Rural Health Transformation Technical Lead

Job Summary - Why you'll love this position

Job Location: This position will be working in-office at the Howerton State Office Building, 615 Howerton Court, Jefferson City, MO.

Why you'll love this position:

The person in this position will have the opportunity to help shape the technology and data infrastructure that enables rural healthcare transformation across Missouri. You'll work at the intersection of interoperability, health information technology modernization, analytics, and program operations. This role provides exposure to how statewide technology, vendor, and provider implementation work comes together in practice, while allowing you to build experience in digital health transformation that supports better coordination and more sustainable rural care.

Responsibilities - What you'll do

The Rural Health Transformation Technical Lead for the Digital Backbone initiative of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) will provide the day-to-day leadership and operational oversight required to deliver a critical component of Missouri's RHTP. Reporting directly to the DSS CIO and working closely with the RHTP Director, this role will serve as a core member of the newly established Rural Healthcare Transformation Office (RHTO). The RHTO is Missouri's central coordinating team, responsible for driving strategy, governance, performance management, and capability building across the five-year, statewide program.

• Refine, maintain, and execute a comprehensive, multi-phase implementation roadmap for the statewide Digital Backbone initiative, ensuring all sub-initiatives are designed, sequenced, and delivered within approved scopes and timelines.
• Lead statewide current-state assessments and provider segmentation to evaluate Electronic Health Record (EHR) maturity, interoperability readiness, cybersecurity posture, broadband capacity, AI readiness, and reporting capabilities.
• Translate assessment findings into actionable technical requirements, modernization sequencing, and statewide investment priorities.
• Develop and maintain core planning artifacts and technical standards, including future-state capability matrices, technical requirements, interoperability specifications, deployment roadmaps, and training/certification-readiness materials.
• Drive day-to-day execution across Digital Backbone workstreams, including digital maturity assessments, interoperability tooling, interface development, cloud hosting, and telehealth enablement planning.
• Direct the design, integration, and statewide rollout of the Social Care Referral Platform / Community Information Exchange (CIE) and related clinical/workflow governance tools.
• Oversee EHR modernization and selective replacement efforts, directly managing vendor onboarding, interface configuration, testing coordination, and provider readiness validation.
• Serve as the primary liaison and coordinator across a complex network of internal and external stakeholders, including executive sponsors, state government agencies, rural healthcare providers, healthcare associations, EHR vendors, and system integrators.
• Lead partner and vendor sourcing efforts, managing the end-to-end Request for Proposal (RFP) process, evaluating technical proposals, and negotiating statements of work (SOWs) with contracted implementation partners.
• Maintain seamless communication channels to align competing priorities, resolve complex integration issues, and support steady progress against project timelines.
• Partner with grant, fiscal, and program managers to develop, monitor, and manage the multi-million-dollar initiative-wide budget, ensuring resource deployment complies with state and federal program guidelines.
• Establish performance metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track progress across EHR modernization, CIE deployment, provider adoption rates, and overall digital capability readiness.
• Proactively identify, escalate, and mitigate program risks and roadblocks, specifically addressing issues related to rural implementation capacity, partner contracting, and training-site availability.
• Deliver transparent, highly synthesized, data-driven progress updates and briefings to executive leadership to facilitate timely, strategic decision-making.

Qualifications - All you need for success

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree, 5-7 years of relevant experience, and 2-4 years of supervisory experience, preferably in healthcare technology, health information technology modernization, interoperability, health informatics, data governance, cybersecurity, or healthcare analytics.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives from planning through execution
• Strong working knowledge of project management principles, including workplan development, risk management, and milestone tracking

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience leading Electronic Health Record modernization, interoperability, health information exchange, or digital transformation efforts across multiple organizations including a working knowledge of interoperability standards and frameworks. (e.g. Health Level Seven, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, United States Core Data for Interoperability, and Electronic Health Record integration).
• Experience with Social Care Referral Platforms, Community Information Exchanges, or other closed-loop referral and cross-sector coordination tools.
• Experience working within state or federal grant-funded programs, with a strong understanding of how program requirements translate into day-to-day execution and reporting.
• Proven track record of leading organizational change or health system transformation efforts, including coordinating across multiple stakeholders and workstreams.
• Working understanding of the procurement lifecycle, including supporting RFP development, vendor selection, and ongoing vendor coordination.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or experience applying formal project management methodologies to drive execution.

Lack of post-secondary education will not be used as the sole basis denying consideration to any applicant.

Job Details - More reasons to love this position

The State of Missouri offers an excellent benefits package that includes a defined pension plan, generous amounts of leave and holiday time, and eligibility for health insurance coverage. Your total compensation is more than the dollars you receive in your paycheck. To help demonstrate the value of working for the State of Missouri, we have created an interactive Total Compensation Calculator. This tool provides a comprehensive view of benefits and more that are offered to prospective employees. The Total Compensation Calculator and other applicant resources can be found here.

Contact Details - If you have questions or require any accommodations to participate in the application or interview process please contact:

If you have questions about this position, please contact Michelle Hoeller at Michelle.L.Hoeller@dss.mo.gov

If you experience accessibility issues while applying, please contact Courtney Hall at Courtney.A.Hall@dss.mo.gov.