Chief Technology Officer

DHRM•Richmond, VA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

At the Virginia Department of Social Services, we put people at the center of everything we do. We believe that every Virginian can live a life of dignity and that all voices, ideas and experiences contribute greatly to our pursuit of excellence. Inspired by continuous improvement, we commit ourselves to listening, learning and cultivating environments of trust, respect and positive engagement. Together, we are mission-driven, eager to achieve, and passionate about bringing the best of who we are to those we serve. We design and deliver high-quality human services that help Virginians achieve safety, independence and overall well-being. We are a $2 billion agency – one of the largest in the Commonwealth of Virginia – partnering with 120 local departments of social services and 31 community action agencies, along with faith-based and non-profit organizations, to promote the well-being of children, adults, and families statewide. We proudly serve alongside 1,650 (state) and 12,200 (local) human services professionals throughout the Social Services System, who ensure that thousands of Virginia’s most vulnerable citizens have easy access to the services and benefits available to them. The Virginia Department of Social Services is excited to share that we are looking for a Chief Technology Officer to help join and lead our team! The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) will report to the Deputy Commissioner of Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and will partner with the Deputy Commissioner of Technology and executive leadership to develop the agency’s technology vision, strategy, and strategic roadmap. The CTO will be a visionary leader responsible for the VDSS Information Technology (IT) architecture and for developing, overseeing, and operationalizing the enterprise technology transformation of IT solutions to advance the agency’s business strategy. This includes leveraging trendspotting to harness both mainstream and emerging technologies. The CTO should be well-versed in cloud technologies (primarily AWS with limited Azure experience) and the implementation of hybrid multi-cloud environments, edge computing, containerization, and automated infrastructure to maintain a competitive edge. The CTO’s team will serve as the central innovation hub within VDSS’s Technology Services Division (TSD) and will collaborate with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) to adopt and leverage new technologies that support digital business platforms and modernize infrastructure, ensuring the organization is well-positioned to capitalize on business opportunities. The CTO will oversee operations and lead teams of architects, developers, and cloud engineers. The CTO will champion agile and DevSecOps practices while fostering a culture that embraces these principles in delivering business solutions. In this role, the CTO will manage strategic vendor and partner relationships, ensuring alignment with the organization's technology and business strategies. The CTO will develop metrics and analytics strategies to support decision-making and performance evaluation while guiding the organization's technology direction and ensuring alignment with broader IT and organizational priorities. The CTO will also oversee vendor performance and the successful delivery of projects within approved cost, scope, schedule, and quality expectations. The CTO will drive enterprise modernization, foster innovation, and ensure technology investments deliver measurable value in support of the agency's mission and strategic priorities.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience leading the strategy and operations of information technology architecture, security, and application development within a large, complex organization.
Extensive experience in a senior-level IT leadership role with responsibility for developing and executing enterprise technology strategy, strategic planning, and large-scale technology transformation aligned with organizational goals.
Demonstrated expertise with public cloud technologies, primarily Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, including cloud architecture, engineering, infrastructure management, containerization, automation, DevSecOps, and CI/CD practices, with the ability to evaluate and recommend SaaS, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), platform services, and custom-developed cloud solutions to meet business and technical requirements.
Experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams, including enterprise architects, software developers, cloud engineers, and technical managers, while fostering a collaborative, innovative, and high-performing culture.
Demonstrated experience managing technology budgets, vendor relationships, contracts, service-level agreements, and technical resources to deliver large-scale technology projects while balancing competing priorities and organizational constraints.
Experience developing and managing budgets, vendor contracts, and service-level agreements.
Demonstrated ability to manage resources effectively to meet resource constraints for large scale projects.
Understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) models and ability to identify AI models to meet business objectives.
Ability to design and construct effective prompts for AI systems.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of Security Frameworks such as IRS 1075 and NIST frameworks.
Project management skills with focus on outcomes.
Experience in handling operations for enterprise applications.
Experience within state government, human services, healthcare, or other highly regulated public-sector environments.
Experience working with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) or similar centralized IT governance organizations.
Relevant certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, AWS Certified Advanced Networking, TOGAF, CISSP, PMP, SAFe, or equivalent.
Experience implementing responsible AI governance, generative AI, machine learning, and intelligent automation within enterprise environments.

Responsibilities

Develop the agency’s technology vision, strategy, and strategic roadmap.
Oversee and operationalize the enterprise technology transformation of IT solutions to advance the agency’s business strategy.
Harness both mainstream and emerging technologies.
Implement hybrid multi-cloud environments, edge computing, containerization, and automated infrastructure.
Serve as the central innovation hub within VDSS’s Technology Services Division (TSD).
Collaborate with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) to adopt and leverage new technologies.
Oversee operations and lead teams of architects, developers, and cloud engineers.
Champion agile and DevSecOps practices.
Foster a culture that embraces agile and DevSecOps principles.
Manage strategic vendor and partner relationships.
Develop metrics and analytics strategies to support decision-making and performance evaluation.
Guide the organization's technology direction.
Oversee vendor performance and the successful delivery of projects within approved cost, scope, schedule, and quality expectations.
Drive enterprise modernization.
Foster innovation.
Ensure technology investments deliver measurable value.