Talent Innovation Program and Operations Manager

Department Information

The Office of Economic Development and International Trade (“OEDIT”) was created to foster a positive business climate that encourages economic development through support of local and regional economic development activities throughout the State of Colorado. A comprehensive slate of programs within OEDIT’s divisions support economic development efforts for all Colorado businesses – new and expanding, traditional and emerging, small and large – including retention programs to ensure the continued competitiveness of Colorado’s economic base, and job training to keep Colorado’s workforce the best in the nation.

Description of Job

NOTE: This posting is open only to individuals on a promotional list of the listed department. The posting is for transparency purposes only to comply with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Applications from individuals not on the department promotional list will not be accepted.

Note: The position offers full-time employment as an exempt, at-will State of Colorado Employee and the duration of the position is contingent on funding availability.

Colorado is a resource rich state and its most vital resource is its people. Just as we cultivate our natural resources to make Colorado a more prosperous state, so too must we invest in and cultivate our citizens. Colorado must have a supply of skilled talent to attract and keep companies and jobs, these are key underpinnings of an effective economic development ecosystem. To be competitive in the global marketplace, Colorado businesses and industries require innovation to support quality, quantity and capacity associated with talent innovation.

The Program and Operations Manager manages the daily operations and compliance of the Opportunity Now tax credit program within the Talent Innovation division of OEDIT. This role manages the lifecycle of tax credit applications, coordinates the evaluation pipeline, and streamlines program delivery. The manager serves as the primary operational liaison between OEDIT leadership, corporate applicants, industry coalitions, state regulatory partners and the Business Funding and Incentives team at OEDIT to ensure all tax credit certifications are executed in compliance with state talent objectives.

The manager establishes verification protocols to evaluate employer eligibility, verify qualifying training, and ensure adherence to statutory requirements. This includes monitoring application windows, managing compliance reviews when participating employers adjust work-based learning models, and providing technical assistance to businesses during onboarding and reporting. The manager ensures all program activities strictly follow legislative provisions governing tax credit allocation thresholds.

The manager serves as the division's Salesforce system administrator, configuring and maintaining the database infrastructure to track program performance. This system tracks employer participation, credit allocation balances, work-based learning placements, and verified job placements. Additionally, the manager extracts and analyzes these datasets to generate performance reports and documentation for state legislators, auditors, and the Governor's office.

The ideal candidate will have experience in the following areas:

• Managing the end-to-end lifecycle of applications, including processing pipelines, compliance verification, and eligibility reviews.

• Configuring and maintaining database infrastructure, managing data tracking fields, and generating performance metrics and custom reports.

• Interpreting and applying state statutes, legislative mandates, or regulatory guidelines to establish operational workflows and verification protocols.

• Providing operational guidance and customer support to corporate applicants, business employers, and regulatory partners during onboarding and reporting.

• Managing high-level administrative support, complex stakeholder scheduling, and internal/external event execution.

• Designing operational processes for program delivery and navigating state systems, including budgeting, procurement, and invoicing.

• Utilizing tools like Salesforce and Google Workspace to monitor compliance and manage daily program operations.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Manager is responsible for performing the following duties, which represent the approximate allocation of time:

1. Tax Credit & Contract Management (35%)

• Contract Execution: Draft, review, and route tax credit agreements and formal amendments (e.g., scope of work changes, budget reallocations) through the OEDIT procurement system and the State Controller’s Office.

• Tax Credit Performance Tracking: Monitor tax credit recipient progress against contractual milestones, such as participant enrollment counts, case management touchpoints, and verified job placements.

• Technical Assistance: Serve as the direct operational point of contact for tax credit recipients to resolve contract, budgeting, reporting, or timeline bottlenecks.

2. Budgetary Control & Fiscal Oversight (25%)

• Fund Tracking & Reconciliation: Maintain the division's master ledger. Track expenditures across distinct, shifting funding sources.

• Modification Processing: Review and process formal Expenditure Modification Forms when tax credit require budget shifts between personnel, contractual costs, and cost categories.

3. Salesforce Systems & Data Administration (20%)

• System Architecture: Serve as the division’s Salesforce super-user. Build out, test, and maintain the application pipelines, compliance dashboards, and reporting modules used by both staff and external tax credit applicants.

• Data Integrity: Design and enforce data-entry protocols to ensure clean tracking of statewide economic metrics. Ensure technical systems accurately capture regional job placement data and industry partner growth.

• Tool Procurement: Evaluate, implement, and manage internal project management software (e.g., Asana, Monday.com) and data collection platforms to streamline team workflows.

4. Compliance, Auditing & Reporting (20%)

• Statutory Compliance: Build and execute verification checklists to ensure all division activities strictly comply with federal Treasury rules and state statutory mandates.

• Audit Preparation: Maintain complete, audit-ready digital archives of all executed contracts, approved invoices, and compliance waivers to support state and federal legislative audits.

• Executive Reporting: Extract complex financial and programmatic data from Salesforce to draft clear, data-driven performance updates for OEDIT leadership, the Governor’s office, and the state legislature.

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

Minimum Qualifications & Required Competencies Experience & Education

• Experience: At least 5 years of professional experience directly managing operations, public sector contracts, or complex corporate compliance programs.

• 10+ years experience working in a professional business environment with a high-level of responsibility.

OR

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Finance, or a related field. Equivalent professional experience in contract management or public finance may substitute for the degree on a year-for-year basis.

• Public Finance & Contracting: Direct experience navigating state or federal procurement rules, managing complex line-item budgets, and processing formal contract amendments.Advanced Salesforce Skills: Proven ability to manage data fields, generate custom reports, and troubleshoot user workflows within Salesforce or an equivalent enterprise CRM.Regulatory Literacy: Ability to read state legislation (e.g., House Bills) or federal funding guidelines and translate those rules into clear operational procedures.Software Proficiency: Advanced command of Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets (pivots, formulas, data linking) for financial modeling and ledger reconciliation.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, SUBSTITUTIONS, CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT & APPEAL RIGHTS:

Minimum Qualifications

At a minimum of 5-7 years of professional experience in program coordination, project management, or operational compliance and support.

OR

At a minimum, this position requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in bookkeeping, business management, communications, public administration, liberal arts, or a closely related field.

Please Note: Related occupational experience will substitute for degrees on a year-for-year basis.

Required Competencies

Ability to:

• Design, implement, and refine workflows to improve program delivery and application pipeline efficiency.
• Providing high-level administrative support, managing complex stakeholder scheduling, and planning and executing internal and external events.
• Apply experience using Salesforce, Google Workspace, or similar data management tools to monitor compliance, track program performance, and maintain data integrity.
• Demonstrate ability to quickly learn and execute public sector administrative processes, including procurement, invoicing, and travel coordination.
• Clearly write and verbally communicate to deliver technical assistance and operational guidance to corporate applicants, business employers, and internal leadership.
• Managing complex deadlines, facilitating action-oriented meetings, and critically analyzing processes to maximize team efficiency and resource allocation.
• Maintaining rigorous compliance documentation, utilizing Salesforce for data management, and supporting basic fiscal tracking and expense reporting.
• Navigating public sector workflows (procurement, budgeting, invoicing) while driving clear, concise communication across internal divisions and external partners.

Supplemental Information

A wide salary range is posted for this position and any job offer is based upon a salary analysis to comply with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The salary analysis considers relevant experience, education, certifications, and state seniority as compared to others doing substantially similar work. While all offers are compliant with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, there is no guarantee an offer will be at the top of the posted range based on the salary analysis.

Benefits

The State of Colorado/Office of the Governor offers generous benefits to full-time employees including:

• Annual leave accrued at 13.33 hours per month
• Sick leave accrued at 6.66 hours a month
• 11 paid holidays per year
• Medical plans - choice of Cigna or Kaiser; several plan options (including High Deductible Health Plan with HSA); most plans offered with significant state contribution towards premium
• Dental and vision plans
• Flexible spending accounts
• State-paid life insurance policy of $50,000
• Choice of 2 retirement plans (defined contribution or defined benefit) with generous state contribution
• Optional 401(k) and 457 plans for additional retirement savings
• State-paid short-term disability coverage
• Additional optional life and disability plans
• Access to the Colorado State Employee Assistance Program
• Membership opportunity with the Credit Union of Colorado
• RTD (transit) EcoPass
• Training and professional development