The California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (Cal Fire) is seeking an experienced IT leader who understands the workings of the legislative and executive branches of state government and is skilled in managing people and programs. The position is CIO/assistant deputy director.
The department’s outgoing CIO, Ron Ralph, was one of two state chief IT officers honored as CIOs of the Year in February at the Public Sector CIO Academy Awards in Sacramento. The awards are given by e.Republic, parent company of Techwire and Government Technology magazine, in recognition of the IT leaders’ roles in tech procurement and governance. The other winner was Karen Ruiz of Covered California.
Ralph had been Cal Fire CIO since 2002, managing a multimillion-dollar budget and overseeing management, acquisition and integration of the department’s IT resources. He joined Cal Fire in 1990 and, over the years, was a support technician, a systems programmer and analyst, and a technical supervisor. Before joining Cal Fire, he worked in various technology roles in the private sector.
State officials said Ralph had greatly enhanced the department’s emergency management capabilities “through the implementation of new emergency equipment and vehicle locator technologies.”
In receiving the award, Ralph was praised for leading “the creation of an agile and secure environment that places the power of services and information into the hands of employees and stakeholders including software-defined technologies, cloud services, virtual compute resources, shared-services, software-as-service, data-as-a-service, and platform-as-services.”
The CIO “has overall responsibility for the information technology activities that support the department’s critical lines of business,” the job posting says. “The CIO has direct authority over information technology operations and project activities.”
The CIO runs the Information Technology Services (ITS) Office, which consists of 112 IT professionals who support the department’s programs, strategic goals and business objectives.
“The incumbent is responsible for directing, planning, organizing, and controlling all ITS activities,” the posting says. “Through subordinate managers, the CIO ensures the effective, efficient and secure operations of all information technology functions that serve Cal Fire.” In addition, the job posting says, the new CIO will have:
- Experience managing and leading an IT team, including the ability to direct the effective use of technology within a department/company and oversee the operations of multiple IT disciplines involving a variety of technical environments (infrastructure, software, etc.).
- Demonstrated ability to create a clear vision, set goals and expectations, and motivate individuals.
- Managerial experience in establishing collaborative relationships internally and externally, and resolving disagreements between and/or among multiple stakeholders.
- Experience related to managing IT operations and planning, organizing, directing or coordinating IT projects and development efforts, including management of contractor resources.
- Experience in strategic planning and operational tactical planning efforts.
