Salary: $109,512.00 - $147,264.00 Annually
Location : Thurston County - Olympia, WA
Job Type: Full Time - Permanent
Job Number:
Department: Dept. of Social and Health Services
Division: FTAA
Opening Date: 08/28/2026
Closing Date: 9/10/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
Salary Information: The high end of the salary range, Step M is typically a longevity step

Description

Building a new technology team means deciding not only what gets built, but how the team will work.

This role exists to fill a key management gap in a new systems development team supporting Washington's new Long Term Care benefit program, WA Cares. You'll help develop the team, establish how its work is managed and measured, and provide the leadership needed to move technology projects already underway.

During your first year, the goal is to have a fully staffed technology team, approved and working IT processes and procedures, and stable systems. You'll manage staff developing and supporting technology solutions, help shape the team's roadmap, and work with IT leadership to ensure they have the information they need to understand the health, priorities, and direction of WA Cares technology.

You'll also be joining while there is still room to influence how the team operates. You'll help establish and refine tech delivery processes and practices, working with cross-functional program partners and with peers in all parts of the Division of Information Technology (DIT) to ensure IT services are delivered consistently and strategically across the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).

We encourage you to apply if you've managed technology teams and understand what it takes to turn technical work into a dependable operation. You can evaluate the quality of you team's work, make decisions about priorities and resources, and keep leadership informed without losing sight of the technical details affecting delivery.

Experience working within government policies and procedures will matter here, as will experience managing teams that develop using Salesforce technologies such as Apex and Lightning Web Components (LWC). This is a role for someone who can operate within those requirements while helping a new team establish effective ways of working.

Your first 90 days will be about understanding the WA Cares technology environment, the team you're building, and the commitments already in flight. You'll begin hiring remaining team members, establish relationships with your direct reports and IT leadership, review proposed processes and procedures, and get grounded in the roadmap, system health, budget, contracts, and vendor relationships you'll manage.

By six months, success should be visible. Leadership is getting the information it needs from WA Cares technology, staff are producing quality code and configurations without critical defects, and you're actively contributing to the roadmap and projects already underway.
Some of What You'll Do

• Manage and grow the WA Cares technology team, including hiring remaining staff and holding regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports.
• Help develop the technology roadmap and guide delivery against current and upcoming commitments.
• Review and approve technical proposals, processes, and procedures.
• Monitor system health and the quality of code and configurations produced by the team.
• Participate in daily and weekly Scrum ceremonies and regular technology, development, and IT leadership meetings.
• Track and approve technology licensing and contracting costs and plan for upcoming budget cycles.
• Manage relationships with technology vendors.
• Work with IT leadership on project proposals, including upcoming AI initiatives and other WA Cares technology projects.

Who Should Apply
You can qualify through one of the following pathways:

• A bachelor's degree in information technology or related field and eight years of IT management experience in planning, analyzing, consulting, programming, installing and/or maintaining computer software applications, hardware, telecommunications, network infrastructure equipment, directing projects, providing customer or technical support and administering or supervising staff who performed work in any of these information technology disciplines

OR

• Associates degree in information technology or related field and ten years of IT management experience in planning, analyzing, consulting, programming, installing and/or maintaining computer software applications, hardware, telecommunications, network infrastructure equipment, directing projects, providing customer or technical support and administering or supervising staff who performed work in any of these information technology disciplines

OR

• Twelve years of IT management experience in planning, analyzing, consulting, programming, installing and/or maintaining computer software applications, hardware, telecommunications, network infrastructure equipment, directing projects, providing customer or technical support and administering or supervising staff who performed work in any of these information technology disciplines

Preferred education, experience, or certification:

• Two years of experience working with Salesforce, AWS cloud applications, Azure Cloud, or other cloud based applications or platforms.
• Experience with developing and implementing internal standards to guide the organization in design of technology solutions.

Work Environment
This role is mostly remote, with occasional onsite work at the Lacey Blake East building. Expect frequent virtual collaboration throughout the day with direct reports, technology colleagues, project teams, and IT leadership.

How to Apply
Submit:

• An updated resume.
• Three professional references with contact information.

Questions?
Email recruiter Kris George at and reference job number 07081.