04035
(Competitive)
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS
The work involves leading cultural change toward human centered design of public facing solutions, planning and leading ideation and engagement sessions as part of the Office of Accountability, Performance and Innovation for the City of Syracuse. An employee in this class is responsible for developing and implementing specific project plans to enhance and advance City operations through the performance office and managing stakeholder relationships for policy initiatives. Work includes executing desk/field research, facilitating syntheses workshops, and guiding/teaching teams through iterative cycles of ideations, prototyping and testing pilot initiatives. Work also includes responsibility for branding and communications functions, including creative direction, media management, graphic design development, and website management. The employee is allowed the use of independent judgement and initiative under the general direction of the Director of Innovation. Does related work as required.
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES
Leads the human-centered design focus through research, synthesis, ideation, rapid prototyping, interaction and support.
Motivates and inspires within City government, advocating for greater client experiences.
Participates in interagency processes for accepting new challenges, ongoing idea generation, developing implementation plans, and managing progress towards defined targets.
Develops solutions to operations with the end-user in mind.
Employs design thinking-based approaches to identify the root causes of civic challenges and explores the perspectives of residents, government employees, and other community stakeholders.
Synthesizes information gathered through design research to uncover root causes and generate corresponding design criteria and new solutions.
Leads the development of detailed implementation plans for delivery on major initiates.
Prepares workflow diagrams and structuring charts to define workflow processes.
Ensures effective performance monitoring vehicles are in place and regularly monitors progress of initiatives and makes recommendations for correction.
Plans, directs, and coordinates staff and activities to ensure that assigned initiative goals are accomplished within prescribed timeframes.
Facilitates complex performance improvement activities.
Reviews performance measures and targets.
Facilitates idea generation and co-design sessions with internal and external stakeholders.
Manages and maintains strong relationships with numerous city government officials and community stakeholders.
Provides creative direction and insight.
Illustrates team concepts by designing materials with art and copy.
Oversees continuity in all creative elements including web, social media, print, and other media.
Manages office website.
Develops and manages creative assets (presentations, templates, web design assets, etc.).
Ensures media from events, meetings, and other related functions are captured and archived.
Represents the Innovation Team and the Mayor’s Office at meetings, as needed.
FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Ability to lead transformations that involve multiple stakeholders, constituencies, and agencies.
Ability to communicate.
Good knowledge of empirical data and statistics, and developing data-based recommendations for system changes.
Good knowledge of process improvement analysis.
Knowledge of human-centered design engagement and co-design principles.
Knowledge of digital tools/applications that enhance the workflow and environment.
Knowledge of social media management tools and resources.
Ability to review and synthesize the latest developments in relevant civic design and civic engagement activities.
Working knowledge of graphic design principles and creative design software.
Working knowledge of Content Management platforms, photography and videography and associated editing tools.
Ability to handle ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.
Attentiveness to detail, deadlines, acute vision, and the ability to handle criticism in a constructive way.
04035
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Graduation from a regionally accredited college or university or one accredited by the New York State Board of Regents to grant degrees with a Bachelor’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Digital Media Design, Human Factor Engineering, Information Studies, or a closely related field AND one (1) year of work experience, or its part time equivalent, in project management, human centered design or user experience projects which included problem solving research, evaluation, data collection and analysis; OR;
Graduation from a regionally accredited college or university or one accredited by the New York State Board of Regents to grant degrees with a Bachelor’s degree in Design, Communications, Marketing, Public Administration, Policy, Government, Business, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Data Science, or a closely related field AND two (2) years of work experience, or its part time equivalent, in project management, human centered design, or user experience projects which included problem solving research, evaluation, data collection and analysis.
10/2019 Date of Original Composition