INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGER II

The California Secretary of State’s Information Technology Division is hiring a permanent, full-time Information Technology Manager II. Under the administrative direction of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the IT Manager II (Branch Chief) serves in an executive leadership role, helping set IT policy and long-range objectives while ensuring IT programs align with organizational priorities as a member of the IT Senior Management Team. The incumbent provides full management oversight of the Infrastructure & Administration Branch, leading managers/supervisors and technical teams responsible for SOS enterprise infrastructure engineering and operations (network, servers, storage, backups/technology recovery, email, cloud services, and data center support) and overseeing security and account management, including Active Directory administration, security device operations, monitoring/metrics, incident response, and audit support. The position also directs staffing, budgeting and forecasting, service delivery/SLAs, customer support, and continuous improvement efforts, while supporting organizational change and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and excellent customer experience. Duties include: System Engineering Oversight:

• Manage the System Engineering Section, including network administrators and system administrators supporting switching/routing/perimeter devices, servers (physical/virtual), storage, backups, technology recovery, email, cloud services, data center support, and customer engagement support.
• Oversee performance monitoring and reporting for network, servers, and cloud services; develop strategies to maintain and administer infrastructure.
• Manage infrastructure operational costs and develop near- and long-term financial forecasts.
• Oversee SOS infrastructure services (LAN/WAN/servers/storage/cloud) and security solutions (e.g., firewalls, anti-virus, intrusion detection), ensuring timely IT support.

Security and Account Management:

• Provide strategic oversight for architecture, engineering, operations, and support across the infrastructure life cycle and report on system performance trends and service issues.
• Ensure security of SOS systems/data through policy definition, implementation, and audit; oversee user account/access administration in Active Directory; support security monitoring.
• Oversee administration and maintenance of security devices; collaborate with the Information Security Officer (ISO) on threat management, threat modeling, and security monitoring use cases; establish metrics/monitoring and produce standard reports.

Personnel Management and Supervision:

• Recruit, hire, train, and manage staff; set priorities and adjust assignments based on changing need.
• Develop staff training plans and support reporting, feasibility/special project reporting, and budgetary/control agency information needs.
• Partner with clients to determine IT needs, communicate changes affecting production systems, and establish service level agreements.

Supplemental Questionnaire: Applicants must submit a Supplemental Questionnaire responding to the questions listed below, it should be no more than two (2) pages typed, using business professional font, font size and formatting. Responses do not need to include the question but must be numbered in the same order. Applications that do not follow the directions as identified above, provide incomplete responses, or do not submit a Supplemental Questionnaire will not be considered.

• Describe your experience leading enterprise infrastructure teams responsible for network (LAN/WAN, routing/switching, perimeter), servers/virtualization, storage, backups/technology recovery, email, cloud services, data center operation and customer service. Include scope (environment size), your role, and outcomes achieved (e.g., availability/performance improvements).
• Provide an example of how you established or improved infrastructure monitoring, metrics, and reporting (network/server/cloud) and used trending/resource data to drive service reliability and customer support improvements. Include what you measured, how often you reported, and the results.
• Describe your experience overseeing user account, permissions, and access rights administration in Active Directory (or equivalent). Include how you reduced access risk (e.g., least privilege, periodic reviews) and supported security monitoring or incident response.
• Share an example demonstrating how you managed infrastructure operational costs and developed near- and long-term forecasts, while also recruiting/training/staffing to meet changing priorities and service needs. Include tools/approaches used and measurable outcomes.

Working Conditions

This job advertisement indicates whether this position is eligible for telework. All employees who telework are required to be California residents, in accordance with Government Code 14200, and may be required to report to the Secretary of State’s Headquarters (Sacramento), when needed, and on short notice. Candidates who reside outside of the state of California may be interviewed; however, the selected candidate must have a primary residency in the state of California prior to appointment (and continue to maintain California residency) as a condition of employment. Failure to meet this requirement may result in the job offer being rescinded.

Do you have experience in Task prioritization?, In addition to evaluating each candidate’s relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

• Demonstrated success improving infrastructure availability, performance, and reliability using monitoring, trending, metrics, and regular performance reporting across network/server/cloud environments.
• Experience developing and managing infrastructure operational budgets/cost controls and conducting near- and long-term financial forecasting for growth/expanded functionality.
• Strong knowledge of enterprise security tools/controls (e.g., firewalls, anti-virus, intrusion detection systems) and experience overseeing their effective operation.
• Experience collaborating with an Information Security Officer (ISO) or security leadership on threat management, threat modeling, threat vectors, and security monitoring use cases, including production of standard security/performance reports for leadership.
• Experience establishing and enforcing IT/security policies, processes, procedures, and driving continuous process improvement to meet operational and security objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to build service partnerships with customers, communicate production-impacting changes, and establish/maintain service level agreements (SLAs). Experience leading through organizational change, mentoring supervisors/managers, and promoting a strong customer experience and inclusive workplace practices.

The Office of the Secretary of State (SOS) consists of nearly 750 dedicated public servants who uphold the rights of Californians while also striving to make our government, elections, and businesses both accessible and transparent. Led by an elected leader, accountable to the public, we are dedicated to fostering career development opportunities and growing a skilled workforce that embraces inclusion and values diversity.

Located in downtown Sacramento, the SOS building is within walking distance to a variety of eateries and amenities. Light Rail, State Capitol, Downtown Commons (DOCO), and Golden 1 Center, just to name a few. Conveniently located in the SOS building, the Gold Rush Grille offers delicious daily specials for breakfast or lunch and is open to the public. Our on-site childcare incorporates programs for children six weeks to five years old. Priority waitlist access and special discounted rates are available for SOS employees.