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Tax, Fee Administration Seeks 'Change Agent' CIO as Application Deadline Looms

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) is seeking a new CIO, and its application period ends Thursday, after which officials will review submissions. The agency seeks a 'change agent,' someone with the highest level of technical expertise on IT policy, it said in the job posting.

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Later this week, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) will take a key next step in its ongoing search for a new CIO in its Technology Services Division.

Thursday is the last day to respond to CDTFA’s posting on CalCareers, which classifies the job as a Career Executive Assignment. The agency’s new CIO will replace longtime public-sector tech leader Nabil Fares, who led CDTFA’s tech services division for about nine months and previously held CIO positions at the city of Stockton — its first — and at the California Department of Public Health.

CDTFA seeks a CIO with the “highest level” of technical expertise on IT policy — a candidate who can guide its enterprise IT program and join its executive team, governance council and steering committee for its Centralized Revenue Opportunity System (CROS) Project, the agency said in the listing. CROS' first release went live in May at a reported cost of $290 million, and replaces the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) legacy computer systems with a customer-centered solution.

But its CIO position, CDFTA said, goes beyond day-to-day IT operations like executing on application development and implementations, production and network planning; its new tech lead will be the department’s chief policy-maker.

“The CIO serves as a change agent in proactively planning, organizing, leading and controlling CDTFA's large, complex IT program — designed to accomplish CDTFA's mission and facilitate implementation of the CDTFA's Strategic Plan,” the agency said. The new hire, it noted, will “proactively” join its executive team to shape the direction of CDTFA’s strategy and policy and be responsible for its IT vision, strategic plan and performance management. The application period has been open six weeks, Casey Wells, a representative of CDTFA’s office of public affairs, told Techwire via email, adding that the duration of the subsequent application review period is unclear.

The agency also seeks candidates with six “desirable qualifications,” which will help it “competitively evaluate” applicants, including:

  • A knowledge of personnel management techniques; organization, motivation and staff development techniques; and principles, practices, and trends in public administration, organization, and management, developed by previous high-level management experience.
  • Knowledge of evolving IT trends, concepts and practices and the ability to apply them.
  • The ability to develop, formulate and implement strategic IT and business policies and procedures.
  • The ability to work with “high-level management” on the agency’s IT vision, governance, policy direction, and “sensitive issues.”
Fares, who departed in December, is CEO at Sacramento-based Adroit Government, a company that facilitates relationships between its clients and state and local government.

Theo Douglas is Assistant Managing Editor of Industry Insider — California.