Director of Information Technology (I.T.) - The Executive Leadership Council

The Executive Leadership Council is the preeminent member organization for the development of global black leaders. Comprised of more than 800 current and former corporate black CEOs, board members and senior executives at Fortune 1000 & Global 500 companies, entrepreneurs leading top-tier firms, and recognized thought leaders, we open channels of opportunity for the development of black executives to positively impact business and communities.

Position Overview

We are currently seeking a Director of Information Technology (IT) to join the Information Technology team in our Washington, DC office. The incumbent is part of the senior management team and provides vision & leadership in the strategy, development, and implementation of the ELC's information technology. This role will be responsible for org-wide IT operations as well as planning and implementing information systems to support the mission. The role develops and implements long and short-term strategies for information technology investment and use. In addition to being a technology leader, the Director serves as a key partner to staff across the ELC and helps bridge the gap between technology solutions and business needs, provides guidance on data architecture and structure, and champions a culture of top-notch customer service and efficiency. Collaborates with other C-level executives to develop and execute the organization's overall strategy, serving as a strategic partner in driving business success. This position reports to the CFO and leads the department.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS & KEY OUTCOMES

• Oversees and guides the development of, in collaboration with the Chief Financial Officer, an integrated short and long-term, information technology strategy roadmap across the ELC, that aligns technology with business goals and promotes organizational agility and efficiency. Ensures the scalability and reliability of the organization's technology infrastructure, planning for future growth.
• Direct the ongoing operations and maintenance of the organization's technological resources WAN, LAN, servers, databases, applications, workstations, telecommunications and other communications tools, printers/copiers, A/V equipment, training tools, and security cameras. Ensures that 'industry standard' engineering and operational practices are followed. Manages service providers under appropriate SLA's;
• Provide secure, effective Disaster Recovery capabilities, consistent with Business Continuity requirements of senior management. Include procedures that assure appropriate and secured management of physical (buildings, etc.) and digital (network, cloud-based storage, redundancy) infrastructure;
• Effectively communicates technology decisions, progress, and challenges to key stakeholders, including executive leaders, managers, and external partners. Serves as a bridge between the technology function and other departments, ensuring alignment and transparency.
• Act as staff liaison to the IT Advisory Group, a sub-committee of the Board of Directors, to help shape the ELC's evolving IT posture and strategic direction.
• Lead organization-wide technology training initiatives to improve user adoption and adherence to established standards.
• Oversee the implementation and adoption of key systems, including CRM, data management practices, SaaS, and cloud services.
• Develops, implements, and maintains effective policies and procedures for information technology, ensuring that access, security, and usage are in accordance with all ELC policies, and protects the assets of the ELC
• Develops, implements, and monitors a comprehensive information security and data risk management and governance plan to protect information and technology assets owned, controlled, or processed by the ELC.
• Works closely with the organizational leaders to design, implement, monitor, and test an org-wide disaster recovery, business continuity, and risk management plan. Participate in and prepare for information security audits, ensuring compliance with relevant standards and best practices.
• Oversee threat and vulnerability assessments, identifying and addressing potential risks to the organization's IT infrastructure.
• Leads the integration and enhancement of all ELC databases and provides guidance to ensure accurate and consistent data interpretation, analysis, and reporting. Develops data governance processes to support and enhance data accuracy, security, and availability.
• Serves as primary liaison with technology vendors and the Managed Service Provider (MSP), ensuring effective service delivery and strategic alignment. Oversee the MSP's handling of technical support and troubleshooting, while providing competent on-site assistance for immediate issues as needed.
• Oversees internal support services and implements best practices for tracking, monitoring, and resolving issues. Guides the delivery of a seamless support experience from IT which is striving for the quickest and most complete issue resolution to those issues.
• Provides leadership and mentorship to IT team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and top-notch customer service.
• Oversees ELC's audio visual strategy, ensuring that solutions, software, and equipment, meet high standards for ease of use, reliability, and connectivity for all ELC operating locations.
• Prepares and manages IT budgets and ensures cost-effectiveness, identifying opportunities for cost savings and making informed decisions about technology investments. Develops longer range investment plans and technology roadmaps supporting the strategies of the organization, forecasting significant investments, and guarding against the obsolescence of the ELC technology resources.
• Promotes digital transformation and innovation across the organization, identifying opportunities for automation, process improvement, and the adoption of new technologies.

General Duties

• Contribute to the achievement of established department goals and objectives and adhere to department policies, procedures, quality standards, and safety standards.
• Maintain current professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing professional networks, and participating in professional associations.
• Ability to provide effective leadership; experience coaching and mentoring staff.
• Demonstrated creative, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong written, interpersonal, and oral communication skills with a commitment to a high level of customer service and confidentiality.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced office environment, demonstrating a flexible approach with short deadlines.
• Promote a culture of high performance and continuous improvement that values learning and a commitment to quality improvement.
• Ability to maintain high project organization, multitask, and a focus on quality of results with attention to detail in a fast-paced environment.
• Create and manage a seamless information sharing workflow within the I.T. department and the overall organization.
• Perform other duties as needed.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & CREDENTIALS

• Bachelor's degree in technology related field required. Master's or advanced degree preferred. Exceptions considered for skill set and relevant work experience.
• 7- 10 years in managing nonprofit and/or mid-size business infrastructure, infrostructure, architecture, application, and related teams.
• Minimum 5 years of Information Technology experience in management, computer programming, and administration.
• Proven track record of successfully managing IT projects, particularly CRM implementations, data management initiatives, and cloud migrations.
• Experience working with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and other IT vendors.
• Experience managing remote teams with ability to motivate, inspire staff and positively influence change.
• Advanced Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office Suite, SQL, and Access computer programming expertise.
• Proficient in cloud-based systems (e.g., Microsoft 365, Concur, Zoom, Teams, Salesforce) and business intelligence and data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
• Expert-level knowledge of LAN/WAN technology, IIS, switches, routers, including wireless protocol and firewall security.
• Proficiency in networking/distributed computing environment concepts. Experience with principles of routing, client/server programming.
• Experience performing data analysis, project planning, and supporting Quality of Service (QOS).
• Experience Deploying, Designing, and troubleshooting Wireless Infrastructure.
• Knowledge, understanding and experience with current and developing information technology trends and requirements for a complex organization.
• Experience with strategic planning, developing budgets, governance structures, and process transformation within a nonprofit organization setting.
• Knowledge of financial/business analysis techniques, including experience analyzing costs, business cases, and risks associated with the selection and implementation of solutions.
• Driven self-starter who works effectively and efficiently with all colleagues, strategic partners to include senior-level executives and CEOs.
• Spanish language not a requirement but helpful.

COMPETENCIES

• Mission Alignment & Awareness: Has a passion for and commitment to opening channels of opportunity for the development of Black professionals to positively impact business and local communities; contributes to the organization by understanding and aligning actions with the organization's goals, core functions, and values.

• Installation, Troubleshooting & Support: Demonstrates an advanced understanding of the installation procedures used in the organization; possesses an advanced understanding of the installation tools and uses them to install systems at the enterprise level; demonstrates a strong working knowledge of integration procedures and is able to integrate systems at the departmental level; possesses an advanced working knowledge of troubleshooting techniques and can independently perform troubleshooting without the use of pre-written processes; troubleshoots issues affecting multiple systems at the business unit level; anticipates potential user issues and determines what changes need to be made to the relevant IT before there are any concerns.

• IT Policy & Compliance: Possesses an advanced knowledge of relevant compliance laws and standards external from the organization; demonstrates an advanced understanding of IT policy requirements and standards and enforces them in the workplace; independently performs job function with little to no assistance from policy requirements; enforces policy and compliance procedures; standardizes organizational processes, policies, and regulations to reduce compliance-related issues.

• Risk Management: Assesses the degree of risk in plans or actions and takes appropriate action to mitigate them or make contingency plans to limit the magnitude of risk, including having the insight and appreciation of organizational needs, priorities, goals and seeing that actions support those goals; demonstrates ability to describe and understand the risks related to a situation or activity; uses past experience and best practices to identify issues, potential problems, and risk mitigates in advance those factors that could interfere with productivity and operational continuity and creates a contingent plan for the risk.

• Planning & Results Orientation: Organizes and executes work to meet organizational goals and objectives while meeting quality standards and following organizational processes; ensures individual performance does not negatively impact the performance of others; recommends additional resources that would improve effectiveness and helps others access required resources; identifies opportunities to improve work processes and efficiency; contributes to setting work priorities and direction; identifies in advance when intended results may not be achieved; takes initiative; is not satisfied with the status quo.

• Teamwork & Collaboration: Works well cross functionally and with others on the team to achieve personal goals, team goals, and organizational goals; takes responsibility for individual actions in order to achieve consistent results; fosters team camaraderie, collaboration, and cohesion; understands the impact of one's actions on the ability of their team members to do their jobs; respects the differences other team members bring to the table by openly seeking others' opinions; makes suggestions to improve team engagement and effectiveness; supports implementation of team decisions; professionally gives and seeks feedback in order to achieve common goals.

• Problem Solving & Decision-Making: Identifies problems and uses logical analysis to find information, understand causes, and evaluate and select best possible courses of action; seeks information and input to fully understand the cause of problems; takes action to remove obstacles and address problems before they impact performance and results; initiates the evaluation of possible solutions to problems; assesses risks before making a decision; does not take unnecessary risks; effectively navigates through ambiguity, using multiple data points to analyze issues and identify trends.

• Creativity & Innovation: Thinks beyond the confines of traditional models to recognize opportunities and find new and better ways of doing things; questions common practice and contributes to improvement of processes and outputs; proposes novel ideas; utilizes appropriate brainstorming techniques to generate ideas; researches current thinking and shares ideas; explores different alternatives that would achieve a similar output, with the goal of achieving process simplification or efficiencies.

• Resilience & Managing Uncertainty: Adjusts thinking and behavior in order to adapt to changes in the job and work environment with limited stress; is able to work effectively in an unstructured environment; actively promotes and advocates the advantages of changes when new and credible information emerges; acknowledges uncertainty and shares constructive coping strategies with team members.

• Communication & Interpersonal Effectiveness: Effectively and appropriately interacts and communicates with others to build positive, constructive, professional relationships; tailors communication style and messages based on the audience; seeks to understand others' points of view, observes verbal and non-verbal cues to encourage open and honest discussions; uses clear, precise, and error-free language; invites and encourages others to participate in discussions; identifies and helps to resolve interpersonal conflict between team members; does not jump to conclusions or act on assumptions.

• Customer Focus: Identifies, considers, prioritizes, and takes action on the needs of both internal and external customers; uses knowledge about the customer to inform decision making and problem solving; strives to provide additional value to the customer experience; actively solicits internal and customer feedback in order to improve the relationship; suggests ways to improve the customer experience.

• Technology: Proficient with Microsoft productivity suite, Adobe Design Suite, SharePoint, CRM Software, and other functional software relevant to area of responsibility.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Work is performed in an interior office setting which has no adverse environmental conditions expected.
• Hybrid Role requiring 2 days per week in office with main focus days Monday - Thursday, and possible travel up to 15% of the time both in office & the field.
• Work involves frequently sitting for extended periods of time, frequently talking or hearing, frequently operating a computer, and occasional light physical effort (lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, etc.) objects weighing up to 50 lbs.
• Work requires frequent ability to comprehend direction and adhere to policies or established procedures, ability to use logic to make sound decisions, ability to interpret and analyze data, ability to gather and organize information for a wide variety of audiences, ability to read and write a variety of materials, and ability to adapt well in the face of workplace stress.

The Executive Leadership Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is our policy to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment based on an individual's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as defined by federal, state, and local law.