Chief Information Officer

at  City of Kingston

OPENING STATEMENT

The City of Kingston is grateful to experience the traditional territories of Anishinabek (Ah- nish-in-ah-bay), Haudenosaunee (Ho-den-o-show-nee) and Huron-Wendat (huron-wen·dat). Kingston is a smart, livable city in the heart of eastern Ontario. Its stable and diversified economy includes global corporations, innovative start-ups and all levels of government.
At the City of Kingston, we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential elements of a thriving workplace. We value the unique perspectives and experiences that each individual brings to our team. As we continue to grow, we are dedicated to creating an environment where all employees feel welcomed, respected, and empowered to contribute their best work. The City of Kingston views diversity as its strength and we encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those from underrepresented communities.
As staff, you play a pivotal role in enhancing people’s lives by delivering exceptional, customer-centered services of the highest quality. Within our highly ethical environment, you’ll embrace accountability by consistently going above and beyond, actively listening to our customers, creatively addressing their needs, and maintaining unwavering respect for all individuals you serve. As a result, you’ll become an integral part of our qualified and dynamic team, recognized for its compassion, excellence, integrity, inclusivity, and adaptability.

POSITION SUMMARY

PLEASE NOTE - The City of Kingston has engaged the professional services of Boyden Executive Search to support recruitment efforts for this particular position. All qualified and selected applicants will be forwarded to Boyden Executive Search for consideration
The Chief Information Officer (CIO), reporting directly to the Commissioner of Corporate Services, serves as a beacon of leadership transcending traditional confines. Embracing a role beyond technological oversight, the CIO embodies a senior business strategist, guiding technology vision, leadership, and strategic direction in line with the City of Kingston’s aspirations. Their leadership inspires adaptability among department staff and shapes technology strategies to optimize the City’s operations and service delivery. This transformative approach benefits not only the Corporation but also elevates the experience of the City’s valued customers.

QUALIFICATIONS, COMPETENCIES

Bachelor’s degree in fields related to computer science or business.
7-10 years of recent and relevant experience in IT or information management; including significant management roles.

SKILLS, ABILITIES, WORK DEMANDS

Strong understanding of IT Finance based on experience in the areas of assessing IT investments, managing operating and capital budgets, developing business cases and cost analysis.
Ability to work in a politically sensitive environment while demonstrating tact and diplomacy.
Highly developed analytical and business planning skills with a proven track record for long term visioning, planning, and budgeting.
Required to obtain and maintain a satisfactory criminal record check.
PLEASE NOTE - The City of Kingston has engaged the professional services of Boyden Executive Search to support recruitment efforts for this particular position. All qualified and selected applicants will be forwarded to Boyden Executive Search for consideration

Leads the organization’s Information Technology function by building and managing the infrastructure, technologies, and data that enable digital transformation and support the goals, objectives, and priorities of the City of Kingston.
Participates in strategic and operational governance processes of the City as a member of the leadership team.
Leads IT strategic and operational planning to achieve business goals by fostering innovation, prioritizing IT initiatives, and coordinating the evaluation, deployment, and management of current and future IT systems across the organization.
Keeps abreast of emerging digital and business trends, develops, and executes an IT strategy that takes advantage of these trends, and collaborates with other business leaders to embed digital opportunities in business strategy.
Implements integrated technology strategies to successfully increase the efficiencies of staff by reducing and eliminating duplication of systems and data, work, and manual processes to improve how the city works.
Educates peers and the business at large about the enterprise changes that underpin success in digitization.
Oversees an organization-wide data analytics strategy and engagement model for data management.
Directs the City’s Open Data Program by ensuring that a robust and dynamic collection of datasets are available thru the Open Data Platform to support open and transparent government.
Oversees all aspects of applications development, quality assurance, database administration, network operations, and ServiceDesk functions to ensure all technology development projects and infrastructure are aligned with strategic business plans and are technically sound and cost-effective.
Leads the implementation of industry standards and development methodologies to increase responsiveness and growth.
Oversees the development and execution of an enterprise cloud strategy and the migration of enterprise applications, platforms, and data to cloud solutions.
Creates the foundation for embedding new technologies into external customer-facing products or services.
Provides oversight and administrative direction in project management activities such as planning, management, reporting and risk identification for technology projects.
Ensures delivery of IT services through oversight of service level agreements and monitoring of IT systems performance.
Assesses and communicates the risks associated with IT investments.
Directs the implementation and execution of the enterprise Cybersecurity program to ensure appropriate levels of confidentiality, integrity, availability, safety, privacy and recovery for information assets and associated technology, applications, systems, infrastructure, and processes.
Develops, socializes, and coordinates approval and implementation of security policies.
Works with stakeholders to ensure that Cybersecurity requirements are included in contracts and procurement activities.
Directs the creation of a targeted information security awareness training program for all employees, contractors, and approved system users, and establishes metrics to measure the effectiveness of this security training program for the different audiences.
Designs and implements appropriate governance processes to prioritize technology investments and ensure information technology initiatives are aligned with City strategic goals.
Works with stakeholders to continually optimize IT governance and decision-making processes as the business context and technology landscape changes.
Manages talent and financial resources to ensure they are being used effectively.
Preparation and monitoring of budgets for the department and related programs.
Management of direct reports by assigning work, setting schedules, resolving problems, and identifying appropriate individual goals aligned with individual capabilities, work requirements, and organization’s vision and strategic plans.
Management of direct reports in accordance with relevant legislation, corporate polices and procedures.
Builds the next generation of leaders and contributes to company-level goals for talent development, diversity, and inclusion.
Other duties as assigned.