Senior Policy Advisor

Department ofHealth and Human Services (DHHS)

Public Service Coordinator II

Opening Date: August 22 2025

Closing Date: September 5 2025

Job Class Code: CA32

Grade: 32 (Confidential)

Salary: $77896.00-$110073.60 per year

Position Number: 02022-2721

Location: Augusta

Core Responsibilities:

As Senior Policy Advisor you will serve as a key member of OFIs senior leadership team with a solutions-oriented mandate to strengthen and sustain public benefits planning and implementation directly impacting over one third of the states population. You will lead efforts to anticipate future needs proactively address challenges and build strategic capacity through medium and long-term planning efforts including business process evaluation client experience mapping and more. Collaboration strategic thinking communication and accountability are key in this position and you will put these skills together to develop office-wide priorities manage critical special projects and continuously assess whats needed in the future and whether our current efforts are effective and efficient.

Additional responsibilities:

Serving as a member of the OFI senior management team and providing high level analysis on programs operations technology policies services and compliance.

Developing an office-wide strategic action plan and set of priorities (with clear accountability/timelines) updated every six months so it always has the next 24 months of priorities in one place.

Implementing change management processes and key special projects especially those that require intra-office and intra-departmental collaboration including business process analysis and (re)design and developing workplans to implement major policy changes.

Leading and coordinating project teams and workgroups as necessary including to study specific problems and develop solutions for leadership decision-making.

Researching evaluating and drafting legislation regulations and policies/rules/regulations.

Drafting and managing procurement and contracts necessary to complete OFIs strategic planning efforts and policy implementation efforts.

Advising OFI leadership on compliance with program requirements participating in federal and state audits where appropriate and reviewing responses to findings as appropriate.

Writing reports developing presentations and summarizing information as appropriate for the intended audiences.

Serving as a designee on a variety of work groups and committees on behalf of OFI.

Collaborating in developing organization-wide policies procedures and documents.

Minimum Qualifications:

To qualify for this position your background must include an eight (8) year combination of education and experience in executive-level leadership in governmental agencies or large complex organizations.

Preferred experience includes:

A Juris Doctor (JD) or Masters Degree in business administration public administration public policy or a comparable field.
Demonstrated leadership in program development and oversight with the ability to interpret develop and implement policy.
Strong organizational skills attention to detail and ability to balance competing priorities under tight deadlines.
Exceptional written and oral communication skills including a demonstrated ability to tailor communications to a variety of audiences.
Facilitation experience with complex issues and ability to present important initiatives both externally and internally.
Demonstrated ability to effectively manage large projects and accountability for completing within projects within time budget and quality constraints.
Proficiency in researching laws rules and regulations and offering sound advice to executive leaders.
Professional or lived experience with Medicaid SNAP and/or TANF or other public benefits programs.

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Agency information:

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is dedicated to promoting health safety resilience and opportunity for Maine people. The Department provides health and social services to approximately a third of the States population including children families older Mainers and individuals with disabilities mental illness and substance use disorders. The Department also promotes public health operates two state psychiatric hospitals and provides oversight to health care providers.

The Office for Family Independence is responsible for administration of eligibility determination for a number of programs including MaineCare Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Disability Determination Services and Child Support.

Application Information:

For additional information about this position please contact Marcus Hatch at or by email at

To apply please upload a resume cover letter and transcript (transcript needed only if education is used to meet the minimum qualifications). The cover letter is required and your application will not be reviewed if you dont submit a cover letter. Your cover letter should explain why you are interested in this position and why you would be good at it.

Please submit all documents or files in PDF format.

To request a paper application please contact

Benefits of working for the State of Maine:

No matter where you work across Maine state government you find employees who embody our state mottoDirigo or I leadas they provide essential services to Mainers every day. We believe in supporting our workforces health and wellbeing with a valuable total compensation package including:

• • Work-Life Fit Rest is essential. Take time for yourself using 13 paid holidays 12 days of sick leave and 3 weeks of vacation leave annually. Vacation leave accrual increases with years of service and overtime-exempt employees receive personal leave.
  • Health Insurance Coverage The State of Maine pays 85%-100% of employee-only premiums ($12845.82 - $15112.76 annual value) depending on salary. Use this chart to find the premium costs for you and your family including the percentage of dependent coverage paid by the State.
  • Health Insurance Premium Credit Participation decreases employee-only premiums by 5%. Visit the Office of Employee Health and Wellness for more information about program requirements.
  • Dental Insurance The State of Maine pays 100% of employee-only dental premiums ($395.72 annual value).
  • Retirement Plan The State contributes the equivalent of 18.91% of the employees pay towards the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS).
  • Parental leave is one of the most important benefits for any working parent. All employees who are welcoming a childincluding fathers and adoptive parentsreceive six weeks of fully paid parental leave. Additional unpaid leave may also be available under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

State employees are eligible for anextensive and highly competitive benefits package covering many aspects of wellness. Learn about additional wellness benefits for State employees from the Office of Employee Health and Wellness.

Note: Benefits may vary somewhat according to specific collective bargaining agreements and are prorated foranything less than full-time.

Theres a job and then theres purposeful transformative work. Our aim is to create a workplace where you can learn grow and continuously refine your skills. Applicants demonstrate job requirements in differing ways and we appreciate that many skills and backgrounds can make people successful in this role.

As an Equal Opportunity employer Maine State Government embraces a culture of respect and awareness. We are committed to creating a strong sense of belonging for all team members and our process ensures an inclusive environment to applicants of all backgrounds including diverse race color sex sexual orientation or gender identity physical or mental disability religion age ancestry national origin familial status or genetics.

If youre looking for a great next step and want to feel good about what you do wed love to hear from you. Please note reasonable accommodations are provided to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.