Technology & Security IT Officer (1043)

Department Background

The Department of Elections (Department) conducts all federal, state and local elections in the City and County of San Francisco, currently serving approximately 500,000 registered voters. The Department follows the rules and regulations established by federal, state, and local laws - notably, the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the City's Language Access Ordinance. Additionally, the Department operates in an open and transparent manner to inspire the City's confidence in the integrity of elections processes.

The Department strives to cultivate a workplace environment in which employees of all racial and ethnic backgrounds feel respected, valued, and supported in providing the fairest and most effective services possible to San Francisco residents. The Department is committed to maintaining an inclusive workplace and to providing the training and resources necessary for all employees to succeed in delivering equitable services to city residents.

The Department is committed to reaching job seekers from underrepresented communities. Applicants with such backgrounds are therefore strongly encouraged to apply.

Role description

The Department invites applications for the position of 1043 IS Engineer position. The individual in this position will serve as the Department's lead technology and security officer and manager of the Department's Information Technology division.

As the lead technology and security officer, the person in this position will coordinate with local, state, and federal government officials, including the Department of Homeland Security, California Secretary of State's office, San Francisco Department of Technology, and county elections officials; enhance cyber-attack prevention capabilities and protocols for protecting election infrastructure, voting systems and other sensitive hardware, and confidential voter data; develop cybersecurity trainings and conduct security drills for elections personnel. The person in this position will assess, integrate, document, and implement prudent maintenance and upgrades to hardware and software used for elections-related processes and will work on identifying and implementing short and long-term information technology goals, all guided by the Department's mission. The person in this position will support and administer physical servers in an enterprise environment and may lead the future migration of servers to the private cloud, administered by the City's Department of Technology.

Finally, the person on this position will manage and direct the day-to-day tasks of four employees working in the Information Technology division: two 1062 IS Programmer/Analysts, one 1052 IS Business Analyst, and one 1092 IT Operations Support Admin II.

The two 1062 IS Programmer/Analysts provide support to over 50 applications and tools, some of which are public-facing and some are for internal use. The person in this position can expect to lead the development of new applications and tools; its development stack is comprised of PHP, JS, HTML, CSS, SQL, Bootstrap, and Python.

The 1052 IS Business Analyst supports all operations inherent in the Department's Election Information Management System (EIMS) that all personnel in the Department use to organize and integrate voter registration information with all election-related processes.

The 1092 IT Operations Support Admin II provides technical support for the Department's networks and performs system administration activities.

Important and Essential Duties

In addition to the range of duties assigned to the 1043 job classification, the person in this position is responsible for the tasks outlined below:

• Provides oversight of all operations of the Department's Election Information Management System (EIMS), which is used to maintain voter registration records and to manage a myriad of other vital election processes, including the legally-compliant processing of petitions, candidate filings, and vote-by-mail ballots; the organization of poll worker and polling place assignments; street index and precinct administration; and other election preparations.

• Develops and manages IT staff including hiring, training and performance management; fosters a productive working environment for IT staff that ultimately facilitates trust and confidence for process-owners and provides seamless experience for end-users.

• Accomplishes technology objectives through innovative management techniques and through the understanding of current issues, challenges, and public feedback.

• Leads the maintenance of day-to-day operations and error-free functioning of various applications.

• Leads in designing and testing new applications based on process-owners' requirements and specifications while taking into consideration the experience of end-users.

• Analyzes and develops information security governance, including organizational policies, procedures, standards, baselines and guidelines with respect to information security and use and operation of information systems.

• Implements security controls and procedures in business processes related to use of information systems and assets, and monitors for compliance.

• Monitors information systems for security incidents and vulnerabilities; develops monitoring capabilities; reports on incidents, vulnerabilities and trends.

• Develops and administers evaluation and oversight for information security training and awareness programs.

• Acts as liaison between election systems vendors and the Department in the resolution of complex system and networking problems; initiates, coordinates, and implements corrective measures.

• Promotes the use of technology as a means for improved customer service.

Position Schedule and Hours

This is an exempt position, with the start date contingent upon completion of the hiring process. This position is exempt from Civil Service Commission rules pursuant to the City and County of San Francisco, Charter Section 10.104, and incumbents are considered "at will" and serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. For more information on the City and County of San Francisco benefit policies, refer to the Employee Handbook available at https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Employee-Handbook.pdf

Although there may be opportunities for remote work depending on the Department's operational needs, the person in this position must be able to work on site at the Department of Elections Office at City Hall, San Francisco, California, especially during election cycles. Work hours are generally 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, work hours will vary widely in accordance with the demands of the election cycle and will require working significant overtime hours. The person in this position must be available to work overtime both during the week and on weekends as necessary.

Position Salary:

$71.3625 to $89.7875 hourly

$148,434 to $186,758 annually

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

An associate degree in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university OR its equivalent in terms of total course credits/units [i.e., at least sixty (60) semester or ninety (90) quarter credits/units with a minimum of twenty (20) semester or thirty (30) quarter credits/units in one of the fields above or a closely-related field].

Experience:

Three (3) years of experience analyzing, installing, configuring, enhancing, and/or maintaining the components of an enterprise network.

Substitution:

Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years). One (1) year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester units/ forty-five (45) quarter units with a minimum of 10 semester / 15 quarter units in one of the fields above or a closely related field.

Completion of the 1010 Information Systems Trainee Program may be substituted for the required degree.

Desired Qualifications

The ideal candidate should have demonstrated strong analytical skills, a detail-oriented yet flexible approach to problem solving; ability to balance the application of technical skills within the framework of legal mandates related to election administration and the expectations of the public. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have the following desirable qualifications:

• Experience with SQL Queries

• Experience with in-house applications and web-based tools

• Experience working in a County Election Office, or other public sector employer

What else should I know?

To be considered for the position, applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. July 12, 2024.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the Elections Hiring Team at elections.careers@sfgov.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.