Strategic Program Analysis Manager
About the job
The Manager of Strategic Program Analysis will report to the Chief Strategy Officer and will be responsible for building and leading a team of analysts at the intersection of policy development and business analysis. This position will serve as the first Strategic Program Analysis team member and co-create the function with senior leadership in the division. The Manager of Strategic Program Analysis will support the evolution of a team dedicated to making policy easy to understand for various audiences – ensuring consistent understanding inside and outside the division.
The Manager of Strategic Program Analysis serves an important integration role – bridging the gap between what the law requires and what our users need. The Manager will work closely with partners within and outside of state government to ensure our program is compliant with the enabling statute and responsive to the needs of our partners. They will ensure this through policy analysis, rulemaking, and clear documentation of key business decisions and processes.
This position will have the opportunity to build out a team of analysts to support this work. They will work closely with the rest of the Strategy team to meet people where they are, understand their needs, and use that understanding to ensure the program is easy to use and effective. This team will also collaborate with others within the Paid Leave division to ensure consistency in policy interpretation and operational decision-making. This role is an exciting opportunity to develop deep subject matter expertise in the Paid Leave program and make a positive impact in the lives of many Minnesotans.
About Paid Leave:
Paid Leave is a new program launching in 2026. The program will provide partial wage replacement to Minnesota workers who are out of work due to a qualifying condition, such as a serious health condition that prevents a person from working or when someone needs time to care for a family member or a new child.
We are building a program that will be easy for every Minnesotan to use. We are engaging the people who depend on us—workers, employers, caregivers, and insurers—to learn from them and build the program around what they need. We are using modern service delivery and product practices to deliver the program. The Paid Leave team has high standards and an unrelenting commitment to serving Minnesotans. It is a start-up environment without legacy systems or preconceived ways of working. Our aim is to deliver a service that delights Minnesotans.
Key Responsibilities:
This position will build out the vision for the Strategic Program Analysis Team, including setting goals and objectives and designing the organization to best serve the needs of the division. The position will then execute the vision, iterating as necessary, to bring the work to fruition and drive the desired outcomes, ensuring clear policy, strong implementation, and meeting needs for partners and the public.
Develop program policy, conduct research, and document evidence, decisions, processes, user stories, and requirements to serve product team(s), experience owners, IT partners, and the rest of the division, bringing policy expertise and business/program analysis across division initiatives.
Support rulemaking/regulatory and legislative processes through clear documentation of policy issues, ensuring the program is well-defined for all partners, in keeping with administration’s intent, of best service to Minnesotans, and that barriers to implementation are mitigated.
Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing Strategic Program Analysis team that nurtures a customer-driven culture fostering innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement to drive success.
Minimum Qualifications
To receive credit for your education and experience, your resume should clearly describe how you meet each minimum and/or preferred qualification listed, including dates of employment.
Three (3) years* of experience in program policy development, conducting research and documenting evidence, decisions, processes, user stories, and requirements
AND
One (1) year managing teams to meet the organization's expectations for productivity, quality, or goal accomplishment.
*Bachelor's degree in: Public Policy, Political Science, Economics, Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Analytics, Data Analytics, or other closely related field as determined by the agency may substitute one (1) year of experience; master’s degree substitutes for eighteen (18) months of experience; PhD substitutes for twenty-four (24) months of experience
Applicants that meet the above minimum qualifications will be further evaluated on the following:
Skills in advanced analysis sufficient to conduct public policy and program analysis, business process analysis for complex policy and program issues.
Experience with rulemaking, sufficient to lead aspects of the rulemaking process on behalf of the division, and/or legislative processes, procedural and political, sufficient to participate in and direct legislative and policy engagement.
Skills in technical business analysis skills sufficient to translate program and policy requirements to user stories and other artifacts to communicate effectively with vendors, product teams and IT partners.
Ability to plan, budget, organize, supervise, and coordinate programs and personnel, to delegate, fix accountability, measure progress, evaluate results and to initiate improvements.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees and the public, communicating effectively between a diverse set of internal stakeholders.
Incumbent must maintain valid driver's license, & insurance, OR have other reliable transportation.
Why Work for Us
Diverse Workforce
We are committed to continually developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our state and the populations we serve. The varied experiences and perspectives of employees strengthen the work we do together and our ability to best serve the people of Minnesota.
A recent engagement survey of State of Minnesota employees found:
95% of employees understand how their work helps achieve their agency’s mission
91% of employees feel trusted to do their jobs
88% of employees feel equipped to look at situations from other cultural perspectives when doing their job
87% of employees report flexibility in their work schedule
Comprehensive Benefits
Our benefits aim to balance four key elements that make life and work meaningful: health and wellness, financial well-being, professional development, and work/life harmony. As an employee, your benefits may include:
Public pension plan
Training and professional development
Paid vacation and sick leave
11 paid holidays each year
Paid parental leave
Low-cost medical and dental coverage
Prescription drug coverage
Vision coverage
Wellness programs and resources
Employer paid life insurance
Short-term and long-term disability
Health care spending and savings accounts
Dependent care spending account
Tax-deferred compensation
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Federal Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program