Chief Information Officer

[bathurst_guy]

Anyone working/worked in a Chief Information Officers role? I'm considering applying for one and want to find out more about this role from someone who has experienced it first hand.

Preferably in education, but I can't be picky! :)

[NogDog]

Usually it's an upper management position entailing the staffing, running, budgeting, and directing of a company's IT department/division. You would need a combination of IT knowledge along with business knowledge, and probably significant management experience.

From Wikipedia:The chief information officer (CIO) is a job title for the board level head of information technology within an organization. The CIO typically reports to the chief financial officer and in IT-centered organizations to the chief executive officer.

[KDLA]

I've worked directly under the CIO at a few places, and really the position's responsibilities have varied. But, as NogDog posted, it's mostly a management-type of thing: making sure everything is running, being in charge of security, and possibly selecting the new technologies associated with day-to-day business.

[tracknut]

I've worked directly under the CIO at a few places, and really the position's responsibilities have varied. But, as NogDog posted, it's mostly a management-type of thing: making sure everything is running, being in charge of security, and possibly selecting the new technologies associated with day-to-day business.

That would be at a small company. At a large company, the CIO is responsible for negotiating the deliverables and budget of the IT organization with the staff of the CEO, and allocating funding across the IT organization to accomplish its mission. In a large organization, security is typically under the CSO (Chief Security Officer) and technology is under the CTO. In a large org, the technical background of a CIO is not really relevant, an MBA type or at least someone very familiar with the overall workings of the company, would often be the person they're looking for.

Dave

[KDLA]

That would be at a small company. At a large company, the CIO is responsible for negotiating the deliverables and budget of the IT organization with the staff of the CEO, and allocating funding across the IT organization to accomplish its mission. In a large organization, security is typically under the CSO (Chief Security Officer) and technology is under the CTO. In a large org, the technical background of a CIO is not really relevant, an MBA type or at least someone very familiar with the overall workings of the company, would often be the person they're looking for.

Dave
I work for the government sector. Our CIO does handle budget and deliverables, but like all bureaucracy, the buck doesn't stop here. :p

[bathurst_guy]

Ok. I think I'm more suited to a Chief Technology Officer than a Chief Information Officer, however if an organisation doesn't have a CTO I've also read that the CIO might take all CTO and CSO responsibilities, and that's the feel I get from the job ad.

Here's the position description from the job ad and next to each essential criteria I've noted my skills:
The Chief Information Officer is a new position that will have specific responsibility forleading the development and implementation of the IT strategic vision for the Catholic system of schools in the Diocese of Bathurst.

The Chief Information Officer will be expected to:

Be responsible for policy formulation, oversight of budget and management of the IT group.
Represent the Catholic Education Office at inter-diocesan and inter-agency forums and provide advice to the Director of Schools.
Oversee all IT activities of schools and the Catholic Education Office.
Guide application direction of locally based systems - existing and strategic.
Develop, maintain and enhance project management processes to deliver within scope, budget and timeframes required.
Ability to evaluate and assess existing and new technology solutions and evaluate their ability to support short, medium and long term educational and administrative needs andgrowth.
Negotiate, finalise and recommend for signature contracts with third party vendors including hardware, software and service vendors.
Review and support all IT capital purchases.
Oversee all project, monitoring and maintenance work.
Provide overall accountability for leadership and management of IT staff.
Ensure roles/responsibilities and performance measures are established and clearly communicated.
Lead the knowledge management processes in the organisation.
Guide the strategic direction of IT delivery to schools and the Catholic Education Office.
Essential requirements for the position:

A willingness to support the values and ethos of the Catholic tradition in the workplace
I'm Catholic and currently work in a Catholic school that belongs to the CEO this job is at
Broad technical knowledge
I have advanced knowledge of Apple Mac OS X client and server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory, Microsoft Windows Vista/XP, Unix and some Linux (Ubuntu). I've integrated Active Directory and Open Directory. I've setup VLANs between campuses, installed wireless networks, etc. I've deployed 150 new computers, some were dual boot Macintosh. I am proficient in the following languages: (X)HTML, PHP, MySQL, CSS, JavaScript, and limited knowledge of vbscript, and command line (dos, unix, linux). Plus many other things...
Technical strategic thinking/planning and vision setting
Our school received a $150,000 grant from the government to upgrade IT, this involved planning and implementing short, medium and long term goals and needed to address the schools IT Plan
Experience in leading a team
In a previous position of Shift Supervisor I was responsible for a team of 10-20 on shift, with shared responsibility of 70-80 staff in total
Experience in a leadership role defining policies and procedures in a complex environment
In my current role the ICT Committee and I have been responsible for defining policies to integrate IT into an educational environment
Budgeting experience at department or large project scale
In my current position I am responsible for the IT budget
Demonstrated project implementation and governance experience
Being awarded the $150,000 government grant gave me the responsibilities of ensuring a large project was well executed with minimal disruption to day-to-day tasks
Ability to communicate effectively to technical and non technical audiences
I have a great ability to talk to students, teachers and support staff in my current position and I have often been praised for my abilities to "translate"
Highly developed written and interpersonal skills
I've proven in my current role that communication, no matter what medium, is essential to the role of any individual in the workplace and I strive to perform in this aspect
An understanding and commitment to the integration of IT with learning
I've had three years experience working in private and independent schools, primary and secondary
Experience in the education sector would be considered highly desirable
as above point

Salary will reflect qualifications, experience and the seniority of this role.

I don't really know what I'm asking or why I'm posting this on here, I think it's just helping me decide if I want to apply for the position and if I'm suitable.

[tracknut]

Good luck to you. Don't let my definition dissuade you - I've worked with CIO's only in large organizations, and they wouldn't be directly responsible for many of the things on that list. Hence my definition.

Dave