Director of Technical Services

Salary: $160,139.00 – $226,262.00 Annually

General Purpose

The Director of Technical Services is a stand-alone classification. Under policy direction, this position plans, organizes and directs activities of the Technical Services department in providing sophisticated, comprehensive District-wide Information Technology programs and services to support the achievement of the District’s mission and strategies; providing expert professional assistance and guidance to District management on technology strategy, long-term technology initiatives and investments and using technology to solve operational needs and problems. Qualified candidates must have experience in programming, query and report development, database design, data research, compilation, mathematical analysis and system administration. Incumbent is responsible for managing personnel and resources in the Technical Services department. 

The Director of Technical Services, as a Department Head, shall understand the District’s mission, strategic goals, values and policies. The incumbent will be self-motivated with good judgment and high ethical standards; have excellent verbal and written communication skills along with the ability to multi-task and organize. Leadership skills are critical to the positions combined with technical abilities to motivate and enhance employee morale. The incumbent, as a Department Head, also functions as a member of the District’s executive management team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that maybe performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the class.

• Provides strategic direction for the implementation, execution, maintenance and training needs of the District’s information system infrastructure.
• Supervises employees to include prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff are trained; and making hiring, termination, and disciplinary recommendations.
• Evaluates new cybersecurity threats and information technology trends and develops effective security controls; oversees development of security awareness programs; develops and oversees effective disaster recovery policies and standards to align with District business continuity goals; coordinates development of implementation plans and procedures to ensure business critical services are recovered in the event of disasters or other incidents, and provides direction, support and in-house consulting in these areas.
• Monitors industry hardware and software trends; evaluates the uses of emerging technology in meeting long-term District business and operating strategies; directs the study of new technology to determine its utility, consistency with department technology strategies, relevance for meeting District business and operational requirements and expected return on investment, recommends and establishes long-range technology direction and strategies; establishes hardware and software standards for general use; coordinates District-wide acquisition of software and hardware including development of long-range funding plan for maintenance and replacement of hardware.
• Identify all relevant data sources across the organization; establish policies for data quality, accuracy, retention, and access; and develop a roadmap for scalable data capture, storage, and processing to ensure readiness for AI/ML analytics.
• Oversee geographic information system for District-wide use; coordinate and monitor geographic information system teams, staff, and consultants.
• Clearly articulates and translates complex technical concepts into layman’s terms for a variety of audiences, (e.g. the Board of Directors, all District staff, and the general public);
• Provides technical support and advice to users and management. 
• Establishes standards for system development, interpretation, and maintenance of documentation, and computer operation procedures.
• Writes Board agenda submittals and makes presentations to the Board of Directors as needed.
• Develops and manages the department budget.
• Performs long-term technology planning for district departments. Interacts effectively with others in the workplace.
• Maintains professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; participating in professional societies;
• Contributes to the design and implementation of disaster recovery and business continuity plans;
• Maintain prompt and regular attendance;
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge of:

• Cybersecurity principles and best practices.
• Programming languages relevant to District business systems.
• Industry standards for software development.
• Applicable computer hardware and software.
• Applicable network hardware and software. 
• Applicable network operating systems and servers.
• Applicable cloud-based systems.
• Database design, management, and report writing.
• System operations, procedures, capabilities, limitations, and service requirements for information systems.
• Internet technologies.
• Disaster planning and business recovery concepts and techniques.
• IT infrastructure including network design, configuration, operations and management concepts and best practices. 
• Budgeting principles and best practices.
• Project management principles and best practices.
• Supervisory principles and best practices.

Ability to:

• Work collaboratively with others and provide expert advice and counsel to develop solutions to complex issues.
• Organize, set priorities and exercise expert independent judgment within areas of responsibility. 
• Present proposals and recommendations clearly, logically and persuasively.
• Use computers and related software applications. 
• Comprehend and interpret technical and complex documentation and reports, as well as any applicable laws, codes and ordinances. 
• Conduct research.
• Present at public meetings.
• Coordinate, negotiate, and manage relationships with consultants and vendors.
• Understand, interpret, explain and apply applicable laws, codes and ordinances.
• Conduct business and systems analyses to develop and implement appropriate procedures and controls.
• Communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing to diverse audiences of technical and non-technical personnel and negotiate understanding and agreement.
• Coordinating projects and resources between departments.
• Troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware and software problems. 
• Manage projects.
• Use tact and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive, complex, and/or confidential issues and situations;
• Monitor, mentor and evaluate staff. 
• Respond to non-normal working hour emergency operational and/or life-threatening conditions.

Minimum Qualifications

A candidate’s qualification for the role is determined through a combination of the candidate’s education, training, and experience that would likely provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform in the position. However, all candidates must meet each of the following minimum qualifications, except where any specific qualification is described as preferred/desirable or is described as an alternative to another minimum qualification:

Education: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university with major course work in business administration, information technology, computer science, computer information systems, data processing, or a closely related field. Master’s degree is preferred. 

And

Experience: Seven (7) years of progressively responsible, related information technology experience, including three (3) years of supervisory experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed. Experience in a public agency is preferred.

Licenses, Certificates, Special Requirements:

Possession of a valid Class C California driver’s license, acceptable driving record., 

Certified Information Security Professional (CISSP) certification; highly desirable.

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification; highly desirable.

DEMANDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by employees to successfully perform the essential functions of this class. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Environment: Standard office setting. 

Physical: Positions in this class typically require fingering, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions. Sedentary Work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met. Incumbents require sufficient physical ability to work in an office setting; stand or sit for prolonged periods of time; operate office equipment including use of a computer keyboard; push, pull, lift, and/or carry light amounts of weight; verbally communicate to exchange information.

Vision: See in the normal visual range with or without correction; vision sufficient to read computer screens and printed documents; and to operate assigned equipment. 

Hearing: Hear in the normal audio range with or without correction. 

Work requires responding to emergency calls.