WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY DO?
Published: Dec 05, 2024 – The Director of Technology oversees the technology strategy, budget, and alignment with organizational goals. This role involves leading the implementation of reporting architecture and ensuring successful platform adoption across teams. Additionally, the director manages vendor relationships, ensures compliance with security regulations, and supervises electronic health information systems to meet functional and regulatory needs.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Director of Technology
1. Director of Technology Overview
- Leadership: Lead 11 permanent staff and contract technical staff
- Co-Leadership: Be co-leadership of the wider Technology team alongside the Director of Product Management
- Strategic Advisory: Championing and advising the SLT on technology strategy and vision
- Collaboration: Working in corroboration with the Charity, Trading, Marketing, and Comms Teams to agree on a forward roadmap of Technical developments
- Roadmap Development: Develop and lead the implementation of an annual roadmap for the programs, with clear and ambitious targets
- Operations Management: Managing an effective support and maintenance operation
- Solution Delivery: Driving forward appropriate solutions, applications, and services
- Best Practices Implementation: Embedding best practices in technology processes, service, and delivery
- Quality Assurance: Make quality assurance in data, architecture, security, quality, and compliance
- Solution Planning: Planning and executing solution delivery
- Service Level Management: Ensuring high service levels of business-critical technology
- Customer Focus: Ensure strong customer focus by creating a team culture of listening
- Team and Budget Management: Manage team and budget appropriately to achieve the IT plan
2. Director of Technology Job Description
- Team Management: Hire and manage a team to build out the company’s software and technical capabilities, especially as it relates to DevOps
- Strategy Development: Design, deliver, and own the company’s strategy for technology and data solutions
- Data Management: Refine and manage the company’s data protocols and processes ensuring appropriate compliance and security measures are in place
- IT Team Management: Manage and hire IT and development teams building a strong technology foundation across the company
- Collaboration: Collaborate with the company’s Science and Research team, helping develop a strong Technology and Innovation division
- Policy Oversight: Oversee the creation and maintenance of country-specific IT policies and procedures
- Compliance Management: Ensure compliance with relevant national and local legislation (e.g. GDPR) and donor requirements around the use of technology
- Helpdesk Management: Responsible for the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the IT Global Helpdesk team to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction
- Helpdesk Leadership: Lead and manage Helpdesk resources, systems, and reporting, monitor and report trends and metrics, and recommend improvements
- Change Management: Lead the development and rollout of communication and guidance to staff on new or updated IT policies, practices, tools, or projects, and guide these change management processes
- Technology Trends: Ensure the IT team stays up to date on the latest technology trends, releases, applications, integrations, and opportunities to recommend appropriate business solutions for Room to Read
- Staff Assessment: Assess IT staff and cohort capabilities, structure, and ways of working, recommend optimum IT staffing structure and capacity-building plans
3. Director of Technology Functions
- Digital Strategy: Lead digital transformation strategy in line with the organization’s short- and long-term goals, and departmental needs, and collaborate with the COO and Executive Leadership
- Collaboration: Collaborate with country and program teams to develop technology solutions that advance program operations and delivery as well as explore and implement innovations in education technology
- Technology Deployment: Oversee the deployment of technology initiatives throughout the organization
- Budget Management: Manage the Technology department’s budget and ensure alignment of resources with strategy
- KPI Oversight: Create and oversee high-level KPIs for the Technology department and report on progress
- System Integration: Support integration between technology systems to facilitate data-driven decision-making at multiple levels of the organization
- Core Technology Management: Oversee the management of the core technology stack
- System Optimization: Ensure systems and services are configured and administered for optimal use throughout the organization
- Technical Leadership: Provide direction and technical expertise in the design, development, and integration of systems
- Data Security: Oversee data security, management, and governance to ensure a robust cybersecurity framework is in place, including system testing and staff training
- Standards and Policy Development: Develop organizational standards, policies, and best practices for systems, hardware, and software in line with the evolving technology landscapes where we work and the increasingly virtual nature of work
4. Director of Technology Accountabilities
- Leadership: Provides planning, budgeting, leadership, and supervision to the technology department
- Budget Management: Communicate current and projected needs, requirements, and options in the church budgeting process, and recommend acquisitions and updates
- Long-Term Planning: Coordinates long-range planning activities for the technology infrastructure of the Church
- Vendor Management: Evaluates and recommends vendor contracts for hardware, software, and technology-related services
- Standardization: Establishes standards for desktop computing, user support services, and training
- Support Services Management: Directs technology support services including distance education, media services, network operations and services, staff computing, and campus telephone systems
- Technical Support: Ensures a prompt, efficient, effective, and client-friendly technical support operation
- Information Security: Develops information security guidelines and manages implementation, arranges for needed training and staff professional development, and recommends and drafts policy revisions where indicated
- Research and Web Services Coordination: Coordinates the activities of institutional research and web services to support the church’s information and communication needs
- Project Management: Provides project management for technology deployment or implementations
- Network Reliability: Be responsible for assuring the maximum availability and reliability of the church’s technical networks with the resources available
- Training Compliance: Attends and completes all training required by Concord Church
5. Director of Technology Job Summary
- Technology Strategy: Oversee the technology strategy and budget across functional departments
- Collaboration: Participate on the management team, collaborating with other organizational leaders to align technology initiatives with organizational goals
- Training and Presentation: Give or arrange for presentations and training to be appropriate to executives and other audiences at all levels
- Business Management: Define the vision for business management and reporting architecture across people, processes, and technologies
- Project Management: Drive the successful launch and implementation of this architecture across multiple teams through strong project management and careful attention to staff needs, ultimately ensuring that staff effectively adopt new platforms/processes
- Vendor Management: Lead the relationship with outsourced technology vendors and consultants, allowing the organization to fully realize the benefits of the services available
- Application Administration: Administer line of business applications to ensure ongoing alignment with business processes and reporting needs
- Compliance Management: Ensure compliance with applicable privacy and security regulations (e.g. HIPAA), including the annual risk assessment, information security program, policy documentation, employee training, and technology evaluations
- Risk Management: Work with vendors and internal stakeholders to develop and oversee a comprehensive business continuity, security, and privacy risk management strategy
- System Management: Manage electronic health information systems to meet various functional goals and regulatory requirements
- Staff and Support Management: Supervise employees and support technology providers and consultants who contribute to the electronic health information systems and related solutions