senior leadership, presenting data-driven insights and recommendations.
• Coaches and mentors a team that has a strong bias for action and focus on customer-driven development.
• Fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability within the team.
• Guides team to develop visually compelling and effective job aids and documentation.
• Improves vendor performance, primarily our CRM vendor, through SLAs, quarterly business reviews, and relationship management.
• Coordinates the release of new features and bug fixes with the vendor for an optimal user experience and minimal disruption to operations.
• Manages vendor invoices for accurate billing and timely payments.
• As needed, evaluates third-party technology service providers and provides inputs on SLAs to support vendor selection and contract negotiations.

Continuous Improvement and Agile Delivery

• Manages multiple initiatives through relentless prioritization, time management, and stakeholder engagement to ensure expected outcomes are met and options are available should we need to pivot.
• Facilitates agile planning and workshops to source roadmap ideas and prioritize development.
• Communicates and proactively addresses risks and issues related to product development, product support, and onboarding of customers.
• Facilitates continuous learning by conducting retrospectives to capture, share, and implement improvements.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related technical/business areas or an equivalent combination of education and related working experience.
• Five years of experience in product management and/or technical project management, with at least two years of experience successfully applying Agile (e.g., Scrum, SAFe), waterfall, and hybrid methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team in a dynamic, fast-paced organization, with minimal supervision, to meet deadlines, manage multiple priorities, and effectively navigate ambiguity.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and relationship management skills, including the ability to influence and align stakeholders across multiple levels of the organization.
• Working knowledge and/or experience managing case management systems, gathering business requirements, creating test cases, building business automations, developing databases and reports, launching new services, deploying APIs, and/or scaling technical solutions.
• Certification in Product Owner/Product Management, UX design, Design Thinking, business analysis, and/or Scrum Master a plus.
• Proficiency using Smartsheet, Zoom, Tableau, Power Automate, and/or Salesforce or similar case management tool a plus.
• Transparency: Openly share knowledge and insights with teammates.
• Accountability: Be responsible for your actions and decisions to ensure the department meets its commitments and supports organizational goals.
• Collaboration: Effectively interact with multidisciplinary teams.
• Active Listener: Listen actively and value others' opinions to create an environment of mutual respect and understanding, using diverse perspectives to find innovative solutions.
• Ethical Practice: Exhibit the highest level of ethical behavior, integrity, and social responsibility. Uphold and embody all LT values.
• Communication: Convey and receive information and ideas clearly. Provide and seek constructive feedback from all levels of teammates, including the executive team. Demonstrate strong written, oral, and listening skills.
• Cultural Competence: Respect and relate well to people from varied backgrounds, remaining sensitive to group differences.
• Relationship Management: Experience working in a collaborative environment with staff at all levels; ability to promote and sustain positive workplace values and relationships.
• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to perform well under pressure and stay calm and composed when faced with challenging situations.

Mental and Physical Demands:

• Ability to lift 25+ pounds. Requires being outdoors in the sun and/or rain for extended periods of time. Ability to swim and work on uneven surfaces. Requires sitting indoors for extended periods of time. Ability to work weekends when needed.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment, employee will be subject to LT’s policies and procedures.

Job Title: Director, Program Solutions

Reports to: Managing Director, Program & Practice Development

FLSA Status: FT; Exempt

Aligned Executive: VP & Chief Operating Officer

Department: Program & Practice Development

Liliʻuokalani Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to recruit, train, and retain innovative talent from a diverse candidate pool. All employment decisions will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, ancestry, genetic information, citizenship, marital/civil union status, arrest and court record, domestic or sexual violence victim status, credit history, disability or veteran/military status or other applicable legally protected characteristics.