Lora Cole Email & Phone Number

Phoenix, Az

As Assistant Bureau Chief I act in the capacity of the Bureau Chief and have full decision making authority. I work independently on sensitive, high level and critical related issues and provide recommendations based on the findings. I provide written and verbal guidance and recommendations to the Administration's leadership and have the authority to facilitate and attend internal and external meetings and speak, take action and provide direction on behalf of the Bureau Chief. I develop and have oversight of various middle to large-sized projects, which includes interviewing and eliciting information in support of these projects. I am responsible for researching and developing reports, conducting call center visits, gathering and consolidating information and preparing verbal and written communication to internal and external constituents. I maintain expertise in the programs provided to the DBME customers (Nutrition, Cash and Medical Assistance). I work closely with the Regional Program Managers to help develop them in their current roles.

In an organization with complex fiscal and business management functions, I am responsible for work of average difficulty, assisting the Division of Benefits and Medical Eligibility Data Security and Facilities Manager by directing centralized administrative services related to facilities including budgetary, accounting, purchasing and related services. I have knowledge of the principles and practices of administration with special reference to organization, fiscal management, budgetary control, office management, Department/agency regulations and operating procedures; resources for program services across the Department and how the programs relate to one another; policies and procedures governing the facility process; Leadership and team building methodologies.

Active lead role in coordinating, planning, developing and disseminating procedures exclusive to the creation of the Health-e-Arizona (HEA) Statewide Eligibility Team that will deliver program services for a statewide case load of on-line applications for Cash Assistance (CA), Medical Assistance (MA) and the Nutrition Assistance (NA) Programs. Planning, evaluating, coordinating, monitoring and directing all resources to ensure timeliness, quality and productivity goals and objectives are met for a statewide call center. Develop and implement procedures and processes. Supervise and mentor subordinate staff, providing resources and constructive criticism for staff development. Manage various staffing levels, making staffing assignments, and evaluating their performance. Continuously assess operational needs, establish priorities and adapt to changing workloads. Enforce Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) and Department of Economic Security (DES) personnel rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Reviewed Scope of Work (SOW) and Project Investment Justification (PIJ) documents for the new HEA Interview Integrated Voice Response (IVR) System. Prepared documents to support analysis, design, and planning of Virtual Office (VO), IVR, and HEA Statewide Eligibility Team projects. Participated in the design, development and implementation of the curriculum and training material. Established a technical support process, captured reports of technical problems and escalated through established process and tracked for final resolution. Coordinated with various technical support areas to resolve hardware, software and network operating system problems for Virtual Office and in-office HEA Team staff. Analyzed inbound and outbound applications, Symposium reports, and Engage call recording system and documented system change requirements. Completed system administrative functions for call routing and call monitoring.

Directly manage the activities of staff engaged in determining eligibility for public assistance programs to include Nutritional Assistance, Cash Assistance, and Medical Assistance. Delegate duties as assigned to ensure the local office is running at the expected capacity in order to deliver quality services to customers as well as meet specific deadlines and goals. Provide excellent customer service consistently with professional and courteous interactions, listening to all parties involved to find a resolution to the situation within our policies and procedures. Address personnel issues as they arise with full confidentiality and tact and in line with our policies and procedures. Research and respond to inquiries and complaints from customers, community partners, medical and legal service representatives. Interpret program policies and procedures. Conduct staff development (training) on a regular basis concerning updated policies and procedures. Effectively, appropriately and timely communicate with staff concerning expectations, policy interpretation, areas of concern and the FAA strategic plan in order to meet the agency and office goals. Utilize reports to monitor, assess and act on the information to ensure that timeliness and accuracy expectations are met. Develop and interpret statistical reports. Develop program specific training curriculum. Provide clear and concise verbal and written communications. Develop research methodology and strategies to analyze operations and develop effective plans and methods for carrying out and improving services. Conduct job interviews in line with the hiring process to determine the best candidate for hire. Approved/denied leave requests based on the needs of the office. Assigned as the Local Office Coordinator, ensuring security by administering door codes and communicating emergency action plans for different types of emergency situations specific to the workplace

I managed between 30 to 100 employees in a call center environment. Directly supervised a unit of call center agents ensuring that calls received statewide from Family Assistance Administration (FAA) customers are handled in accordance with the agency's policies, procedures, and service philosophy. Ensure quality service in accuracy and timeliness meeting the requirements of phone change processing. Ensure productivity goals are met including monitoring of attendance, login time, call time, wait time, and not ready time. Complete performance evaluations and personnel actions. I was a core team member of the Integrated Voice Response (IVR) Workgroup, the IVR Test Team, and the IVR Maintenance Team which completed all phases of the SDLC methodology to implement an automated phone system for the public. I helped to develop, test, analyze data, report results, elevate needed corrections, and implement the new IVR telephone system. I reviewed the functional specification for the IVR project and made recommendations to improve the call flows and scripts. Developed and documented business and technical requirements for the Change Center by reviewing existing software applications and reviewing technical recommendations from AZNET to design the phone agents computer and software needs. Completed system administrative functions for call routing and call monitoring software. Analyzed inbound and outbound applications through Symposium reports. Directly supervise a unit of staff engaged in the determination of eligibility for public assistance programs to include Nutritional Assistance, Cash Assistance, Medical Assistance, and General Assistance. Used online manuals to locate and interpret policies and procedures to provide information to customers, other agency personnel and the general public. Monitored various reports to ensure timeliness and quality goals were met.