(DOE-028-26) Planning Associate 3 (Computer Applications and Systems Design) (Technical Lead)

New Jersey Department of Education; Trenton (NJ); On-site; USD 100,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Health insurance

Telework

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

The New Jersey Department of Education in Trenton is seeking a Planning Associate 3 (Computer Applications and Systems Design) (Technical Lead) to oversee design, programming, and implementation of information systems, supervise staff, and ensure compliance with state and federal requirements.

The role provides technical leadership to developers, guides enterprise applications, reviews requirements, and promotes secure development practices while collaborating with DevOps teams on CI/CD and

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in a relevant field.
• Five years of system design and programming experience.
• Experience leading technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Supervise monitoring and maintenance of databases and systems.
• Lead design, programming, and implementation of information systems.
• Provide technical leadership across the software development lifecycle.
• Review requirements and translate into maintainable solutions.
• Promote secure development practices.

Skills

Technical leadership

System design

Programming

Java

Spring Boot

RESTful APIs

Git

Cloud services

SQL

Education

Master's degree in CS or related field

Tools

React

Oracle

Hibernate/JPA

CI/CD

AWS

Azure

Git

Job description

Notice of Vacancy

Reference Number: DOE-028-26

Title: Planning Associate 3 (Computer Applications and Systems Design) (Technical Lead)

Range/Title Code: R30/72625D

Salary: $100,498.48 - $148,186.78

Position Number: 070047

Issue Date: October 8, 2026

Closing Date: October 22, 2026

Core Hours of Operation: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Location: Trenton, New Jersey

Division: Division of Administrative Services, Office of Information Technology

Description

Under direction of a supervisor, in the Office of Information Technology, supervises the monitoring and maintenance of department databases and computerized systems; plans the design, programming, and implementation of information systems; supervises the development of education programming by conducting analyses and evaluation of educational programs, surveys, needs assessment, and related research; included in these responsibilities are supervising the establishment, maintenance, and evaluation of programs and fiscal data related to state and federal formula aid and discretionary grant applications and allocations; performs mandated regulatory functions; performs work of considerable difficulty and works with a high level of independence; supervises staff and work activities; prepares and signs official performance evaluations for subordinate staff; and performs other related work as required.

Leads, develops and maintains Department databases and computerized systems; participates in planning the design, programming, and implementation of information systems; develops education programming by conducting analyses and evaluation of education programs, surveys, needs assessment, and related research; establishes, maintains, and evaluates program and fiscal data related to state and federal formula aid and discretionary grant applications and allocations; performs mandated regulatory functions; and is knowledgeable in and works with independence in areas of assignment.

Provide technical leadership and guidance to software developers throughout the software development lifecycle.

Lead the design and implementation of enterprise applications, integrations, APIs, and supporting services.

Review technical requirements and translate business needs into practical, maintainable technology solutions.

Establish and promote development standards, coding practices, architectural patterns, and quality assurance practices.

Conduct code reviews and provide constructive technical feedback to development staff.

Troubleshoot and resolve complex application, database, integration, and production issues.

Identify technical risks, dependencies, performance concerns, and opportunities for improvement.

Provide technical direction for application modernization, system integration, and legacy application enhancements.

Collaborate with DevOps and infrastructure teams to improve CI/CD processes, deployment practices, monitoring, and application reliability.

Work with database and data engineering teams on application/database integration, data access, performance, and optimization.

Participate in technology evaluations and make recommendations regarding frameworks, tools, platforms, and development approaches.

Help establish and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, application standards, and operational procedures.

Promote secure software development practices and ensure applications follow applicable security and organizational standards.

Mentor developers and assist with knowledge transfer, technical training, and development of team capabilities.

Assist with estimating technical effort, identifying resource requirements, and planning development activities.

Support production releases, incident resolution, root‑cause analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Collaborate with technical leads and stakeholders across the organization to promote consistency and reuse of enterprise solutions.

Stay current with emerging technologies and recommend opportunities to improve the team's development capabilities and technology landscape.

Education

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master's degree in Educational Administration, Public Administration, Computer Science, or a related field.

Experience

Five (5) years of experience in system design and computer programming on a mainframe or a PC LAN environment.

Note: Applicants who do not possess the required education may substitute additional experience as indicated on a year-for-year basis with thirty (30) semester hour credit being equal to one (1) year of college. Applicants wishing to substitute additional experience for the required Master's degree, must possess a total of six (6) years of combined education and experience, in addition to the required experience cited above.

Preferred Education/Experience

Five (5) years of experience in technical leadership, system architecture, and developing both traditional on‑premise and cloud‑based web applications utilizing Java (Spring Boot / Spring Framework), RESTful APIs, modern JavaScript/TypeScript with SPA frameworks (React required), Relational Databases and SQL (Oracle preferred), ORM tools (Hibernate/JPA), Git version control, CI/CD pipelines, and Cloud Services (AWS or Azure).

Employee Benefits

• Pension
• Deferred Compensation
• Health (medical, prescription drug, dental & vision care) and Life Insurance
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
• Tuition Reimbursement*
• Flexible and Health Spending Accounts (FSA/HSA)
• 13 paid holidays
• Benefit Leave (vacation days, sick days and administrative leave days)
• Telework*
• Alternate Work Week Program*

*Pursuant to Department’s policy, procedures, and/or guidelines.

Open to the Following

In accordance with the New Jersey First Act P.L. 2011 c.70, effective September 1, 2011, new public employees are required to obtain New Jersey residency within one (1) year of employment.

Authorization to Work

Selected candidates must be authorized to work in the United States according to the Department of Homeland Security, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement regulations. Note: The State of New Jersey does not provide sponsorships for work visas.

SAME Applicants

If you are applying under the NJ “SAME” program, your supporting documents (Schedule A or B letter), must be submitted along with your resume by the closing date indicated above. For more information on the SAME Program, visit their website at: nj.gov/csc/same/overview/index.shtml, email: [e-mail], or call the Civil Service Commission at (609)-292-4144, option 3.

EOE/AA Statement

The New Jersey State Department of Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer, has an Aff…