It's a product management kind of day

It's a beautiful Friday afternoon and I am in the land of product managers. It's really interesting that open positions seem to come in waves. There have been many times in my career where I have found myself in this situation. I have experienced it with technical trainer, business analyst, quality assurance, and many other roles. It actually makes my job more manageable; I can search for one skill set instead of three or four at a time. Also, it makes it much easier for me to present candidates to multiple opportunities, increasing my chances of placing them in that coveted J-O-B. I would be interested to hear if anyone in the job market has had a similar experience. Do you have days with lots of new jobs to apply for and other days when there is nothing?

Currently, I have 5 Product Manager positions open. 2 of these roles are contract and 3 are direct hire. A break-down is below:

#1: Product Manager; San Francisco, CA, 4 month+ contract, Online Community experience is required
#2: Product Manager; Walnut Creek, CA, 3 month+ contract (possible contract to hire), IA, User Testing & SCRUM experience is required
#3-5: Sr. Product Manager: San Francisco, CA, Direct Hire/Perm, health care and Agile experience is preferred

As always, you can contact me at aclark@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

- BG Recruiting

New Job - Agile Product Manager - Walnut Creek

My client is seeking an experienced Agile Product Manager to join their growing team. This is a 12 month+ contract in Walnut Creek. If you are interested, please contact Aileen @ aclark@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.


The Product Manager represents the Product Owner and the End-User/Customer – they are responsible for defining and scheduling the delivery of high quality output in line with business requirements and priorities.


Key Responsibilities of the Product Manager (Scrum Meetings):


• Meet with business stakeholders to discuss, define and capture requirements – User Research
• Consider Market conditions
• Manage the Product Management documentation- Product Backlog(s), Release Plan(s), Product Roadmap(s), Release Notes and any other Requirements-level notes/sketches
• Communicate and capture requirements in a way that people can understand them e.g. Themes, Epics, User Stories, Test Cases, UI sketches, Conditions of Satisfaction etc.
• Presentation of new user stories/requirements (this may also be done by the Product Owner)
• Document feedback from the development team (e.g. viability of stories and top-level effort estimates)
• Re-prioritize, expand and more clearly define the product backlog
• Add/remove user stories and conditions of satisfaction as necessary
• Introduction of user stories and agreed conditions of satisfaction to the development team
• Document level of effort estimated to deliver each user story – use these to drive prioritization and release planning
• Present the highest priority User Stories – and suggest the proposed scope of iteration (this may be done by the Product Owner)
• Negotiate top-level Sprint scope and ensure that requirements are fully understood
• Agree Sprint Objectives with development team – this is a collaborative process
• Update release plan further to the meeting and ensure that the Product Owner (and Key Stakeholders where appropriate) are aware of the Sprint scope

Requirements:


• Experience writing Stories, prioritization, effectively communicating with Development team
• User Research: i.e. Experience creating User Journeys
• Understand web development
• Understand data flow
• Understand how to create structures and systems
• Experience with JIRA and/or Rally
• Experience with Balsamiq
• Team uses Mac, so that would be a plus to have
• Usability Testing is nice to have


- BG Recruiting

Re-entering The Job Market

I wanted to share my thoughts for those individuals who find themselves back on the job market after many years of comfortable employment.


Job searching has changed, hasn't it?


The first thing you need to know is your job search is going to be 70% Internet based. This means you are going to have to be okay with browsing multiple web pages and posting your resume electronically. Resumes are not faxed anymore, they are emailed and uploaded on websites.


Your resume should be posted on Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com and Craigslist.org (also, Dice.com if you are an IT Professional). This not only means uploading your resume, but logging in every other week to update it in their system. Unless, you have a crazy manager who monitors all of these sites, do not list yourself as confidential. This makes it more difficult for potential employers to contact you. Some may even skip your resume, simply because it is listed as confidential. If you are nervous about sharing too much personal information, omit your address. It is acceptable to just have your city and state listed. You can also list your current employer as "confidential". But remember, listing your email and phone number are important. You want to make it easy for hiring managers and recruiters to contact you.


Now, don't forget about searching for jobs. A great site for searching for open positions is Indeed.com. This site lists all of the open positions listed by the job search sites I previously mentioned. The only drawback of this site is it may have older jobs listed that have already been filled. That's okay, you are going to apply for a lot of positions anyway. Job searching is definitely a numbers game. Do not be over-analytical. If you have 80% of what they are looking for, go ahead and apply. It's possible that you have some experience not listed on the job description that they need. Or the other 20% of requirements aren't really needed. The worst thing that could happen is they wont call you.


- BG Recruiting

Technical Specialist (.Net)

Happy Monday fellow bloggers!

We have an interesting opportunity for a .Net Developer in downtown San Francisco. This is a contract to hire position and definitely offers long-term potential. Our client really wants someone with that mind-set, so please refrain from applying if you are only interested in working as a consultant.

All interested parties should contact ME (Baby Genius a.k.a. Aileen) at aclark@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS / % OF TIME SPENT


• Conceptualizes, designs, codes, unit tests, debugs, and documents programs of varying complexity.     Develops and implements system designs that meet established design standards. Develops implementation plans to include business case, task list, timeline, documentation, and fall-back plan, as well as monitoring the installation of hardware, software, and services. Evaluates and proposes new and existing hardware and software options. Manage and address assigned production issues. Consistently demonstrates the use of ingenuity and creativity by making recommendations and taking actions to direct the analyses and solutions of problems. 80 %

• Completes other tasks as may be assigned by Department and Division Management. 15 %

• Reports on the status of projects both orally and in writing. Provides guidance, mentoring, and training to project team members. Coordinates tasks with other employees during specific projects. 5 %

General Requirements:


• Degree in Computer Science and/or equivalent technical education and experience.
• Applied experience in multiple program products and multiple system components, and demonstrates technical proficiency of computer operating system functions, components, applications usage of system functions, and data center operations.
• Demonstrates applied knowledge in the following areas (must-haves are in bold):
• Programming Languages: VB.NET, C#, HTML, WSDL, TSQL
• Database: SQL Server 2005/2008
• Scripting, Tools, and Technology: Visual Basic, Java Script, ASP.NET, Silverlight, SOAP, DOM, XML, XSLT, XSD, CSS, HTML, COM Object, SSRS, IIS, Visual Studio, SQL Management, ClearCase, ClearQuest
• Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 7/XP
• Applications programming, including sort, utilities and other special function packages.
• Knowledge of Client/Server environments.
• Ability to apply understanding of systems internals to the applications programming environment and business needs assessment.
• Ability to develop and conduct training and guidance for other members of the team.
• Advanced verbal and written communications skills, including stand-up presentations.
• Ability to interact with senior management on a regular basis.
• Demonstrated analytical skills and proficiency in proposal preparation and writing.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Possess a working knowledge of PC software programs, including all MS Office Front Office Products.
• Skills to take general input and direction from project leads and managers and to subsequently organize and complete projects independently



- BG Recruiting

Great Data About Our Labor Market!

arketI did not write this, but thought it was great information to share. Michael Blackman regularly creates "The Blackman Report", helping us to better understand today's labor market. I hope this can shed some light on the sometimes confusing, BLS data:

THE BLACKMAN REPORT

LABOR MARKET CONFUSION WHAT’S BEHIND THE HEADLINES

 

EMPLOYMENT INDICATORS

• Total unemployment: 9%

• College educated unemployment: 4.5%

• The temp sector (1.7% of payroll) created about 30% of private payroll jobs over the last year

          What does the latest BLS data say about the state of the labor markets?

The April BLS report indicates continued labor market strengthening, consistent with other labor indicators. Highlights include:
• Headline non-farm payroll for April was a much better than the expected net, with 244,000 jobs created, and much better than the 186,000-plus consensus.
• Growth was driven by the private sector, which was up by 268,000, reflecting the strongest level of private sector job growth since the “good old days” of February 2006.

Growth in the BLS/ADP reports in recent months show a return to a solid rate of growth, consistent with some of the best multi-month periods of the last expansion. In addition, we are seeing an unprecedented degree of bifurcation in the labor markets. Masked underneath the “headline” BLS 9% unemployment number is an already increasing difficulty in attracting highly skilled knowledge workers, particularly in the tech world.


Overall, the economy’s fundamentals are improving. Most encouraging are improvements in the job market and the flow of credit. Of concern are higher commodity prices and the battle over the federal budget. We continue to hear from many clients their desire to maintain as much flexibility as possible given the many regulatory uncertainties as well as concerns about the depth and length of the recovery.


Does this signal any new hiring trends? If so, what are they?

Tech staffing continues to outperform given the ubiquitous nature of technology in American business, and the accelerating rate of change in the tech realm. Further, the Tech sector is benefitting, as many companies are still reluctant to hire technology employees on a full-time basis — especially those working on project-oriented tasks (e.g., system rollouts).
Anecdotal evidence from executives has also led the Street to believe that tech staffing will once again be a leader in 2011, with many citing supply shortages in some skill sets, which is driving increases in wage rates. Interestingly, the Street believes some of this wage inflation may be driven by the higher wages being paid by such high fliers as Google, Twitter and Zynga, which is starting to have a ripple effect in many other Tech areas.

If you had to characterize the current labor market in one word, what would that be? What does that mean for employers with regard to solid hiring strategies?

I think the question here is – is there a so-called temp “super-cycle” emerging, where peak temporary penetration rates move continuously higher? The answer may well be yes, as supported by the fact that we continue to see a recovery where a disproportionate amount of private sector hiring is being created through the temp sector. Additionally, many economists recently tempered their GDP expectations for the U.S. economy which may result in clients turning increasingly to flexible staffing, which allows them to quickly adjust to this constantly shifting economic environment and the significant uncertainty surrounding regulatory, tax and health care reform.
Kforce continues to benefit from the strength of our diversified revenue footprint, which is concentrated in some of the highest demand areas in today’s knowledge-based economy. While the overall BLS unemployment numbers remain relatively high, college-educated unemployment was just 4.5 percent in April. Talent shortages are particularly severe in tech, which is project driven by nature and constitutes more than half of our revenues. Kforce is well positioned to service our clients' increasing desire for a more flexible workforce during this unique temporary employment led recovery, which may contribute to a sustained secular shift toward a temp staffing model as clients look to maintain a maximum degree of flexibility.

          - Michael Blackman

The Importance of Staying Positive in an Interview

Many experts suggest speaking in a good light towards current and past bosses, but the positive speak must stretch further than that.
Avoiding negativity about previous managers and your reason for leaving a company is important. Even if you have a boss from hell (i.e. The Devil Wears Prada), you should never admit it!!!! I would recommend such subtleties as: “the company is going in a direction that is not in-line with my career goals”, “there is no room for growth” or “I am looking for better prospects and a better work environment”. This is not to say that you should lie, be honest. Just avoid mentioning the bad stuff.


 
Meryl Streep as the "boss from hell", Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada

Technical Trainer - Data Warehouse

Instructional Designer/Technical Trainer
San Francisco (must be on-site Monday-Friday)
3 month+ Contract

Must have relational database background including ability to read and interpret data (ER) models and write basic SQL, experience in one or more query/reporting applications such as Business Objects or SAS, and top notch communications and content creation skills. Healthcare data experience strongly preferred.

Researches, designs and delivers classroom, computer-based and Intranet-delivered instructional materials. Employs appropriate instructional design methodologies to ensure that the training developed is relevant and provides the knowledge and skills required to improve job performance. Is able to function independently with minimal oversight and direction. May instruct and guide lower level technical professionals. Assignments are broad in nature and complex in scope. Typically designs and develops approaches that are implemented by others. Ability encompasses in-depth knowledge of fundamental concepts, practices and procedures of particular field of specialization. Generally requires 5 to 8 years of professional experience directly related to all aspects of the primary product, program or technology. Fully competent professional.

Interested applicants should contact Aileen Clark at 415-678-2321 or aclark@kforce.com

Healthcare Project Manager in El Dorado Hills or San Francisco

We are currenlty hiring for an experienced Project Manager. The ideal candidate will bring 8-10 years project management experience including work within the healthcare industry. PMP is preferred but not required. This position can sit in either San Francisco or El Dorado Hills. Travel between the offices will be required.

This position requires high energy, be highly motivated, and have demonstrated success in project management. You will be required to plan, lead and motivate design teams, development teams, and QA teams working to replace key computer systems for the company's HMO book of business. The successful candidate must be a team player and enjoy working with other people on challenging projects.

Contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321

Responsibilities:
• Directly leads and manages projects throughout all project stages in the areas of communication, schedule, budget, resources, scope, risk, and issues.
• Responsible for leading project teams and managing activities associated with projects that are typically cross-department or organizational entity-wide in scope.
• Work effectively with cross functional staff, including IT, other project managers, multiple levels of leadership, business partners, and vendors as necessary.
• Develop and revise complex project plans and budgets, work with users to understand problems, focus on bringing issues to resolution, and escalate as necessary to meet timelines.
• Responsible for assembling the project team, assigning individual responsibilities, identifying appropriate resource needs, and developing a schedule to ensure timely completion of project and meeting interim deadlines of project.
• Prioritize workload to keep projects on track.
• Responsible for understanding problems, bringing issues to resolution, and escalating as necessary to meet timelines.

Requirements:
• Bachelors degree and 8-12 years of relevant product management experience in health care or related industry.
• Experience with HMO and/or Facets project management highly desirable
• Strong knowledge of health care business.
• PMP preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to organize, prioritize and manage multiple tasks and concurrent projects.
• Demonstrated skills in resource organization, project/task prioritization and schedule development.
• Excellent quantitative and qualitative analysis skills.
• Ability to serve as a change agent and influence behavior across departmental lines and at multiple levels.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including effective delivery of executive level reports and in-person presentations.
• Exceptional use of PowerPoint and Project.
• Successful partnering and collaboration skills.

- BG Recruiting

Biztalk Developer - San Francisco

We are currenlty hiring for a Biztalk Developer to work in San Francisco for a small healthcare company. This is a 3 month contract position. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

POSITION SUMMARY:



Under the direction and supervision of the Director of IT, the System Interface Developer will be responsible for developing, implementing, and supporting the integration of applications between diverse platforms both internally and with business partners. The developer will be expected to perform development of BizTalk orchestrations, mappings, and if needed, XSLT to achieve complex data conversions.
The candidate will be expected to architect, design, and implement new BizTalk applications using BizTalk 2010. The candidate will be expected to use design patterns to create reference projects to be used in the building of current and future BizTalk applications.

REQUIRED SKILLS/COMPETENCIES:

• Expert level technical knowledge and experience in Microsoft technologies – BizTalk, C#, SQL
• Experience developing custom pipeline components and performing mappings / transformations and the conversion of data to other schemas
• Experience building complex applications using advanced orchestration techniques
• Understanding of Application Integration and Service Oriented Architecture
• Excellent knowledge of WCF and WCF SQL adapters
• Experience with SOAP, WSDL, XML Web Services
• In depth knowledge of XML, XPath queries, XSLT
• Excellent knowledge of EDI HIPAA transactions (837 and 820)
• 5+ Years of Microsoft Biztalk
• 5 Years of C#, XML, SOAP, and WCF
• 4-6 years of experience in application development and/or technical business analysis
• Experience reading and writing SQL data through BizTalk orchestrations or pipelines
• Ability to communicate clearly and patiently with users

DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develops a standard architecture to be used for all current and future BizTalk applications
• Work closely with programmers and DBA’S in the design of business solutions
• Work with project team members to define requirements and create technical designs
• Functions as a technical resource for the other team members
• Performs a variety of complex programming tasks, such as designing, documenting, and coding program logic
• Performs analysis and makes recommendations in areas that require a high level of technical competency
• Train and mentor the in-house development team on the basics and advanced concepts of BizTalk
• Provide guidance on how to the use of the BizTalk administrative console

- BG Recruiting

Data Analyst in Oakland

I am currenlty hiring for a Data Analyst to work in downtown Oakland. This is a 8 month contract position. The ideal candidate will bring strong recent expeirnce in Excel. Please contact Aileen if you are interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Duties:

• Take the Full Review Template and divide it into sets of manageable templates and send to coders for review.
• Receive the completed Review Templates from coders.
• QA and consolidate the Review Templates into a single file after reviewing for discrepancies and completeness
• Send consolidated QA file to auditors for final review.
• Receive QA file from auditors and review for discrepancies and completeness
• Incorporate QA file into the Master Combined Results file and generate the Intrinsic HCC Value Report and Status Report Template.

Qualifications:

• Expertise in Microsoft Excel (vlookups, pivot tables, arrays)
• Ability to analyze large amount of data with high level of accuracy
• Strong organization skills and very detail oriented
• Ability to create graphs, charts and troubleshoot complex Excel formulas
• Ability to create presentations via Microsoft Power Point
• Demonstrate ability to follow defined process
• Demonstrate ability to interact with project management team and external vendors


- BG Recruiting

Business Project Manager

We are currenlty hiring for a Business Project Manager to work in Downtown San Francisco. The ideal candidate will bring 8-10 years project management experience. Experience with Six Sigma, Agile, or PMI methodologies are required. Recent healthcare industry experience is preferred. This is a 4 month+ contract position. Please contact Aileen if you are interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Job Description:

Senior Project Managers act as the single point of accountability for delivering large scale, complex, and crossfunctional projects on time and on budget. Senior Project Managers are expected to direct the daily activities of team members on multiple projects to ensure they provide high quality and cost effective services. Senior Project Managers design and develop approaches to projects that they implement themselves or are implemented by others, ensuring that the strategic directions of projects are in line with business objectives.

Create and review project, proposal or plans for own projects or for those managed by other project managers, Set project objectives, Complete cost/benefit analysis, Manage scope and scope change requests, Plan and direct schedules and budgets, Monitor projects from initiation through delivery and monitor for continuous improvement, Track large-scale projects against major milestones and adjust projects as needed, Analyze, interpret, and derive meaning from data, Identify and develop contingency plans to mitigate and address risks
Implement change management activities, Take responsibility for benefits realization as well as meeting milestone and budget targets, Responsible for assembling a project team, assigning and monitoring work of team members and providing guidance and leadership, Manage project staff involved in the planning, development and implementation of complex projects, Communicate with and influence internal and external stakeholders regarding key project objectives and steps, to ensure buy-in, Train, develop, coach, and mentor others (including project managers) in multiple areas, Conduct performance appraisals of team members, Resolve issues escalated by others, Hold an in-depth understanding of the scope of a project (including project lifecycle)


- BG Recruiting

Project Manager - Financial District

Today we have a Project Manager position in the financial district of San Francisco. This is a 6 month contract position. Experience with SAP, Quality Analysis and User Acceptance Testing is required. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Description



Responsible for managing people responsible for a systems project involving department or cross-functional teams focused on the delivery of a computer based system through the design process and into a finished state for internal or external customers. Oversees and coordinates all aspects of project and serves as manager for project team who are the liaison between project management, line management and other departments. Plans and directs schedules as well as project budgets. Monitors the product/program/project from initiation through delivery, interfacing with customer on technical and non-technical matters. Assesses project issues and develops resolutions to meet productivity, quality, and client-satisfaction goals. Organizes interdepartmental activities ensuring completion of the product/program/project on schedule and within budget constraints. Assigns and monitors systems analysis and program staff, providing technical and non-technical support and direction. This position may be in a matrix type of organization, where the position does not have responsibility over product development but does have overall product/program/project management responsibility.


Experience


8+ years experience in project management, requirements definition and/ or deployment of business requirements to information systems including 7+ years managerial experience. Knowledge/Skills: Advanced knowledge of building system solutions or business applications. Thorough knowledge of funding proposals. Strong writing, negotiation and presentation skills. Collaborative, customer-focused and able to create visible value. Proficient in SAP. Experience with Quality Analysis and UAT.

- BG Recruiting

6 EDI Analyst Positions

We are currenlty hiring for 6 EDI Analysts to work for one of our clients in El Dorado Hills. This is a 5 month contract position. The ideal candiadte will have healthcare industry experience along with some experience in testing or anlaysis.

Please contact Aileen if you are interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Job Description:

Responsible & knowledge in 27x transaction & Testing experience for EDI x12 4010 and 5010 transactions sets including 270/271 (Eligibility/Benefits), 276/277 (Claim Status), and 278-13/278-11 (Authorizations). Ability to read and understand complex file layouts including x12 4010 and 5010 Ability to review and comprehend technical business requirement documentation Familiar with real-time and batch transaction processing Experience with testing business software applications including EDI interfaces testing Ability to run test cases, document results, and document software defects Healthcare industry knowledge in the areas of eligibility, benefits, claims, and utilization management.

- BG Recruiting

Health Data Analyst - 3 Month Contract to Hire

I am currenlty hiring for a Health Data Analyst to work for one of our client companies in San Francisco. This is a 3 month contract to hire position. The ideal candidate will bring 5 years experience and a MPH, MBA, MS, MA in science, social science, public health, health services research or business, or BA/BS with demonstrated equivalent work experience. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

This position facilitates management of data within the Quality (QI) Department in support of ongoing organizational and healthcare delivery quality improvement efforts. Under the supervision of the Department Director and according to established policies, procedures and regulatory requirements, the position is accountable for multiple aspects of data management, including: request, preliminary analysis, interpretation, and presentation. The position provides analysis of data and trends in order to identify opportunities for improvement and to verify the success of quality improvement actions taken. Knowledge of multiple data sources is needed in order to request or seek out information required for quality/performance improvement activities, patient safety initiatives and regulatory compliance.


Specific duties and responsibilities:

• Designs reports that integrate data from multiple sources, including design of reporting systems and standardization of metrics and formats across departments and functional areas. Designs, builds and enhances database systems and applications for complex, high level reporting requirements.
• Develop and implement analyses of program performance and a regular reporting structure, which provide key indicators of performance and are linked to actions, which use the data to improve the effectiveness of program delivery.
• Develop and implement analyses that evaluate new quality programs or program features including the oversight to the testing and implementation of pilots of new program capabilities.
• Document analysis and project outcomes using company standards and templates as well as forms required by NCQA or URAC.
• Provide input into the development of tools, which support the ongoing evaluation of program performance and support the quality improvement cycle for program/outcome-operations teams.
• Work with the Medical Director for Quality and Director of Quality to establish linkages to customer health plans and employers to acquire data, which can be used as inputs to earlier participant intervention and for program evaluation.
• Provides training and mentoring for team members on best practices for analysis and reporting; serve as a resource to the organization regarding Quality Improvement processes and quality related accreditation and regulatory requirements.
• The position shall coordinate and/or participate in data analysis, discussion and development of action plans by appropriate quality committees, CQI Teams, and others.
• Assists in coordination of interactions between data analysis teams and support functions including information systems, provider relations and medical management
• Create presentations as needed
• Ad hoc assignments as required


Skills and Abilities: Strong analytical skills in area of data management and project design. Excellent skills in writing to describe program goals, methodology, outcomes and barriers, and opportunities for improvement. Proficiency in use of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio and Access Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers/stakeholders supporting ability to effectively relate, inform, instruct and facilitate the understanding of quality improvement concepts and processes. Professional demeanor, highly flexible, able to manage multiple and changing priorities, and meet aggressive project deadlines. Ability to work with members of multiple disciplines to identify sources of data, project methodologies and improvement opportunities is required. Knowledge of medical terminology and familiarity with clinical care delivery preferred


- BG Recruiting

Lead Business Analyst

Kforce is currently hiring for a Lead Business Analyst to work in downtown San Francisco. This is a 6 month contract. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

The day-to-day work of the Lead Business Analyst will consist of managing to the established tasks/milestones for the projects, documenting processes, identifying gaps and working at various levels of the organization to communicate progress/status and resolve issues.


Ideal candidates have the following skills/experience:

• Expert knowledge of health insurance sales and operational processes including proposals, group setup, enrollment, billing and benefit administration
• Expert knowledge of and ability to perform analyses such as, gap analysis, process mapping, root-cause analysis, risk analysis and requirements gathering
• Ability to interpret and summarize data for executive consumption, then deliver to executive audiences
• Facilitation of process improvement teams to resolve business issues and improve processes
• 3-5 years experience managing medium-sized projects (either in a consulting role or a team-based facilitation role) where you have evaluated opportunities for improvement in operational performance, created plans to address the issues, vetted solutions and implemented the fixes
• Demonstrated self-starter personality who can attack complex business problemswith little guidance and direction
• Experience using Visio and MS Office tools

Education/Requirements:

B.A/B.S. degree and 3-5 years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

- BG Recruiting

Wireless Network Engineer

My client is currently hiring for a Wireless Network Engineer to work in their San Francisco location. This is a 12-18 month contract to hire position. The ideal candiate will bring a strong background in Cisco wireless technologies. Experience working for a small to mid-sized company is preferred. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

- 5 years of wireless network administration experience, with strong Cisco wireless knowledge.
- Cisco certification required (CCNA)
- Wireless certification or equivalent experience required.
- The candidate should be able to work in a fast paced environment and have the ability to multi-task.
- Experience in the healthcare industry is a plus but not required. However, the candidate should be comfortable working near patients.
- The individual will be on an on-call rotation with 2 other employees. This will occur 1-2 times per month with compensation
- Candidate will need to be local to San Francisco (will not be permitted to work remotely)


- BG Recruiting

IT Project Manager with Behavioral Health

My client is currenlty hiring for an experience IT Project Manager with knowledge of behavioral health. This is an 8 month+ contract in San Francisco. The ideal candidate will bring 8-10 years overall IT Project Management expeirence including significant expeirence in the healthcare industry. Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

  

Requirements:

• Experience with multi-stream projects
• Experience working with multiple IT and Business stakeholders involving extensive communication.
• Experience with the projects involving redesigning data feed interfaces between company and vendors.
• Health Care experience is a big plus.
• Experience with the Behavioral Health (MHSA) projects is a big plus.
• Experience working with Magellan Health Services is a huge plus.
• Experience working with USBHPC is a plus.
• Tools: the HPPM experience is a plus.

 - BG Recruiting

Bilingual Healthcare Program Manager

We are currently hiring for a healthcare Program Manager to work in downtown San Francisco. This is an 8 month+ contract position in downtown San Francisco. An applicant who is fluent in Spanish would be ideal.

Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.


Responsibilities: 

• Responsible for the resource planning, production scheduling, milestone tracking and project coordination on behalf of the Product Management and Development team. Oversees planning and execution of Product development project and production schedules. Gathers project requirements and defines scope of assigned projects. Manages group documentation, presentations, tools and deliverables Responsible for large/complex projects/programs.
• Exercises independent judgement in developing methods, techniques and evaluation criterion for obtaining results.
• Provides input into designing strategies for alignment with business unit goals and objectives.
• As part of a broader management team may have influence on business unit, or function strategies and objectives.
• May act as the business unit liaison to corporate initiatives and projects.
• May provide guidance and leadership to other team members as well as cross functional contacts.
• Ensures various team members provide high quality and cost effective services.

Requirements:

• Ability to influence team members functioning in a matrix environment.
• Demonstrated leadership, project management, program evaluation and consulting skills.
• Previous project management experience required.
• Generally requires Bachelors degree or equivalent and 6-8 years of experience in the related area. Masters degree strongly preferred.
• Bilingual Spanish skills are strongly preferred.

- BG Recruiting

  

Java Programming Lead

We are currenlty hiring for a Java Programming Lead to work in San Francisco. This is a 3 month+ contract with the potential for contract to hire.

Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Responsbilities:

Provides technical expertise in the support of specialized programming projects using web based and client server tools. Responsible for design and development of systems including making recommendation on the use of technology standards and tools. Performs programming analysis. Performs business and application analysis and design. Develops applications using a variety of JAVA based tools. Consultant Operates under general direction. Assignments are very broad in nature and of the highest level of complexity. Able to impact beyond area of responsibility. May instruct, guide and oversee work of lower-level technical professionals. Consults and makes recommendations to management on significant issues. Responsible for developing and implementing new products and/or approaches in conjunction with implementing new/existing technologies. Knowledge encompasses entire scope of a technical discipline and has received recognition for development of one or more unique sub-specialties. Generally requires 8 to 12 years of directly related professional experience and possesses deep technical abilities in one or more primary products, programs or technologies.

Requirements:

- very strong technical skills with at least 7 to 10 years hands-on design, coding, integration and deployment experience in enterprise web applications

- expert level skills in using Spring, hibernate, quartz, Axis frameworks for enterprise web applications
- extensive experience in Java, JEE, JDBC, XML, XSL, MQ, SQL
- strong working knowledge of Java Script, AJAX, HTML, CSS, JSON
- Experience conceptualizing and proposing new designs, creating prototypes and proof-of-concepts and driving end-to-end implementations.
- Experience with iterative development life cycle methodologies and application of those principles, especially Agile development practices.
- Strong knowledge of design patterns
- Proficient in domain modeling, database modeling and database skills
- Experience with build systems (Ant, Maven), unit testing tools (Junit, HttpUnit, etc), version control software and defect tracking systems.
- Good understanding of SOA
- Expert in Web Services
- Good understanding of web content management, and experience with Teamsite or Tridion a plus
- Good understanding of search technologies, and experience with Ultraseek a plus
- Good team management and collaboration skills
- experience using RAD and IBM WebSphere
- Basic understanding of ATG frameworks (Nucleus, Relational Views, Repository Views) will be a plus
- Excellent communication skills and strong ability to work effectively with the business and technical people.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal



- BG Recruiting

Program Manager with nursing background

My San Francisco based client is hiring for a Program Manager with a nursing or case management background. The ideal candidate will bring 5 years program and project management experience along with RN or Case Management experience. This is a 6 month contract to hire position.


Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.


DESCRIPTION:

• The Program Manager will play a central role in managing operations and projects related to vendored clinical programs. As the lead for case management programs, the PM will be responsible for execution and delivery of a suite of high touch member-facing case management programs.
• Responsibilities include relationship management, program operations and oversight, as well as reporting and continuous quality improvement. This position provides the unique opportunity to be involved with departments across the organization and to be responsible for vital aspects of vendor relationships and contract management.
• The PM will be a key manager in the Center for Health & Wellness.

 RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Independently manage and oversee ongoing operations between vendors and the company
• Plan and direct project initiatives from initiation through delivery and monitor for continuous improvement
• Review externally produced reporting critically and for consistency
• Produce relevant reports on process metrics, utilization metrics and cost savings estimates for internal and external customers
• Review member communications
• Manage operational budgets
• Design and document process workflows
• Communicate with internal and external stakeholders
• Escalate issues as needed
• Manage project scope and identify appropriate scope changes and direction
• Coordinate with cross-departmental team members; provide guidance and leadership
• Provide input into designing strategies for alignment with business unit goals and objectives as part of a broader management team

 - BG Recruiting

Full Time Healthcare Business Analyst

My client is currently hiring for a Mid-Level Business Analyst. This is a full time/direct hire position based out of San Francisco. The ideal candidate will bring a strong healthcare background. IDX experince would be helpful, but is not required.

Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com 415-678-2321.

Job Description: 

Qualified candidates will be involved in planning, implementation, enhancement, testing, maintenance and support of application software and related information systems. Duties will be in line with standard Business Analysis job duties in addition to participation in support for new customers' go live including system conversion support, on-site client support during go live periods and scheduling of outputs. Previous healthcare experience working with managed healthcare software applications is preferred as well as experience in operational / technical support. IDX experience would be a plus.

- BG Recruiting

Health Reform Program Manager

My client is currently hiring for an experienced Program Manager to oversee various healthcare compliance projects and 2 project managers. This individual will be part of a team of Program Managers responsibile for their Health Reform portfolio. The Program Manager will be responsible for PM activities as well as driving activities through two other PM's on the effort. This is a 1 year contract in downtown San Francisco. Along with hourly pay, Kforce provides many benefits including: medical, dental, 401K, vision, flexible spending accounts and paid sick time.

If you are qualified and interested, please contact Aileen at ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Responsiblities:

• Manages the design, development and/or implementation of new or enhanced systems projects or programs.
• Responsible for assembling project team, assigning individual responsibilities, identifying appropriate resources needed and developing schedule to ensure timely completion of project and meeting interim deadlines of project.
• Communicates with internal and external parties on project status.
• Prepares reports regarding status, budget, risks, etc. for management review.
• Scope and complexity of projects may vary.
• May have managerial responsibility for staff.
• Responsible for complex projects/clients/products/programs.
• As part of a broader management team has influence on business unit, project or function strategies and objectives.
• May provide management direction to team members during project life cycle.

Required Skills:  

• Ability to Direct the activities of two other PM's managing a highly complex effort with 27 different work streams.
• MS Project
• HP PPM experience desired
• Agile, Waterfall methodologies
• Healthcare experience is highly desirable
• Strong communication skills – written and verbal
• Must have experience working on projects that are Application releated
• Individual should be able to conduct meetings at a high level.

 - BG Recruiting

ICD-10 Business Analyst

Our client is seeking a Senior Business Analyst to provide analytical support through analysis and interpretation of data to help enable the organization to become ICD-10 compliant. The Senior Business Analyst must have the ability to review internal business processes, identify impacts, and develop future state processes as needed. Research industry trends and other factors to assist in developing solution options and detailed action plans. This is a 6 month+ contract in downtown San Francisco. This is a 32 hour per week position.

Please contact Aileen if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.


Responsibilities:

•  Provides complex analytical support through the analysis and interpretation of data in support of cross-functional business operations.
• Develops, prepares, and analyzes complex reports for management review.
• Defines complex business requirements and provides analysis toward operational efficiency. Analyzes actual results against plan and forecast and recommends interventions where appropriate.
• Works cross-functionally in analyzing, designing and developing business solutions. Provides analytical support for multiple, complex, projects simultaneously, establishes work plans and timelines; coordinates with internal and external sources.
• Make presentations to various levels of management.
• Works under limited supervision, using established procedures. Advanced knowledge of automated systems in a production or operations environment.
• Ability to identify, analyze and resolve complex cross-functional problems related to business operations statistical analysis methodology.

 Requirements:

• Advanced knowledge of and ability to perform analyses such as, GAP analysis, process mapping, root-cause analysis, risk analysis and requirements gathering. Advanced knowledge of PCs and related software applications.
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills. Excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Highly developed math, analytical and problem-solving skills and use of analytical tools (e.g. MiniTab, Excel graphs). D
• emonstrated project management skills.
• B.A/B.S. degree and five years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Great if this person has healthcare experience but not required.

- BG Recruiting

CMS Business Analyst

I have a client in the Northern East Bay who is hiring for a Senior Business Analyst. This is a full time/direct hire position. The ideal candidate will bring 7-10 years experience with a strong focus on content management systems. Please contact me if you are interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Responsible for realigning the development roadmap for the Content Management System, as part of the overall eBusiness platform, including extensions required to support the international rollout of the system (addition of translation capabilities which may include third-party add-ons), improving usability for core users, and extending use deeper into the organization.

Serves as the primary point person for all CMS-related issues and enhancements requested by clients across the enterprise.
Meets regularly with business clients and CMS users to understand their needs and ensure CMS development activities are aligned with the business and properly prioritized.
Influences business decision makers with recommendations based on detailed analysis from the business point of view while consulting regularly with the Corporate IT CMS team.
Works closely with other Business Analysts to prioritize CMS enhancements within the larger Web Site Support activities.
Communicates CMS enhancements to the business clients, either in conjunction with or supplemental to Web Site Code Release business communications.
Oversees or participates in User Acceptance Testing of CMS enhancements.
May also play a lead role in the area of Site Search, User Experience optimization, and SEO optimization as part of the Global eBusiness business team.
May supervise the activities of other team members on projects.

- BG Recruiting

Informatica Administrator

We are currenlty hiring for Informatica Administrator to work in downtown San Francisco. This is a 10 month contract to hire position. Contact Aileen if you are interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Job Description:
Responsible for installing, configuring and maintaining Informatica software in support of business processing requirements. Determines systems needs, recommends technologies to meet overall corporate and business unit requirements. Performs software installations and upgrades to Informatica software packages. Monitors performance and disk space utilization.. Is able to function independently with minimal oversight and direction. May instruct and guide lower level technical professionals. Assignments are broad in nature and complex in scope. Typically designs and develops approaches that are implemented by others. . Ability encompasses in-depth knowledge of fundamental concepts, practices and procedures of particular field of specialization. . Generally requires 5 to 8 years of professional experience directly related to all aspects of the primary product, program or technology. Fully competent professional. .


Requirements:


• Experience in setting up & configuring enterprise Informatica Implementation with Powercenter 8.X (8.6 and further preferable) on Solaris and Oracle 10g and greater.
• Experience in Informatica Data Quality (IDQ), Informatica Data Explorer (IDE)
• Experience in monitoring the environments and suggesting improvements for stability & performance tuning.
• Experience with Enterprise HA & Grid (v8x).
• Experience in working with Informatica Corp for product issues, licensing and understanding product roadmaps
• Experience in maintaining security through effective management of users/groups and OS Profiles
• Experience with PowerCenter
• 5-7 yrs of experience Informatica experience
• Experience in Implementation of patches and upgrades
• Experience in the implementation of maintenance activities like Powerdowns / Reboots etc..
• Understand the need for BCP, have knowledge of DR requirements and perform DR tests Provide technical expertise and leadership to resolve complex Informatica infrastructure issues.
• Experience in handling Incident and Change Management requests through service desk
• Coordinate with internal clients / storage /Unix / DBA / NOC teams to resolve issues
• Coordinate and offshore support and development teams
• Ability to think through and resolve complex Infrastructure issues
• Ability to lead and drive infrastructure projects to a successful closure
• Strong knowledge of RDBMS concepts, ETL development and scripting will be an added advantage.
• Good team player with equal ability to work independently during weekends, off hours and provide on-call support
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of ITIL processes
• Willing to learn new technologies and concepts

- BG Recruiting

Visual Online Designer - 11 month Contract to Hire

I am currenlty hiring for a Visual Online Designer to work in downtown San Francisco. This is an 11 month contract to hire position. Please contact me if you are qualified and interested: ashroyer@kforce.com or 415-678-2321.

Requirements:


• Bachelors Degree or equivalent with emphasis in related field (such as Motion , Graphics or Design)
• Strong knowledge of and personal connection to the high-tech industry
• Working knowledge and understanding of content management systems, web technologies, including HTML, Flash, etc…
• In-depth knowledge of user-centered design documentation systems such as wireframes comps and design specifications
• Excellent knowledge of graphics and user-centered design tools, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash.
• Must have top-notch samples and portfolio/URL demonstrating high-level of design skills.

Responsibilities:

• Work closely with eBusiness, Marketing, and BU partners to conceptualize and execute designs that will advance user adoption rates for self-service features, retain members, increase revenue from online applications, and precisely communicate product features and benefits
• Design and produce web page templates including landing pages,email campaigns, banner ads, e-newletters and Flash banners/headers.
• Take a holistic approach to visual design across the site – develop, own, and evangelize the company's online brand
• Evangelize User Centered Design to create visuals that provide best in class user experiences, while clearly defining new product features and reinforcing the company's brand
• Gather project requirements and explore strategic design solutions that clearly fit business goals and user goals, while promoting the Blue Shield brand
• Rapidly develop visual concepts and “sell” them to clients (Product Managers and BU partners)
• Refresh/update existing designs, working within existing templates and conventions but also exploring new solutions
• Develop detailed design specifications, then work closely with the product, engineering and QA teams to support UI implementation efforts
• Participate in formal and informal design critiques, give effective feedback to peers

Transformation/Change Management Analyst

I am currenlty hiring for an experience Transformation / Change Management Analyst. This is a 6 month contract based out of Oakland. If you are qualified and interested, contact Aileen at ashroyer@kforce.com or 415.678.2321.

Responsibilities:

• Candidate must possess experience providing Decision Support in a medium to large corporate environment.
• An example would be performing economic and financial valuation on employee wages and benefits for specific scenarios and presenting the outcomes.
• Individual must be able to work under pressure, handle multiple projects, be self motivated and meet tight deadlines.
• Strong oral and written communication skills are also required. Past participation in union / company collaboration environments are a plus.
• Candidate must be able to build, test, document, and maintain Access & Spreadsheet applications and reports.
• Individual must be able to communicate and present financial outcomes and logic to a wide audience.

Requirements:

• 7-10 years experience in an analysis role including experience in Decision Support, database management, information systems and business
• Advanced skills in Access and Excel (pivot tables, macros and VBA) a must.
• Intermediate skills with Power Point required. Familiarity with Cognos Query Studio or similar business intelligence tools is required.
• Exeperience with SAS is a plus
• Bachelor Degree
• Health Industry experience is a plus but not required

- BG Recruiting