Job ID: MNSITE-1671-Java (90091120)3P
Java UI Developer (SCJP/SCJD) with responsive UI/web framework, correspondence management and UI/Unemployment Insurance experience
Location: St Paul MN (DEED)
Duration: 12 months
Interview: In-person
Positions: 1 (1/1)
Minimum Qualifications: candidates must pass all minimum qualifications in order to be scored.
Two years’ experience developing user interfaces using Java-based interface development frameworks
Three years designing and writing computer programs in Java and J2EE, compiling, testing, debugging and documenting
Desired
BA or BS Degree (list college and degree)
Certified Java programmer/developer (SCJP/SCJD)
Number of years’ resource has been associated with your company
What makes this resource a good match for this project? (150 words max.)
Description of Project
The State of Minnesota’s Unemployment Insurance Program (UI), under the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will be updating the Unemployment Insurance system. The system contains hundreds of sub-components and is accessed by several user types that access the system for different purposes, including:
Applicants, who apply for the Unemployment Insurance benefits, request benefits weekly, and respond to requests for information from the UI Program
Employers, who submit wage information, pay quarterly taxes, and respond to requests for information from the UI Program
Employer agents, who complete business tasks on behalf of employers
State of Minnesota UI Program representatives, who review information submitted by applicants and employers, make eligibility determinations, and interface with both applicants and employers
The current UI system was designed, developed, and deployed in two phases with the last one delivered in October 2007. The overall approach and design were innovative for their time and allowed the program to weather the Great Recession of 2008 while delivering much better customer service and much higher overall performance than nearly all other states. However, some of the technology is now nearing 15 years old and simply needs to be updated and replaced. System design elements and technical architecture constrain policy changes and make managing the system over the long term impractical. Finally, managing and maintaining both business and technical aspects of the current system requires very specific skills and knowledge unique to Minnesota UI. The modernization process will enable the UI application to respond better to change, require less maintenance, and ultimately better serve the public.
The system is administered by staff from the UI Program and supported by Minnesota Information Technology Services (MNIT), the central IT organization for the State of Minnesota. The application is available to applicants from 6 am until 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Employers can access the application 24/7 with limited downtime for maintenance.
Modernizing the UI system will enable DEED to decrease the time applicants and employers spend completing tasks; better determine program eligibility by improving data collection methods; and reduce the cost of program administration. Additionally, the UI program anticipates projects included in the modernization will improve customer service, increase flexibility and reduce legacy complexity, and reduce current and future system debt.
The UI Program seeks a vendor that has demonstrated success in completing this type of work satisfactorily and strongly prefers a vendor with experience creating or maintaining Unemployment Insurance products.
Responsibilities of Selected Vendor
Provide all resources and skills necessary to perform the work of each project. The UI Program will direct the portfolio and provide oversight through its representatives. The UI program will make resources available to be interviewed regarding high level business requirements and to validate detailed business requirements produced by the vendor. MNIT will participate in technical work as technical advisors and provide additional oversight. The selected vendor will manage all projects and execution of work, and UI expects vendor resources will include project managers, business analysts, testers, developers, architects, and other resources not named here that the vendor, through their experience, understands to be necessary to successfully complete the project. The vendor should not assume that either UI or MNIT staff will be available to augment the vendor’s resources.
Perform a detailed analysis, formulate recommendations, and construct a plan for executing each project. The UI Program will make decisions based on vendor recommendations.
Close each project independently when the work is complete. This work is designed to incrementally implement changes to the UI system.
Maintain high-quality performance and reliability for system users.
Ensure that all work is comprehensively tested, ensuring that any defects are detected, promptly corrected and do not affect users.
Adhere to defined deliverables, including project-specific deliverables and common deliverables, defined in Deliverables Buyer Attachments.
Manage a complex and varied portfolio of projects that will be performed incrementally, but with multiple active projects occurring at the same time.
Meet vendor selection criteria, defined in Buyer Attachments.
Provide knowledge transfer to State staff.