Information Technology Director

The Information Technology Director for the City of Tacoma is responsible for the planning, oversight, organization, and direction of the activities of the IT organization. This individual will be responsible for maintaining a high degree of customer service to other divisions and departments as well as City Management.  He/she will be responsible for providing complete technology support for all city services.

 

Major responsibilities include:Strategic Direction – Defining the Department’s strategic direction, in concert with the CIO, by developing a business plan aligned with the City’s priorities and values.People Management – Hiring, developing, retaining, and motivating a committed, competent staff.Operations Management – Developing and maintaining effective operational systems and processes that assure innovative, cost effective, and reliable delivery of services.Community/Customer Relations – Creating and maintaining positive relationships with City Council, customers, labor, citizens, business groups, and other organizations that support, impact, and advance the Department’s mission.Financial Management – Managing the Department’s financial performance in a responsible manner that results in long term financial stability and predictable spending. Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance – Establishing systems and processes to promote safety and minimize organization liability and costs.Interdepartmental Cooperation/Teamwork – Maintaining good relationships and collaboration with other City of Tacoma departments ensuring efficient and effective delivery of products and services.

 

Important qualities of a successful Information Technology Director include the following:Leadership:  Maintain a leadership presence; model success behaviors, high performance work ethic, and constant self-improvement.  Become known outside traditional domains of expertise; be involved in multiple interdepartmental and interagency efforts that cross boundaries.Strategic Thinking: Use strategic thinking to evaluate proposed actions and timelines against organizational mission and values.  Integrate current plan with other plans as needed to achieve overall mission.  Customer Relations:  Demonstrate intuitive sense of where expertise and influence exist; establish relationships that enhance collaboration and support. Utilizing strong interpersonal skills, maintain customer relationships in order to continue and enhance business relationships.  Address customer needs and desires while providing superior customer service.Change Leadership:  Demonstrate the ability to transform and align an organization through its people to drive for improvement in a new and challenging direction.  Cope with and help others deal with the ongoing demands of change; proactively embrace change as a way to accomplish goals more effectively; see the benefit and inspire others to accept change.  Clarify priorities when leading change.Resourcefulness and Adaptability:  Use imagination to develop new approaches, deal effectively with difficulties and changing situations.  Develop and share mental models that enable people to solve difficult problems and find new sources of relevant information.Complexity:  Juggle multiple deadlines and priorities successfully, even with inadequate time to complete all of them; fulfill cross-boundary roles that bridge expectations, commitments, and requirements across stakeholder groups.Risk Analysis:  Demonstrate ability to analyze risk, weigh alternatives, manage exposure, and assign responsibility.  Actively support stretching outside of comfort level and trying new techniques that may enhance success; coach for incremental, one step at a time improvements; offer praise and recognition as each step forward is made.Team Behavior:  Recognize and encourage the behaviors that contribute to teamwork (e.g., sharing information, sharing expertise, working together, putting team success first).Information Presentation:  Effectively translate complex or technical concepts, verbal or written, into messages lay persons can readily understand and grasp.  Compose clear, direct, and succinct written messages that effectively convey ideas or information to the intended reader.  Recognize when language requires adjustment to achieve understanding by differing readers, and easily reword messages accordingly.Personal Interaction:  Handle intense interaction with grace.  Remain calm while handling volatile, threatening, or other emergency situations.  Juggle commitments, attention spans, and workloads with ease.  Serve as a role model for work balance without being considered a “workaholic.â€�

 

Interested candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Business, or related field.  Preference will be given for a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, Information Management, Business, or a related field.  Successful candidates should possess 10 years of relevant experience with increasing responsible administrative and management experience.  Residency within the City of Tacoma is encouraged.

 

The Information Technology Director will be a strong manager with excellent experience in bringing teams together and establishing effective working relationships. This strong leader will be able to manage a diverse workforce and create unity among the groups within Information Technology.  This candidate should possess a good understanding of SAP or other major ERP systems to help bridge the gap between the technical community and the business users within the city.  Ideally, the successful Information Technology Director will develop and establish service learning agreements and increase overall customer service standards for the Information Technology Department.

 

The City of Tacoma offers a competitive starting salary range commensurate with experience.

 

Relocation assistance, temporary living allowance, as necessary, and a complete package of senior level benefits will be available for the selected candidate.

 

The opportunity to work and live within one of Washington’s most progressive communities and experience the lifestyle found in the Pacific Northwest are other advantages which are part of this challenging opportunity.

 

Interested applicants should forward a transmittal letter of interest and a resume to:

 

Arcus Public

8170 Adams Drive, Suite 200

Hummelstown, PA 17036

877.570.8040

 

Email:

resume.public@arcus.net

Subject: Tacoma/IT Director