Senior Staff Analyst (Executive Level) / Chief of Innovation

The City of Houston's Planning & Development Department seeks an Executive-Level Senior Staff Analyst / Chief of Innovation to serve as a strategic leader responsible for driving operational excellence, modernization, and innovation. This role reports directly to the Assistant Director and collaborates with the executive team, functioning as the department's Business Process Analyst and Engineer.

Key Responsibilities:

Process Analysis & Optimization:
- Conduct comprehensive gap analyses on complex departmental processes to identify inefficiencies and risks
- Document and model workflows using industry-standard methodologies (e.g., BPMN, SIPOC)
- Recommend and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery

Innovation & Technology Enablement:
- Research and evaluate emerging technologies, including AI-driven solutions, to modernize operations
- Prototype enhancements using Microsoft Power Platform and other digital tools
- Act as the department's innovation champion

Strategic Collaboration:
- Partner with Planning and Development staff, City IT technical leads, project managers, and architects
- Facilitate workshops and stakeholder sessions to co-design workflows and gather requirements

Performance Measurement:
- Develop and maintain dashboards and KPIs to monitor operational performance
- Ensure compliance with public-sector regulations, data governance, and security standards

Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Information Systems, Engineering or related field
- Five years of professional administrative, financial or analytical experience

Preferred Technical Skills:
- Process Mapping & Analysis: BPMN, SIPOC, Visio, Lucidchart, Miro
- Data & Analytics: Power BI, Excel (Power Query, PivotTables), basic SQL
- Automation & Digital Tools: Power Automate, Power Apps, SharePoint, Dataverse
- Project Delivery Tools: MS Project, Azure DevOps, Jira, ServiceNow

Preferred Certifications:
- Lean Six Sigma Green/Black Belt
- PMP or equivalent project management certification
- Microsoft Power Platform certifications
- ITIL Foundation or TOGAF

Salary: $103,992 - $130,985 annually
Location: 611 Walker Street, Houston, TX
Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM