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High-Profile Agency Recruiting for Assistant Deputy Director

The Career Executive Assignment position requires a solid background in business processes and programs as well as experience in managing large-scale IT projects.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles is recruiting for an assistant deputy director of the Enterprise Applications Branch of the Information Systems Division, now that the top two new leaders of the beleaguered department have been chosen.

This is a Career Executive Assignment (CEA) position, and the list of requirements and responsibilities is long. It includes experience in:

  • Formulating and implementing IT policy related to statewide business processes and programs;
  • Experience in planning, developing and supporting large-scale IT projects, including managing progress, scope and cost of systems in development and maintenance;
  • Management and leadership, including establishing strategic objectives and priorities;
  • Ability to communicate complex IT issues, both verbally and in writing, to all levels inside and outside of a department;
  • Decision-making, including a demonstrated ability to analyze and solve complex problems and issues, and an ability to make effective decisions involving ambiguity and risk.
The DMV, long plagued by lengthy wait times and problems relating to the Motor Voter program and to technology, is undergoing an overhaul at the direction of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had appointed former Government Operations Secretary Marybel Batjer to oversee a Strike Force to review and recommend improvements. Batjer completed that assignment and left the GovOps role last month when Newsom named her president of the California Public Utilities Commission.  

Also last month, Newsom named veteran Silicon Valley IT executive Steve Gordon the new DMV director, succeeding Jean Shiomoto, who retired in December. The newly named chief deputy director is GovOps veteran Kathleen Webb, who had served as acting DMV chief in recent months.

The assistant deputy position will have a full plate once on the job. The DMV is rolling out a series of reforms and new initiatives to better accommodate the public — such things as self-serve kiosks, longer office hours and the ability to use credit cards for DMV transactions. A management audit of the department, done by a private company, is expected to be made public within the next few weeks.  

The new assistant deputy position has a monthly salary range of $10,360-$12,341. The posting and a link to apply can be found online. Deadline for applications is Aug. 19.

Dennis Noone is Executive Editor of Industry Insider. He is a career journalist, having worked at small-town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies including USA Today in Washington, D.C.