Chief Technology Officer

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The Office of Innovation & Technology (OIT) is the central IT agency for the City of Philadelphia headed by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). OIT oversees all major information and communications technology initiatives for the City of Philadelphia - increasing the effectiveness of the information technology infrastructure, where the services provided are advanced, optimized, and responsive to the needs of the City of Philadelphia’s businesses, residents, and visitors. OIT responsibilities include: identifying the most effective approach for implementing new information technology directions throughout city government; improving the value of the city’s technology assets and the return on the city’s technology investments; ensuring data security continuity; planning for continuing operations in the event of disruption of information technology or communications services; and supporting accountable, efficient and effective government across every city department, board, commission and agency.

The City of Philadelphia information technology operations are at an exciting crossroads. Years of effort and capital investments has resulted in significant legacy system modernizations. We have built up software and UX engineering teams to create best in class digital services for diverse audiences and business needs. We have demonstrated the value of security investments and have scaled to defend against cyber-attacks to support an on-prem workforce. We have setup strong governance frameworks to enable consistent and reliable decision making in a complex federated IT environment, serving multiple lines of business and government operations. 

After years of growth and achievements, the Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT) nonetheless continues to need to lay the foundations for comprehensive road mapping of technology to guide the next wave of modernizations and innovations. OIT is hiring for a Deputy CIO to act as Chief Technology Officer ("CTO") who can both envision the near- and long-term futures, draft clear actions plans, and lead on the implementation of those plans in collaboration with the CIO and executive team. This is simultaneously both a strategic and operational role.

The CTO will develop multiple strategic technology initiatives and related plans to create and deliver on one or more technology roadmap(s).   In some cases, the role requires leading from behind as implementation steps must be carried out by other IT teams and leaders (e.g., networking, the MSO365 engineering team, departmental IT units). In other cases, the CTO must take the lead in organizing the resources within their portfolio to enact strategies and direct solution partners to achieve sustainable results – as defined in the CTO technology roadmap. The CTO must also define and manage technology strategy in less than perfect situations and seek the optimal rather than perfect path to success due to budget constraints lack of business capacity, or the complexities of a politically and technically federated ecosystem of IT environments. 

Essential Functions

• Provide leadership to a portfolio of program directors for Enterprise Architecture, Software Engineering, Digital Services, Enterprise Database Operations and Document Management.
• Define a long-term technology strategy for OIT that aligns with city’s business (departmental) operations and with an emphasis on life cycle management, management of risk, meaningful utilization and adoption, innovation, and well-defined support models.
• Create mid-term strategic initiatives, related project plans and pertinent technology roadmap(s) in collaboration with the appropriate deputy CIOs, and specifically with the Chief Information Security Officer, for these key areas:                                                                              life cycle management of enterprise platforms and endpoints;                                          enterprise disaster recovery backups and storage;                                                                migration of enterprise databases from legacy to elastic cloud platforms;                                and                                                                                                                                                    technical administration and operation of ERP and HCM platforms
• Support a shared services model for use of enterprise Cloud resources (AWS and Azure) across business units for backup and recovery, virtualization, content management, full stack development, hosting, and delivery of digital services, etc. Responsible for the City’s Data Centers, potential HCI (Hyper Converged Infrastructure) and Virtual Environments (VMware ESXi 8.0).
• Advance the capacity of the enterprise architecture team and solutioning engineers to quickly assess technical requirements and provide clear direction and consultation on projects and procurements proposed by departments. Affirm OIT’s architecture and security standards while balancing those against the needs and goals of the business owner.
• Coordinate with the directors of enterprise architecture and database operations, and Chief Data Officer to affirm OIT’s data governance vision of no silos, least friction, but secure data access, and continue to execute on a plan to migrate from on-prem legacy RDBMS to elastic, lower total cost of ownership, highly inter-operable, Cloud database platforms, as appropriate.
• Facilitate the modernization of the City’s legacy systems and reduce the technology debt (IBM Mainframe, and other legacy systems).
• Build relationships with departmental leadership who need to adopt the CTO’s technology strategies and buy into the benefits of risk reduction and productivity offered by enterprise solutions vs. shadow IT that is difficult to support and secure.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Prior experience in crafting technology strategy, articulating a vision, and implementing technology roadmaps within large organizations with multiple lines of business operations.
• Hands on experience with directing enterprise system operations including Cloud and data center full stack engineering – infrastructure, application and database tiers, access controls and production support.
• Experience directing or having oversight of enterprise database (Oracle or MS SQL) operations, ERPs HCM and CRM solutions and having modernized or migrated one or more systems from legacy on- prem environment to cloud or hybrid cloud platforms including the technical and change management impacts on business operations. 
• Experience with migration efforts from private cloud (Vmware) to public cloud providers (GCP, AWS, Azure).
• Excellent communication (written and verbal).
• Experience in large-scale project planning, setting and meeting goals, setting timelines, updating managers and team members on status, etc.
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks common within municipal government entities like HIPAA , CJIS and PCI.
• Executive leadership experience in guiding, inspiring, and setting expectations for accountability and success among team leaders and their team members.
• Prior experience dealing with a critical strategic and operational role in a resource constrained environment will be helpful
• Ability to create and maintain good working relationships and collaborations with an array of personality types and business interests.

Five years of relevant professional experience required in role of a CTO, chief of engineering, director of solution architecture, IT operations director, ERP technology director, or equivalent.

Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. Master’s degree is preferred.

Salary Not to Exceed: $175,000

Starting salary to be determined based on experience and qualifications. 

Important: To apply, candidates must provide a cover letter and a resume.

Work Setting: in-person (onsite)

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:
•    We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents
•    Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
•    Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
•    Generous retirement savings options are available
•    Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
•    Enjoy a Free Commute on SEPTA - Starting September 1, 2023, eligible City employees will no longer have to worry about paying for SEPTA public transportation. Whether you're a full-time, part-time, or provisional employee, you can seize the opportunity to sign up for the SEPTA Key Advantage Program and receive free Key cards for free rides on SEPTA buses, trains, trolleys, and regional rails.
•    Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!
Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to [email protected].