Elections Project Manager & Consultant
Mississippi Secretary of State - Elections Division
Project: Statewide Elections Management System (SEMS)
Location: Onsite
Position Summary
The Mississippi Secretary of State's Office seeks an experienced Elections Project Manager & Consultant to oversee development and support activities for the Statewide Elections Management System (SEMS). This contractor will coordinate the third-party development vendor, track project progress and technical issues, and serve as a liaison among the Elections Division, county election officials, and the vendor.
The contractor will also help counties use SEMS, coordinate system training, and route policy, procedural, or legal questions to authorized agency personnel. The role reports to the Assistant Secretary of State for Elections or their designee. The selected contractor's work schedule and onsite arrangements will be agreed upon before contract award.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee SEMS development activities and coordinate the third-party vendor.
- Monitor project progress and confirm enhancements and deliverables align with agency needs.
- Serve as a primary liaison among the agency, county election officials, and the vendor.
- Document, track, communicate, and escalate system issues and enhancement requests through resolution.
- Advise county officials on SEMS functionality, use, troubleshooting, and related system questions.
- Help develop, coordinate, and deliver county training using agency-approved guidance and materials.
- Refer policy, procedural, and legal inquiries to authorized agency personnel or official sources, and communicate the guidance received.
- Submit detailed timesheets to support grant and state funding records and audits.
Required Qualifications
- 10 or more years of relevant experience.
- Experience in software application project management, third-party vendor coordination, and technical issue resolution.
- Familiarity with Mississippi election administration, county election processes and procedures, and SEMS.
- Strong organization, analysis, communication, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to coordinate development work, track issues to resolution, and communicate with technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
- Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with election management systems, government information systems, or comparable enterprise applications.
- Experience providing system consultation, user support, or training to government personnel or other end users.
- Familiarity with application security, secure development, vulnerability management, access controls, data protection, and security remediation.
- Experience with SDLC methods, quality assurance, user acceptance testing, databases, systems integration, and software change or release management.
- Experience coordinating technology projects involving state or local government.