Salary for this position will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

General Description:
Serves as the agency’s Chief Information Officer, provides leadership for and management of the Information Technology and Services (ITS) division, and is responsible for managing the strategic, financial, and tactical aspects of information technology. Reports to the Deputy Commissioner of Administration. The successful candidate will possess both visionary and pragmatic skills necessary to lead the agency into the next phase of leading-edge information technology services, provide innovative leadership, use independent judgement, and introduce and implement cost-effective technology applications to the agency.

General Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership: Works with executive management and leaders across the agency to set priorities and align the use of technology with the agency’s mission and goals. Evaluates proposed technology projects and recommends priority projects to executive management through leadership of a strategic project governance process and structure. Coordinates information technology activities with other divisions within the agency. Identifies opportunities for which technology can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of staff in achieving the agency’s mission and goals. Directs the overall activities of the Information Technology division including application development and support and technology operations and planning. Serves as a key member of agency leadership.

Staff Management: Manages training, development, accountability, and productivity of IT staff members. Establishes clearly defined priorities, assignments, and deadlines for projects and staff. Provides leadership on and implements an IT Service Management framework.

Key Applications and Operations: Oversees the technology operations of ApplyTexas and MyTexasFuture, a comprehensive system for collecting, processing, certifying and managing the data reported by state’s institutions of higher education; student loan and grants systems; and financial applications and interfaces with statewide systems. Works in coordination with the agency’s divisions to ensure the key applications and operations provide excellent external and internal customer service.

Liaison to Department of Information Resources (DIR): Serves as the Agency’s designated Information Resource Manager as required by state statue. Communicates with DIR and provides oversight for documents and reports required by DIR and/or Texas statutes. Serves on the Data Center Services (DCS) Advisory Council, one of the governance groups for the DCS contract.

Budget Management: Works closely with the Chief Financial Officer to prepare budget requests and manage budgets for the IT division.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge Skills or Abilities:
• Knowledge of Texas statutes and rules governing Information Resource Technology; knowledge of relevant federal statutes, particularly those governing FERPA; knowledge of the state budgeting, planning and IT approval cycles, processes and documents.
• Knowledge of IR technology, including hardware, data communications, packaged software implementation, custom project management, software development and implementation, database and web services management.
• Knowledge of database concepts and efficient access techniques; experience with analysis and problem resolution pertaining to databases.
• Ability to effectively manage and administer a large internal information systems department; management of senior level managers; handle intra-agency policy and technology issues; identify and implement strategic technology and business responses to address issues and opportunities to improve agency efficiency and effectiveness; build agency consensus and provide leadership for internal action to implement major technology initiatives.
• Skill in managing employees, including training, assigning, and/or overseeing the work of others;
• Ability to establish and maintain relationships within the organization, with top-level executives, and colleagues in the field.
• Ability to plan, direct and coordinate complex data processing operations, analyze complex problems, and develop solutions.
• Ability to develop and implement techniques for evaluating application program activities.
• Ability to evaluate emerging software technologies
• Ability to serve internal agency customers by focusing effort on meeting their needs, understanding their concerns, and effectively resolving issues.
• Ability to comprehend complex technical topics and specialized information relating to information resources technology; includes ability to effectively analyze, interpret, develop and implement technical and management policies, processes and procedures and evaluate their effectiveness.
• Ability to research and accurately interpret policies and procedures.
• Ability to take initiative, work independently, and exercise sound judgment in making decisions.
• Ability to prioritize work and handle multiple tasks efficiently.
• Ability to effectively communicate information in a clear, organized and concise way both verbally and in writing.

Required In-Office Days:
This position requires on-site work. The employee must be physically present in the office five (5) days per week.

Military Crosswalk: https://hr.sao.texas.gov/Compensation/MilitaryCrosswalk/MOSC_InformationTechnology.pdf

Required Minimum Education and Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in information technology, computer science, business administration, or a related field.
• Demonstrated senior IT leadership experience with enterprise scale information technology organizations, including responsibility for IT strategy, governance, operations, cybersecurity, application development, data management, and budgeting.
• Experience serving in a Chief Information Officer (CIO), Deputy CIO, or equivalent senior executive role, or in a role with enterprise wide IT authority and accountability, in a public sector, higher education, nonprofit, or private sector organization.

Preferred:
• Experience serving as a Chief Information Officer within a Texas state agency or institution of higher education.
• Familiarity with Texas statutes, DIR governance, statewide IT oversight processes, and legislative or appropriations cycles is preferred but not required.
• Master’s degree in information technology, business administration, public administration, or a related field.
• Knowledge of Texas statutes and rules governing Information Resource Technology; knowledge of relevant federal statutes, particularly those governing FERPA; knowledge of the state budgeting, planning and IT approval cycles, processes and documents.

Physical Requirements and/or Working Conditions:
Work is performed in a standard office environment and requires:
• Regular, reliable, and punctual in office attendance at work;
• Frequent use of personal computer, copiers, printers and telephones;
• Frequent sitting;
• Frequently works under deadlines, as a team member, and in direct contact with others.

Workforce:
Must be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of measuring customer service / satisfaction deliverables.
• Show flexibility and adaptability toward changes in assignments and work schedules; and work extended hours as necessary.
• Adhere to the organization’s internal management policies and procedures.
• Contribute to the agency’s performance measures and mission.

Application Requirements:
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is an Equal Opportunity Employer. A State of Texas application is required to apply. For more information on how to apply for this position, go to the Coordinating Board’s employment opportunities website at https://www.highered.texas.gov/careers/

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board participates in E-Verify for each new employees’ Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. For questions, please call the HR Department at 512-427-6190. For vocal and/or hearing assistance call 7-1-1.

Notes to Applicant:
If you require any reasonable accommodation for the interview process, please inform the hiring representative who calls to schedule your interview. This position has been designated as a security sensitive position. A criminal background investigation will be conducted on the final candidate for this position.

Your job application must be completely filled out. Your application must contain dates of employment, job titles, name of employer and a description of duties performed in a way that demonstrates you meet the minimum qualifications for the position for which you are applying. Resumes do not take the place of the requirement to include this information on the application. If this information is not submitted, your application may be rejected because it is incomplete.

Veterans Information: THECB is committed to hiring Veterans. To receive Veteran’s Preference, a copy of the FORM DD214 -member #4, must be attached when submitting your application.

AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: THECB does not discriminate on the basis, of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability in employment or the provision of services.

Job offer and continuation of employment with THECB is contingent upon:
• Proof of education and experience listed on the application.
• Eligibility/authorization to work in the U.S.
• Satisfactory results from a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Compliance with the Selective Service Law for males ages 18-25. Please be advised that under Texas law, names and other information concerning applicants or nominees may be subject to disclosure upon request.

THECB does not allow dual employment with other state of Texas agencies or institutions.

Skills assessment may be conducted at time of interview.

No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted.