DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

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1 Announces a Recruitment For DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS For THE CITY OF ST. CHARLES, ILLINOIS GovHR USA is pleased to announce the recruitment and selection process for the Director of Information Systems for the City of St. Charles, Illinois. This recruitment brochure provides background information on the City of St. Charles, the municipal organization and the Information Systems Department. Additional information about the work to be performed and preferred characteristics and traits of the ideal candidates is also included. It was prepared following interviews where input and feedback was received from various stakeholders including the Mayor, City Administrator, professional staff and members of the St. Charles Information Systems Department. The information in the brochure will be used as a guide in the recruitment process, providing specific criteria by which applicants will be evaluated and individuals selected for interviews and appointment. Candidates interested in applying for the position should submit their résumé, cover letter, and contact information for five work-related references by March 13, Additional information about the City can be found on the City s web site: Joellen Earl, CEO GovHR USA/Voorhees Associates 650 Dundee Road, Suite 270 Northbrook, IL TEL: FAX: Formal applications should be submitted to:

2 City of St. Charles, Illinois PROFESSIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS, St. Charles, Illinois (population 33,264). Progressive, professional municipal government seeks a seasoned information systems leader. Anticipated starting salary is up to $130,000 with excellent benefits, negotiable depending upon qualifications, experience and professional achievement. The Director is recommended for appointment by the City Administrator to Mayor, with consent of the City Council and works under the direction of the City Administrator. The Director works closely with Department Directors and City staff as the head of an internal services Department. The Information Systems Department has an operating budget of $1.2M, and a staff of 11.5 full-time employees. A Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science or related field, with a minimum of ten (10) years of experience in programming, systems analysis, design, and project management is required. A Master s degree or the ability to obtain one within five (5) years of hire is required. A minimum of ten (10) years of leadership experience and a minimum of five (5) years of supervisory experience is required. National Incident Management System (NIMS) training is required. Innovative technical and organizational skills are strongly desired. Superior leadership, interpersonal communication skills are essential. Any equivalent combination of experience and education that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities will be considered. Residency a plus but not required after appointment. Applicants should apply by March 13, 2015 with résumé, cover letter and contact information for five professional references to Joellen C. Earl at Telephone: St. Charles is an Equal Opportunity Employer. COMMUNITY BACKGROUND The City of St. Charles is a dynamic, progressive, yet historic community located on the Fox River, 35 miles west of Chicago in Kane County, midway between Elgin and Aurora. With a population just over 33,000, the community encompasses square miles and has a variety of residential housing types with a vibrant downtown, a regional mall, and a thriving commercial/ industrial base. There are more than 2,100 businesses that employ more than 18,000 people. Welcoming residents and visitors with its natural charm and historic treasures, St. Charles remains true to its 19th century heritage while presenting the very best in what many look for in today s best communities. The City s attractiveness and quality of life has led to a 17.6% increase in the number of households in the community since St. Charles can also be proud of its award-winning Downtown St. Charles Partnership. St. Charles is a Great American Main Street Award winner, recognized in 2000 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as having one of the top downtown revitalization programs in the nation. St. Charles was recognized in 2012 as the Best Place to Raise a Family by Family Circle Magazine. With its rolling hills, panoramic views, riverway, distinctive shopping areas, abundant dining and its rich history, St. Charles offers something for everyone. Founded in 1834, St. Charles has preserved many of its original homes, churches and buildings of commerce where guests to the City can take a step back in time to early Americana. Visitors may browse throughout downtown St. Charles where cultural museums, historic shopping districts, fine cuisine and architectural treasures are all within walking distance, and visit art galleries, specialty boutiques and antique stores. Antiquing in St.

3 Director of Information Systems Charles is a tradition that dates back more than 30 years, to when the nationally famous Kane County Flea Market launched its monthly gathering of merchants. The Flea Market helped establish St. Charles as a conclave for collectibles hunters. The Arcada Theatre, located downtown, was built in 1926, with 900+ seats. In 2005, new life was breathed in the building and it now hosts outstanding shows, music and events all year. The nationally-renowned Pheasant Run Resort and Convention Center continues to attract a broad range of trade shows (consumer and business-to-business), conventions, and regional and national corporate gatherings. Outdoor recreation plays an important part in St. Charles unique quality of life. Just north of the bustling downtown on the banks of the Fox River is Pottawatomie Park, which dates to the 1870s. This riverside expanse of tall trees and rolling hills is the first public park in the state established under the Illinois Park Act of the early 1900s. The St. Charles Belle and Fox River Queen paddlewheel riverboats ply the Fox. The St. Charles Park District offers 1,400 acres in 62 parks with two swimming pools, Otter Cove Aquatic Park, miniature golf, and other amenities. Golfers can play four 18 -hole courses (two private and two public) and one nine-hole public course; there are 15 additional courses within 10 miles of the City. St. Charles has a large mixture of homes in all price ranges to fit every income level. There are many small homes as well as luxury estate homes. The median price home in 2013 was $239,250. Such appreciation, coupled with an attractive per capita real estate tax, continues to enhance St. Charles image as a desirable place to live. Not only does the City have one of the lowest tax rates in the Fox Valley area, but the overall tax rate (all governments combined) is extremely competitive. St. Charles schools, too, contribute to the community s status as the ideal place to raise a family. Community Unit School District 303 is well known for its excellence in education, and encourages involvement from parents as well as the community at large. St. Charles quality of life has made the community a natural choice for retirement, with four new facilities for senior living. St. Charles Quick-Facts Total Population 33,264 (2013) Square Miles Miles from Chicago 35 Median Age 39.4 Total Households 12,537 Average Household Size 2.58 Park Acres Population Projection 34,694 Schools-Type # Elementary Schools 12 Middle School 3 High Schools 2 Special Education 1 Private Parochial Schools 4

4 City of St. Charles, Illinois CITY ORGANIZATION The City of St. Charles adopted the council/city administrator form of government by ordinance in The Mayor, Treasurer and City Clerk are elected at large and the ten members of the City Council are elected from wards. Day-to-day operations of the City are the administrative responsibility of the City Administrator. Under the direction and guidance of the Mayor and Council, the City Administrator conducts policy analysis, recommends annual budget plans and establishes organization-wide goals and work plans. The Administrator works closely with Department Directors in developing strategies to meet the community s service, program and policy goals. The current City Administrator is Mark Koenen, who has been with the City for more than 30 years. The City s 300+ employees are divided into eight departments including Police, Fire, Community/ Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Public Works and the Administrator s Office. The City Administrator recommends the appointment of all department directors. The City Administrator and Department Directors work together as a team and value their strong relationships. The City of St. Charles is a progressive organization that embraces employee and community input into its mission as a provider of quality services. To communicate its commitment and values, the City has adopted the following Mission and Vision Statements: Mission Statement Preserving our heritage, fostering opportunity, building community, and enhancing quality of life for all. Community Vision Quality of Relationships Our City fulfills its commitment to building quality relationships throughout the community. Sense of Place Our community generates an appealing sense of place and fosters a welcoming, sustainable environment. Service Delivery, Resources and Needs Our City organization maintains an optimal service delivery framework that balances resources with needs. Economic Vitality Our community prospers in a diverse, self-renewing climate of business, industry, and housing. Vibrant Downtown Captivating downtown St. Charles, rich with social, cultural, and economic vibrancy, is a distinctive element of our community. Mobility and Connectivity A quality transportation system assures community access, mobility, and connectivity. Our City Guiding Principles Respect We demonstrate integrity in our relationships and treat all people with dignity. Engagement We create a community where all have opportunities to participate and where contributions are honored. Sense of Community We ensure a safe and vibrant environment by valuing cultural, economic, and social diversity and providing a sustainable setting for people to live, work, play, visit, shop, and do business. Accountability We accept responsibility for enhancing quality of life in the community. Excellence We seek to be the best in everything we do.

5 Director of Information Systems THE INFORMATION SYSEMS DEPARTMENT Mission: It is the mission of the Information Systems Department to provide leadership in the management and distribution of information by working in partnership with other departments and other entities to utilize technology to further the City s goals. Departmental Information: The Information Systems Department consists of four informal divisions; Application Development & Support, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Records Management, and Technical Support. The Application Development & Support division aligns new initiatives with the appropriate technology, taking into consideration project scope, budget, and City objectives. They also play a key role in keeping existing applications and websites current and useful as technology and the needs of the City change. The GIS division is responsible for providing mapping services within the City and integrating location-aware information with core business processes. Staff members manage the data, distribute maps, and provide data analysis. The Records Management division manages records for the city, working with departments to determine appropriate storage and retention requirements for each type of record. In addition, this division performs scanning and indexing functions that allow for electronic storage and access to documents. It is also responsible for providing appropriate responses to Freedom of Information requests. The Technical Support division is responsible for providing a reliable technical infrastructure, ensuring optimum performance, and providing a secure environment. Team members provide first line support for users regarding hardware, software, telephone, and radio related issues. Applications: The City uses the Windows/SQL-based Infor/Lawson ERP system for PR/HR, Procurement, and Accounting applications. CityView is used for permitting. GIS resides on an ESRI/Geocortex platform. The website content management system is Drupal. We support Public Safety applications including Fire House and New World Police Records. New World is managed jointly with the Tri-Com dispatch center and the cities of Geneva and Batavia. Our Utility Billing application is a legacy system which resides on an iseries platform. We anticipate the implementation of a new system within the next couple of years which will eliminate the need for the iseries. We are in the process of replacing our Application Extender document management system with Laserfiche and moving from Lotus Notes to Outlook. A myriad of smaller department-specific applications and utilities are also supported. Technology: Network Infrastructure The City utilizes a fiber backbone to all remote locations throughout the City. These locations include the Public Works Facility, the Police Department, the Century Station building, eight substations, two remote fire stations and a number of well sites. Two 10GB uplinks exist between Century Station and Public Works, one for network traffic and the other for our disaster recovery replication vlan. The St. Charles

6 City of St. Charles, Illinois School District, D303, uses the fiber infrastructure on a separate vlan to interconnect their schools. The City also has a wireless network consisting of 45 access points located throughout the City. Server Infrastructure The majority of the City s current server infrastructure is built around a two-node cluster architecture. There are a total of 65 virtual machines running on four server clusters. Disaster recovery is in place utilizing SIOS Datakeeper synchronous replication from one node to the other. There are a number of physical servers used for various purposes including: Cisco Unity Voic , Cisco CallManager and Exaqvision Surveillance Management. Security Infrastructure Firewall security is in place using a Cisco ASA 5510 appliance. The City uses Symantec Endpoint Protection for server security and Vipre Cloud for workstation security. spam filtering is controlled using Exchange Online Protection. A Barracuda web filter is in place for web/malware security. FY2015 Budget Message: Information Systems continued to adapt City websites for mobile (smartphone and tablet) users in FY2014 and saw the first City news event with more mobile than desktop viewers; i.e., the Charlestowne Mall purchase. New tools helped the City better measure its success in online communications and helped increase viewership for several key communication events including Restaurant Week and a campaign to promote St. Charles Connect. In FY2015 we will revamp key economic development and businessrelated areas of the website, and adopt a design for the City s main website that adapts content to the viewer s screen size. Work on a new Document Management system began in FY2014 and will move forward with implementation in FY2015. The goal is to replace the existing system with something more robust and easier to use. The new system will include the capability of integrating with several of the City s core applications to provide employees and citizens with seamless access to documents from these applications. All workstations in the City were upgraded to Windows7 in anticipation of the retirement of the WindowsXP operating system in April In conjunction with the software upgrade, a significant number of workstations and laptops were also upgraded or replaced. Work started on a High Availability/Disaster Recovery project for the City s primary servers. When the project is completed in FY2015, City workers will have near real-time access to backup servers should the primary servers fail. The technical team will also be working with the Police Department this year to implement dual factor authentication, an anticipated security requirement from the FBI. The department s surveillance and finger printing systems will be updated as well with projected completion early in the fiscal year. Along with representatives of the Police and Fire Departments, Information Systems staff will serve on the selection and implementation teams for the Tri -Com Computer Aided Dispatch system upgrade. Geographic Information System (GIS) continues to expand its use of less expensive tablet devices for the field collection and editing of data, making it easier for employees to locate and work with utility structures and streamlining the process for maintaining GIS data. Atlases for the wastewater and storm water collection utilities

7 Director of Information Systems will be redesigned this year to improve the quality of printed maps. Collection of utility data for the Route 64 project was completed in FY2014 and we are preparing for additional new construction projects in FY2015. THE POSITION The following is a summary of the duties and responsibilities assigned to the position of Director of Information Systems: Determine, with the City Administrator, the annual and future goals and objectives of the Information Systems Department. Develop strategic plans for the department and prioritize initiatives and requests. Develop and approve policies regarding network and software application maintenance, computer usage and software usage and development; develop and implement long-term technology planning for both the Information Systems Department and other City departments. Formulate annual and multi-year budgets for the Information Systems Department. Monitor and approve expenditures. Develop and implement information systems standards, procedures, guidelines, and other documentation to ensure consistency and compatibility among systems and to protect the City s information assets. Maintain applications, systems, and processes to ensure compliance with laws and standards. Analyze, recommend, and oversee implementation of improved information technology systems and equipment as they become available. Assure compliance with City policies and goals. Develop and ensure adherence to procedures and policies, which ensure productive and efficient processes. Develop and coordinate systems security, monitoring, backup, quality assurance, and disaster recovery plans. Interface with department directors to determine long- and short-term technology needs of departments; collect, categorize, and respond to service requests. Oversee Geographic Information System (GIS) including planning, equipment and software purchases, training, and personnel. Oversee the City s telephone equipment, including installation and programming of equipment. Oversee and monitor records management activities, systems, procedures, and files. Ensure adherence to FOIA laws and procedures. Prepare written and verbal reports for various groups and the City Council. This includes attendance at meetings and ability to explain information in an understandable manner. Specify and purchase needed equipment for the Information Systems Department and other technologyrelated equipment for all departments; interface with vendors to identify and develop technology for the City. Oversee the specification, purchase, and implementation of software and applications for all departments to

8 City of St. Charles, Illinois improve the efficiency and effectiveness of City operations and ensure a cost-effective and consistent organizational approach. Supervisory responsibilities include establishing performance standards; training and developing subordinate employees; assigning and directing work; monitoring productivity and conduct, providing feedback and assessing performance; and ensuring compliance with City and departmental policies, rules, regulations and ethical standards. Make decisions in personnel matters such as hiring, promotion, discipline, and termination. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE IS DIRECTOR The incoming Director of Information Systems will have several opportunities and challenges in the new position: As the City s use of technology becomes more complex the Director must ensure that Information Systems is providing support for the City s increasing use of technology without necessarily a commensurate increase in budget and staff. The Director must work to develop and maintain positive working relationships with all of the IS stakeholders and to position the Department to be viewed as a business partner in the delivery of technology functions. The Director must work cooperatively with City leaders and departments to develop a City-wide strategic technology vision and possibly a formal plan and to do so must maintain a high level of communication with City departments, working proactively to understand their needs. The Director must coordinate the management of all technology projects active in the City and ensure that each is using appropriate project management methodologies and is advancing towards completion. The Director must reevaluate the staffing of the Information Systems Department to ensure that the Department is providing the needed levels of support and that backup is available for all staff members. The Director must ensure that the City is appropriately responding to emerging technology trends and opportunities such as the potential uses of mobile devices, the use of social media services, and the availability of cloud computing services. DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS QUALIFICATION CRITERIA The City of St. Charles is seeking high-energy, service-oriented candidates with demonstrated experience and commitment to modern management practices and examples of innovative approaches to technology. The fol-

9 Director of Information Systems lowing factors of education, experience, management style and personal and professional traits have been identified as ideal and necessary for the Director to succeed in this position. Upon recommendation of the City Administrator, the Director of Information Systems is appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the City Council. The Director reports to and is evaluated by the City Administrator. The anticipated hiring salary is up to $130,000 per year dependent upon qualifications, experience and record of achievement. Criteria are not listed in order of importance or priority: Education and Experience A Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science or related field, with a minimum of ten (10) years of experience in programming, systems analysis, design, and project management is required. A Master s degree or the ability to obtain one within five (5) years of hire is required. A minimum of ten (10) years of leadership experience and a minimum of five (5) years of supervisory experience is required. National Incident Management System (NIMS) training is required upon hire. Possess thorough knowledge of the theory and application of modern technology in a networked environment and the knowledge of application analysis, design, and programming principles. Have a strong knowledge of mid -range technology and programming. Have a thorough knowledge of the principles of personnel management, including employee/labor relations experience as well as experience with recruiting, training, promoting, disciplining and terminating employees. Have proven experience in developing and maintaining a positive, trusting and cooperative work environment as well as fostering a culture of fairness in dealing with all employees. Have demonstrated leadership skills that combine employee involvement in departmental policy discussions with effective decisionmaking. Have experience in developing positive working relationships with other municipal departments; have ability to discuss and address issues that cross departmental lines. Have the ability to work effectively with elected and appointed officials and members of the general public. Have experience in strategic planning and goal setting processes along with the effective implementation of goals. Have experience in preparing and controlling budgets and a background in successful cost-effective administration of human and financial resources. Possess the ability and willingness to receive, handle, and complete confidential submissions, records, reports, and data with utmost honesty, integrity, and confidentiality.

10 City of St. Charles, Illinois