At Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS), our mission is to improve the welfare of the County’s most vulnerable residents. We operate, influence, and fund essential services worth over $1 billion that more than 200,000 residents depend on each year, including treatment for mental health and addiction, homeless housing, and child and older adult protective services. Over the past 20 years, we have built a national reputation for being on the cutting edge of state and local governments using analytics and technology to deliver more effective and efficient public services. While we know much more about the use of analytics and software than when we first started, we still have much to learn. Above all, we are convinced that there remain significant opportunities for data and technology to improve the lives of our clients, and for DHS to extend its leadership role in inspiring governments to make similar investments.
We are seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead technology strategy, software development, and management of an annual technology budget of over $20 million. The CTO will lead initiatives to create products that enable a wide range of end users, from child welfare caseworkers to homeless shelter staff to the County Manager, to meet their goals more effectively and efficiently. The CTO is an integral part of the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) leadership team with great freedom to innovate to achieve our mission.
The CTO will be assisted by staff who manage IT projects, as well as up to 30 Analysts managed by the direct reports who use the data to build analytic products and tools that support staff and community-based providers to better serve Allegheny County’s most vulnerable people. Current DHS initiatives include using predictive analytics to improve targeting of resources for people at high risk of negative mental health outcomes, fixing the discoverability of human services on the internet, and creating automated and low-friction online approaches for clients to receive goods and services without physical or manual steps. The CTO will be given substantial autonomy and freedom to evolve these initiatives.
Additional responsibilities will include:
- Coordinating a multi-disciplinary team of DHS program and support staff to create and implement the overall technology strategic plan for DHS with a focus on innovative, well-designed applications and information systems that support end users.
- Creating and executing a vision for software delivery that is open source, low cost, geography agnostic, and built by in-house technical talent.
- Identifying and addressing places in our service delivery model that could be automated with technology and improved through simplified CX while still addressing the wide variance in use cases at DHS.
- Designing and enforcing product development processes that work backwards from end customers to build delightful, highly intuitive software that resolves customer pain points.
- Recommending technology and system architecture that meet best-in-class standards to provide enhanced outcomes across Allegheny County systems.
- Establishing an IT governance process for decision making on IT priority recommendations.
- Collaborating with DHS stakeholders from multiple – sometimes disparate – perspectives to ensure that new products address customer/provider needs and drive operational efficiencies.
- Fostering a department culture in which staff are empowered, motivated and engaged; that provides excellent service and reliable, high-quality solutions; and that works transparently and collaboratively, taking accountability for individual and team actions and continuously striving to improve.
- Developing and leading feedback processes to gather input from end users on technology products and implementation.
- Maintaining a pulse on industry trends to maintain DHS’ place at the forefront of technology, while also closing any existing gaps by observing how other organizations employ cutting-edge technologies to improve client/provider experience including reporting and visualization tools.
- Providing technical guidance for cross-system operational initiatives across DHS and related partners.
- Managing external consultants to ensure IT projects are completed in a timely fashion and potential risks are identified and mitigated.
- Providing oversight on technology procurement and contracts.
We are looking for someone who:
- Is a technologist with entrepreneurial leadership skills supported by a proven track record of success in leadership roles and a passion for proactively seeking out and strengthening areas of organizational weakness.
- Has a high degree of risk tolerance to better serve customers.
- Has knowledge and experience with programming and engineering management. However, rather than spending time writing code, the CTO will invest energy into charting and leading DHS’ efforts to better serve its clients, displaying a fierce commitment to the mission of improving the lives of the County’s most vulnerable residents.
- Has experience leading software and/or product development efforts. Prior technology industry experience is a strong positive. The CTO should also have significant experience evaluating client experience metrics, overseeing user research and testing and developing products with great UX/UI and strong knowledge of current and emerging technologies.
- Possesses experience with developing and executing a large-scale strategic plan, focusing on long-term success and software sustainability, as well as a demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, finding unlikely solutions in unexpected places when necessary.
- Has a proven ability to manage multiple stakeholder requests to better serve DHS clients, while effectively managing expectations and maintaining great working relationships with various stakeholders.
Application
- Resume and/or LinkedIn profile
At DHS we have a clear vision: to be the place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come, to grow and do their best work.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER – M/F/V/D