United Power invites applications for the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer. A vacancy in this position will be created when the current incumbent retires in early 2025. The ideal candidate will have a solid background and understanding of the technology environment, cybersecurity, privacy, data governance, digital transformation, and management of day-to-day technology operations in the electric utility industry.
Position Purpose and Objectives:
The Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the senior executive that serves as the information systems lead to provide vision, strategy, and leadership for all aspects of the technology environment, cybersecurity, privacy, data governance, digital transformation and management of day-to-day technology operations. The CIO plays a critical role in ensuring the effective and secure use of technology to optimize business processes, enhance efficiency, drive innovation and alignment and agility with business strategy and goals.
Essential Job Functions:
- Be an active and transparent participant of the CEO staff and senior management team, engaging on technology, cybersecurity and business topics. Report on technology matters to the Board at the request of the CEO.
- Direct the effective delivery of all technologies, including networks, servers, enterprise applications, cybersecurity and data protection solutions, ensuring high levels of availability, integrity, and confidentiality.
- Continuously improve and regularly exercise a disaster recovery and incident plan.
- Initiate engagement with stakeholders across the organization, understand and analyze business requirements to develop strategies and roadmaps for technology solutions and digital transformation. Ensure that the technology strategy stays appropriately aligned with the business strategy.
- Create, justify, and manage capital and operating budgets to support initiatives and day to day operations.
- Champion and leadership of the company’s risk-based cybersecurity and privacy vision, strategy, policies, programs, and frameworks for the protection of infrastructure, cloud presence, data assets and industrial control systems.
- Partners with Chief Operating Officer in development of Distribution System Operations technology including advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), outage management (OMS), SCADA, and Distribution Energy Resource Management System (DERMS).
- Create a culture of data and system protection awareness. Track and educate the organization about the latest security strategies and technologies. Ensure that annual PCI compliance obligations are met.
- Provide leadership for a multi-disciplinary team. Inspire curiosity about business and technology.
- Demonstrate an unyielding passion for improving the user’s experience with technology. Establish opportunities for the team to progress their skillsets as the norm. Develop direct reports into a strong, effective, and empowered leadership team.
- Maintain strong and productive relationships with vendors.
- Oversee a management team responsible for the day-to-day IT operations spanning multiple offices, field, and remote workplace.
- Develop and report on metrics/KPIs which reflect the performance of the technologies, programs, and team.
- Creates, expands, and maintains professional and productive working relationships with peers and stakeholders. Works collaboratively with colleagues and fosters a spirit of cooperation and inclusion in the workplace.
- Performs other duties as may be requested or assigned to meet the needs of United Power in the interest of good management practices.
Supervision Received and Exercised:
Directs and controls the activities of a broad functional area through several department managers within the company. Has overall control of planning, staffing, budgeting, managing expense priorities, and recommending and implementing changes to methods.
Education and Experience Required:
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, or related field and at least ten (10) year’s management experience in multiple technology areas. Advance degree preferred. CISSP, GSLC, PMP certifications preferred. Management experience with related information technology operations and planning; and at least ten (10) years’ experience working for or with an electric utility is essential.
Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Knowledge of supervisory and managerial techniques and principles.
- Knowledge of electric utility and energy industry and technologies relevant to the utility industry, including information systems, infrastructure, cloud services, and emerging technologies.
- Knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks, including incident response, and the ability to manage a cyber security incident.
- Knowledge of approaches to strategic and technology planning.
- Knowledge of the application of enterprise architecture to guide organizations towards achieving strategic vision.
- Ability to keep apprised of relevant technologies to integrate into the long-term strategic vision of the company.
- Knowledge of fiscal planning and budget preparation.
- Knowledge of best practices related to change management.
- Knowledge of Federal, State, Local laws, and ordinances that apply to utility operations.
- Skill in handling conflict and uncertain situations.
- Analytical skills with the ability to interpret large sets of data and extract meaningful insights to inform decision making.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to work with frequent interruptions, multitask, and balance competing priorities.
- Skill in using computers and related software applications.
- Ability to quickly recognize and analyze irregular events.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills with proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with team members at all levels of the organization.
NOTE: This position description is not intended to be all-inclusive; an employee will also perform other job responsibilities as assigned by the immediate supervisor or management.
Management reserves the right to change position descriptions, specifications or work schedules to accommodate individuals with disabilities or as the need arises.
This position description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.
We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, this position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package that includes an employee retirement plan, 401K with match, paid holidays, vacation & sick leave, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance. For a full list of benefits, please visit our careers page at https://www.unitedpower.com/careers.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer
Not to discriminate on the basis of Race/Color/Creed/Religion/Sex(including Gender Identity, Pregnancy, Sexual Orientation)/Marital Status/Age (40 or older)/National Origin/Veteran or Military Status/Disability/Medical Condition/Genetic Information//Unemployment Status or any other characteristics prohibited by Federal, State and/or local laws.
