Serves as Department Head for the County Department of Information Technology (IT). This role will have responsibility for technology infrastructure, telecommunications infrastructure, technology services, and applications which support the mission of departments within the County. Responsible for working with County departments to establish the long-term strategic direction for technology and applications supporting governmental functions. Continuously monitors and adapts to align with the needs and requirements of departments and adapts to changes in technology in the industry. Will be responsible for ongoing management of the design and implementation of strategies which support the County’s strategic initiatives.
Responsible for establishing the direction of departmental staff to design, implement and manage the technology and applications which support the governmental functions of the County. Establishes processes and procedures representing industry best practices for managing the County’s information technology environment. Ensures the departmental staff follows established processes and procedures daily. This position has project management responsibility for all projects involving the design, implementation, and management of technology supporting County departments.
This position has overall responsibility for the County’s information security and will be responsible for establishing a security plan and related security policies and procedures which are designed to protect the information and technology assets of the County. Will have responsibility for the ongoing monitoring of security to ensure the County maintains a solid security posture.
Work is performed under the general supervision of the County Administrator with latitude for independent judgment and action, both unilaterally and as authorized by County Administration.
To learn more about Bedford County and view the recruitment profile for the Director of Information Technology CLICK HERE.
Essential Job Functions
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Responsible for the County’s perpetual Strategic Technology Plan and for continuous evaluation of this plan to ensure the strategies defined within are in line to support the County’s technology needs and industry trends and best practices.
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Responsible for continually evaluating technology services provided by the department as compared to industry best practices and solutions. Ensures the County stays within reasonable alignment with industry technology and best practices.
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Responsible for the development and management of the department budget, which is aligned with the strategic technology plan. Ensures the budget accurately represents the yearly operational costs necessary to operate the technology that supports the County.
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Responsible for overseeing the design, implementation, and management of technology infrastructure, which supports the County’s key business applications and technology services. This includes the County’s network infrastructure, server infrastructure, storage infrastructure, and telecommunications infrastructure.
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Responsible for developing and managing a computer replacement plan and budget to ensure computers required by County departments are adequate to support the needs of staff, allowing them to access necessary applications and technology services.
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Responsible for working with department personnel to review and analyze network, server, and application performance metrics to proactively identify issues before they occur and to adequately plan for necessary future state capacity.
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Responsible for working with departments to evaluate their business needs to effectively evaluate and identify the technology impact of these business needs and to then work with the departments to identify, plan, and implement solutions to meet these needs.
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Responsible for working with departments to aid in developing requirements, evaluating solutions, and implementing applications which are needed to support the core governmental functions of departments within the County.
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Responsible for working with department personnel to establish individual work plans and goals that support the department’s strategic initiatives. Responsible for monitoring these initiatives and goals to ensure personnel are performing as required.
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Responsible for continuous monitoring of demands on the department as compared to defined staffing levels and ensuring staffing levels are adequate to meet demand.
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Responsible for working with external vendors and resources as needed to supplement internal staff to ensure an appropriate level of coverage and support exists to ensure high availability of technology resources.
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Responsible for monitoring the skills, knowledge, and ability of department staff to ensure these are adequate to meet necessary project demands.
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Responsible for working with staff to set training goals to ensure the staff has adequate knowledge to support the technology as defined in the strategic technology plan.
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Responsible for establishing an effective information security plan which follows industry best practices to ensure the information technology assets of the County are adequately protected from contemporary cyber threats. Also responsible for monitoring and evaluating this plan on a recurring basis to ensure the plan is adapted to address new threats as they become known. Responsible for communicating and enforcing aspects of the plan throughout County departments.
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Responsible for the design, implementation, and testing of a disaster resilience strategy that ensures applications and technology services meet the availability time objectives for departments within the County.
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Responsible for establishing a technology project management framework, which allows the department to effectively design, and implement technology and technology related solutions for County departments, effectively, efficiently, on time, and on budget.
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Responsible for establishing a technology support framework which allows the department to effectively respond to and support the technology and applications and respond to user and departmental support needs in a timely, effective, and efficient manner.
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Accomplishes all tasks as appropriately assigned or requested by management.
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Participate in employee meetings and training as needed.
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Meets attendance requirements and maintains the highest level of dependability.
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Consistently demonstrates ability to respond to changing situations in a flexible manner to meet current needs and reprioritizes work as necessary.
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Performs special projects and other related job duties as assigned.
Education and Experience
A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field is required; a master’s degree is preferred. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience across multiple areas of information technology, including network engineering and support, systems and server engineering and administration, and application integration.
Prior supervisory experience, particularly within a local government environment, is preferred. An equivalent combination of education, training, and professional experience that provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of this position may also be considered.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
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Knowledge of the design, implementation, and operation of telecommunications networks and related technology infrastructure. This will include a thorough understanding of local area networks, wide area networks, and wireless technology utilized within each of these environments.
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Knowledge of contemporary server operating system platforms including the design, implementation, and management of these platforms.
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Knowledge of contemporary server and storage hardware platforms.
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Knowledge of desktop, tablet, and mobile operating systems and related hardware.
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Knowledge of contemporary technology best practices in areas such as cloud computing, server and desktop virtualization, software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and other related technologies.
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Knowledge of best practices in information technology and information security policies and procedures.
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Knowledge of industry best practices for establishing and promoting a positive security posture.
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Ability to in leverage and establish an appropriate balance of cloud-based and on-premise solutions to maximize availability, scalability, and cost efficiency.
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Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
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Experience in organizational and project management necessary to support and direct activities of the department from both a project and technical support perspective.
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Ability to communicate clearly with both skilled engineers, basic departmental users and departmental management.
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Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates, vendors, public, Board of Supervisors, and related governmental entities.
Disclaimer
Bedford County maintains a safe, drug-free workplace for its employees. Drug screening, driving record check, a criminal background check, and previous employer references are required for all positions as conditions of pre-employment.
Bedford County, VA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Bedford County is a certified Virginia Values Veterans (V3) employer. We are committed to implementing nationally recognized best practices in recruiting, hiring, and retaining highly skilled and dependable Veterans. The V3 Program is an official Commonwealth of Virginia Program, authorized under the Code of Virginia (§ 2.2-2001.2).
