Assistant Director, Information Technology Department

YOU MUST BE AN ALAMEDA COUNTY EMPLOYEE TO APPLY

THIS IS A NEW PROMOTIONAL ASSEMBLED EXAMINATION. The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended. Current employment and completion by 4/22/14 or the equivalent of six months of continuous service following a regular appointment in the Alameda County classified service (non-classified includes the District Attorney’s Office, the Medical Center, and the Superior Court). A regular appointment does not include provisional, TAP (Temporary Assignment Pool), or STEP-UP appointments.

Applications must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Postmarks are not accepted. Applications will only be accepted on-line.

Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Postmarks are not accepted. Failure to submit the Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification.

MISSION STATEMENT:
The Mission of the Alameda County Information Technology Department is to provide county departments and agencies with:   Information Technology Consulting, Strategic Planning, Data Center and Cloud Services, Application and Web Services, Internet and Intranet Connectivity, Network Services, Mobile Technology, and Social Media solutions.

THE POSITION:
Under general direction, to assist the Director in planning, organizing, and directing the activities of the Information Technology Department; to implement the policy decisions emanating from the Director; to provide overall coordination and direction for Information Systems and Programming, Data Center Computer Services, and Office Systems; and to do related work as required.

The Assistant Director, Information Technology Department (ITD), is the highest level class in the Information Technology Department except that of the department head. The Assistant Director has responsibility for the overall coordination and direction of all assigned departmental activities.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:
In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications below, successful candidates will have experience management experience directing large systems and programming and possess skill in the following areas:

• Exhibit strong management and planning skills, including a standard approach or methodology to strategic planning, budgeting, documenting and follow-through of assignments.

• Have the ability to communicate effectively with executive management, technical resources, partner agency liaisons and resources being directed.

• Possess strong problem solving skills.

• Have experience serving in a management capacity related to technical systems implementation and operations, including managing adoption of new technologies by users and management.

• Have the ability to demonstrate characteristics of self-motivation, organization, detail-oriented, strong sense of ownership, drive to learn and master new technologies, and the ability to work in a highly-dynamic environment.

Either I

The equivalent of one year of full-time experience in the classification of Deputy Director, ITD in the Alameda County service.

Or II

The equivalent of eight years of full-time, paid, increasingly responsible experience in with at least five years of this experience being in information technology management including at least two years directing a large systems and programming. technical support, or operations staff.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the “Examples of Duties” section of this specification.

Knowledge of:

· Information Technology concepts, including teleprocessing, databases, and distributed systems.
· Principles and techniques of supervision, personnel management, administration, and project management.
· Relationships of policies and procedures to staff productivity and morale.
· Principles and techniques of planning, scheduling and control as applied to systems development and maintenance in a large data processing installation.
· Methods for review of software and applications programming, systems analysis, and computer operations work.
· Principles of systems analysis, and programming techniques. Data organization and access methods in computerized systems. Estimating methods for equipment costs, production costs, programming costs, and systems benefits.
· Finance and accounting as it relates to funding and billing for data processing services.
· Developments and trends in information technology. Principles and techniques of training, supervision, and evaluation of information technology management personnel.

Ability to:

· Act in the department head's absence to manage a large complex organization and coordinate work with other departments while maintaining continuity of policy established by the department head.
· Act in the department head's absence to provide overall direction to a 24 hour-per-day, 7 days-per-week data center/computer installation such that uninterrupted, on-time service to end-users is maximized at a reasonable cost.
· Identify and analyze information technology problems; draw logical conclusions; develop an effective course of action.
· Formulate a coordinated systems and programming, technical services, and computer operations strategy to meet departmental goals, developing schedules, work plans and cost controls.
· Evaluate the productivity and performance of information technology systems and programming, technical services, and computer services branches of the department.
· Evaluate the performance of management personnel; identify training needs and work to address these needs.
· Research. developments in information technology; analyze hardware and software packages; evaluate existing hardware and software; make recommendations for changes in existing equipment and for procurement of new equipment and software.
· Analyze equipment costs, production costs, and programming and analysis costs; analyze equipment for depreciation write-offs; set rates for data processing work.
· Communicate technical concepts on information technology strategy, problem solutions, and project progress and needs in a timely and understandable fashion to non-technical policy makers in the County.
· Gather and analyze data, draw sound conclusions, and prepare clear, concise reports.
· Work effectively with the department head, subordinate staff, department heads from other County departments, and County policy makers.

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF the following steps: 1) A review of candidates' applications to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process. 2) A review of candidates’ Supplemental Questionnaires to select the best qualified applicants to continue in the process. 3) An oral interview which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate's final examination score. The oral interview may contain situational exercises. CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION. We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments many be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.

 

 *WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLAN*

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statues.  To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact the assigned Human Resources Representative listed on the job announcement before the last date of filing. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statues.

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical – HMO & PPO Insurance
• Dental – PPO & DHMO Insurance  
• Vision
• Basic Life Insurance 
• Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage) 
• County Allowance
• Health Flexible Spending Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Accident, Critical Illness & Hospital Indemnity
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

• Short-term Disability Insurance
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan – (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
• Deferred Compensation Plan

For your Work/Life Balance

• 11 paid holidays
• Vacation and sick leave accrual
• Vacation purchase program
• Management Paid Leave**
• Group Auto/Home
• Commuter Benefits Program
• Guaranteed Ride Home
• Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
• Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
• Child Care Resources
• 1^st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

** Non-exempt management employees are entitled to up to three days of management paid leave. Exempt management employees are entitled to up to seven days of management paid leave.