Director, Systems & Engineering
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
LAHSA manages critical technology solutions that track people experiencing homelessness, their utilization of homelessness services across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (CoC), and the funding and performance of the organizations that provide homelessness services to the City of Los Angeles. The technology solutions supporting this mission include but are not limited to the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS), the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS), the Universal Housing Application (UHA), Tableau, LAHOP, and the Resource Management System (RMS). While several of these are SaaS platforms managed by external vendors, LAHSA's Systems & Engineering department is responsible for the underlying infrastructure, integrations, security, and data architecture that support this ecosystem, as well as the custom-built applications and databases developed in-house. As the Continuum of Care's technology ecosystem becomes increasingly interconnected across partner agencies, there is a critical need for strategic leadership to design, build, and implement a modern, interoperable systems and data architecture, one that unifies LAHSA's own data environment while enabling secure, standards-based integration with CoC partner systems. The Director of Systems & Engineering is responsible for establishing and driving the strategic vision for LAHSA's technology infrastructure and enterprise system architecture. Positioned within the Data Analytics Department and reporting directly to the Deputy Chief Analytics Officer, the Director leads a newly established Systems & Engineering department that unifies enterprise systems architecture, application development, and IT operations under a single technical function aligned to LAHSA's programmatic and analytic mission, ensuring the delivery of reliable, secure, and scalable technology capabilities that support LAHSA's mission and operations. The Director leads the modernization of LAHSA's IT infrastructure and is the agency's principal architect for enterprise systems, leading the design and implementation of a modern system architecture, including the development of LAHSA's first enterprise data warehouse. This position bridges traditional IT operations with forward-looking systems and data engineering, requiring a leader who can manage day-to-day technology operations while also architecting and executing a multi-year technical modernization roadmap. The Director manages IT Operations through the Associate Director of IT, and directly manages the Application Engineering team and the Database Administrator (DBA), ensuring application, database, and infrastructure decisions align with a coherent, unified enterprise architecture. This is a senior management position requiring substantial independent judgment, technical depth, architectural vision, and the ability to collaborate across departments and with executive leadership.
Essential Job Functions
Strategic Vision & Enterprise Architecture
- Serve as LAHSA's principal architect for enterprise systems, establishing a long-term technical vision and roadmap for modernizing IT infrastructure, application platforms, and data systems.
- Design and lead the implementation of a modern system architecture for LAHSA, including compute, storage, network, cloud, and integration layers that support scalability, security, and reliability.
- Lead the design, development, and implementation of LAHSA's first enterprise data warehouse, establishing data modeling standards, ETL/integration pipelines, and governance practices that unify data across HMIS, EGMS, UHA, RMS, and other agency systems into a coherent, well-documented, and portable data architecture that supports enterprise reporting and CoC-wide interoperability.
- Develop and execute a multi-year Systems & Engineering strategic plan aligned with LAHSA's mission and Continuum of Care priorities, in collaboration with the Deputy Chief Analytics Officer and executive leadership.
- Evaluate, recommend, and architect emerging technologies, cloud platforms, and architectural patterns-including AI, retrieval-based knowledge systems, and advanced analytics tooling-to extend service capacity and advance LAHSA's long-term technology vision.
- Partner with the Analytics team and other departments to ensure system and data architecture decisions support enterprise reporting, analytics, and data-driven decision-making across LAHSA.
IT Infrastructure & Operations Oversight
- Direct IT Operations through the Associate Director of IT, providing strategic guidance over systems administration, network infrastructure, desktop support, and end-user computing environments.
- Ensure enterprise systems, on-premise and cloud infrastructure, and network operations are performant, resilient, secure, and supported by appropriate disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
- Identify and prioritize automation opportunities across IT operations and application support that reduce manual effort and redirect staff capacity toward higher-value work.
- Establish and enforce standards for systems architecture, infrastructure documentation, configuration management, and asset inventories in partnership with the Associate Director of IT.
- Lead IT governance across the full technology lifecycle-evaluation, acquisition, implementation, and ongoing support-for enterprise hardware, software, and cloud platforms; manage vendor and consultant relationships.
- Define and enforce standards for architecture, process, and operations; maintain system documentation, configuration management, software licensing, and asset inventories.
Application Engineering & Database Management
- Directly oversee the Application Engineering team (currently three App Developers) and the Database Administrator (DBA), providing technical direction, architectural guidance, and code/design review for custom-built applications and the agency website.
- Directly manage the DBA's work on database architecture, normalization practices, performance monitoring, capacity planning, and data integrity across LAHSA's application databases, ensuring alignment with the enterprise data warehouse strategy.
- Ensure application architecture and database design align with LAHSA's broader enterprise and data warehouse architecture, avoiding fragmented or siloed technical decisions.
- Guide the Application Engineering team's practices around software development lifecycle, code quality, release management, and technical documentation.
- Ensure LAHSA's public-facing web properties and custom applications meet accessibility standards, including ADA and WCAG 2.1 Level AA, in alignment with DOJ Title II requirements.
- Partner with business stakeholders to translate operational and reporting needs into scalable technical solutions.
AI & Intelligent Automation
- Architect and implement LAHSA's AI infrastructure, including cloud-hosted compute, vector/document storage, and retrieval layers that ground large language models against LAHSA's own documentation and knowledge base within a secure, access-controlled environment.
- Lead development of in-house conversational AI capabilities that assist staff, providers, and the public in navigating LAHSA's website and applications, and that resolve common technical issues without staff intervention-extending service capacity for a lean technical team.
- Establish governance for AI systems, including data handling and PII protection, retrieval scoping, output validation, human escalation paths, and acceptable use standards.
- Design AI and integration architecture to support secure, standards-based knowledge sharing with CoC partner agencies, enabling cross-agency troubleshooting and service navigation where the use case warrants.
Cybersecurity & Information Protection
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive cybersecurity program-encompassing governance frameworks, policies, vulnerability management, threat detection, incident response, and business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
- Oversee outsourced or in-house cybersecurity controls across identity and access management, endpoint protection, network security, encryption, and monitoring; coordinate internal and external audits, risk assessments, and remediation activities.
- Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and standards including HIPAA, privacy requirements, data retention regulations, and cybersecurity mandates.
- In collaboration with Human Resources and through the Associate Director of IT, ensure onboarding and offboarding processes provision and revoke equipment and system access appropriately, with auditable records.
- Promote a culture of cybersecurity awareness through training, communication, and organizational best practices.
People, Budget & Vendor Management
- Directly manage, mentor, and evaluate the Associate Director of IT, the Application Engineering team, and the Database Administrator (DBA); oversee workforce planning, recruitment, and performance management across all functions.
- Foster a collaborative, service-oriented culture across the Systems & Engineering organization, and build the case for future organizational investments, including a Lead/Senior Developer role to support the Application Engineering team.
- Develop and administer the Systems & Engineering department budget, including technology investment, infrastructure, and staffing plans.
- Identify funding opportunities and support grant-related technology requirements, in collaboration with the Deputy Chief Analytics Officer and other executive leadership.
- Represent Systems & Engineering in cross-departmental meetings, planning sessions, and, as needed, external technical forums., Schedule: The Chief Executive Officer or designee may change the schedule of positions between hybrid and onsite, as necessary to accomplish LAHSA's business needs. Additional Information: LAHSA has adopted a hybrid telework policy requiring employees to work onsite at our Los Angeles office a minimum of two (2) days per week. Applicants must be able to meet this onsite requirement, with or without a reasonable accommodation. LAHSA is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you require an accommodation, please contact Human Resources athumanresources@lahsa.orgto initiate the interactive process. Residency Requirement: This position requires the employee to reside within the State of California. Proof of residency may be requested as part of the onboarding process to ensure compliance with organizational and operational requirements.
Requirements
- Deep technical expertise across systems architecture, cloud infrastructure, application development, and database/data warehouse design.
- Strategic and architectural thinking, with the ability to design cohesive, scalable technical solutions across previously siloed systems and teams.
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to manage, mentor, and grow both infrastructure/operations staff and software development staff.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical executive stakeholders.
- Strong project and program management skills, including the ability to manage a multi-year modernization roadmap alongside day-to-day operational demands.
- Change management skills, with experience leading organizations through technology and process transformation.
Working Conditions
- Hybrid work environment.
- Availability to support occasional evening, weekend, or emergency response needs related to critical system operations.
- Occasional travel throughout Los Angeles County for meetings and site visits.
Training & Experience
- Minimum seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in information technology, systems engineering, or software/application development, including at least three (3) years in a management or supervisory role overseeing technical staff.
- Demonstrated experience designing and implementing enterprise system architecture, including infrastructure, cloud, and integration components.
- Direct experience designing, building, or implementing a data warehouse or modern enterprise data architecture, including data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and data governance.
- Experience managing both IT operations (systems, network, infrastructure) and application development/database teams, or a strong working knowledge of both domains.
- Proven ability to lead technical teams, mentor engineers and developers, and translate strategic vision into an executable technical roadmap.
- Experience working with hybrid (onsite and remote) teams; public sector, nonprofit, healthcare, or Continuum of Care experience is highly desirable., One or more of the following certifications is desirable: AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, TOGAF, Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP), Project Management Professional (PMP), or ITIL Foundation or higher.
Benefits & conditions
Pulled from the full job description Loan forgiveness Health insurance Vision insurance Dental insurance Flexible spending account Life insurance Disability insurance, Dental Insurance LAHSA pays a portion of the premiums for selected dental benefits for all full-time employees and their dependents. Employees are responsible for the difference in the premiums through automatic bi-monthly payroll deductions. Dental plans are administered through ADP Workforce. The following are enrollment options:
Dental HMO/PPO: Guardian Dental
VSP Vision Plan LAHSA offers this voluntary comprehensive vision plan to all full-time employees through ADP Workforce. It includes yearly comprehensive exams, lenses, frames and contact lenses. All premiums are pre-taxed and paid 100% by the employee through automatic bi-monthly payroll deductions.
AFLAC Supplemental Insurance LAHSA offers this voluntary supplemental insurance to all full-time employees. Plan options include personal accident, personal cancer indemnity, personal short-term disability, and personal life insurance plans. Most premiums are pre taxed and paid 100% by the employee through automatic bi-monthly payroll deductions.
ADP Flexible Spending Accounts LAHSA offers employees this voluntary flexible spending account plan through ADP Workforce. Employees may elect to participate in dependent care or health care expense accounts. All premiums are pre-taxed and paid 100% by the employee through automatic bimonthly payroll deductions.
Life Insurance LAHSA pays 100% of the premium for $50,000 basic life insurance coverage through ADP.
Voluntary Group Life Insurance LAHSA offers employees this voluntary group life insurance through Lincoln Financial. Employees may elect to participate in dependent care or health care expense accounts. All premiums are pre-taxed and paid 100% by the employee through automatic bimonthly payroll deductions.
Long Term Disability LAHSA pays 100% of the premium for long term disability coverage through ADP.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Eligibility LAHSA is considered a government employer for the PSLF Program.
Pension Plan LAHSA provides a 401A pension plan through Lincoln Financial. After 6 months of employment, employees are eligible for contributions of 6% of the employee's salary with a qualification date of 500 hours or 6 months after the date of hire.
Deferred Compensation Plan LAHSA provides a 457 Deferred Compensation plan through Lincoln Financial. Employees may elect to defer up to IRS maximum limit per year of their earned salary for income tax purposes.
Time Off Administrative Leave Chief Executive Officer, chiefs, and directors receive five (5) days of admin leave each calendar year in addition to the time-off below.
Vacation Vacation is earned according to each month of service commencing with the employee's initial date of hire.
- Less than three (3) years of employment, eighty (80) hours per year.
- Three (3) to six (6) years of employment, one hundred twenty (120) hours per year.
- More than six (6) years of employment, the one hundred twenty (120) hour total shall be supplemented by one (1) workday of paid leave for each twelve (12) months greater than seventy-two (72) months of employment. This vacation accrual is capped at thirty (30) workdays per year
Maximum accrual of vacation leave is 240 hours.