State Implementation Specialist - Detroit, MI

Our Customer is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, they were created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, our Customer helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success—including the SAT, the Advanced Placement Program, and BigFuture. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators, and schools.

We are seeking a State Implementation Support Specialist on a contract basis to help support our Customer's business needs. This role is 100% remote in Detroit, MI.

As a State Implementation Support Specialist on the team for Michigan you are responsible for supporting implementation of state’s SAT and PSAT assessment program. You will be an escalation point of contact for the state department of education, district test coordinators, and school test coordinators as they implement the assessment for their federal accountability test in spring 2025. The State Implementation Support Specialist will work closely with the SCPM team and key operations business partners to ensure a successful test administration at every eligible school in the state. This will include managing escalations in a timely manner and within the specified guidelines and policies of various internal departments.

You will be most successful in this role if you are a hands-on, flexible implementation support specialist who is willing to go above and beyond to support customers and find resolutions to issues.

What You’ll Do:

• Implementation Support (75%)
  • Serve as business contact between the schools and districts and internal teams to address and resolve processing exceptions and/or escalated cases.
  • Establish a strong relationship with the team, other stakeholders, and external state partners.
  • Facilitate meetings and communicate formally and informally with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Act as SAT and PSAT subject matter expert to provide guidance to DOE, district test coordinators, and school test coordinators.
  • Conduct proactive readiness outreach to prepare schools and districts for administering digital tests.
  • Act as a voice of the customer during policy, process, and solutioning discussions.
  • Lead training sessions and remote office hours as needed with customers.
  • Respond to district and school inquiries via email and phone, providing implementation and technical on-site support as needed. Escalate issues to the state’s Implementation Manager as appropriate.
  • Work within aggressive timelines and with extremely sensitive test administration-impacting cases.
  • Conduct manual processes to implement exceptions workarounds.
  • When necessary, provide manual support for data entry and exceptions.
  • Directly support the state’s Implementation Manager in creating and presenting customer-facing reports tracking implementation activities.
  • Work closely and collaboratively with the SCPM team’s [Colorado, Michigan,] Implementation Manager and Project Manager to meet project schedule.
  • Assist SCPM team’s [Colorado, Michigan,] Implementation Manager and Project Manager with risk and issue management.
  • Coordinate interactions with Tech Support and Services for Students with Disabilities
• Communication, Process Development and Continuous Improvement (25%)
  • Communicate formally and informally about the project and its status to people within and outside the project team, including across state departments of education.
  • Identify patterns and trends in customer needs and propose solutions.
  • Contribute to process recommendations and assist in implementing for future implementations.
  • Perform ad-hoc duties or tasks as assigned or required.

Qualifications:

• 3-5 years of related work experience in K-12 educational technology, training, assessment industry, and/or K-12 school/state/central office experience.
• Demonstrated communication skills, including effective oral communication and direct, concise writing skills. Experience communicating with customers and educators about key elements of program management highly desired.
• Experience developing and leading training workshops and webinars.
• Ability to take initiative and contribute to building a stronger program.
• Experience with a wide variety of tools, including Microsoft Office applications, Salesforce, and Smartsheet, with the flexibility to leverage the best tool for each problem/opportunity.
• A strong desire to learn & improve, leveraging feedback to course correct.
• The ability to effectively coordinate multiple responsibilities simultaneously, with fast, flexible, cooperative work style and the ability to reprioritize as warranted.
• Comfort working in undefined situations and evidence of creating clarity and path forward.
• The ability to travel up to 50% of your time to school/district locations.

We offer a competitive salary range for this position. Most candidates who join our team are hired at the median of this range, ensuring fair and equitable compensation based on experience and qualifications.

Please note: In order to create a safe, productive work environment, our client is requiring all contractors who plan to be onsite to be fully vaccinated according to the CDC guidelines. Prior to coming into our offices, contractors will be required to attest that they are fully vaccinated.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.