Vice President of Information Technology

Vice President of Information Technology

The Vice President of Information Technology serves as First State Bank and Trust's internal owner of the Bank's technology environment. The Bank does not maintain an internal information technology staff. Engineering, system administration, and help desk work are primarily performed by a managed service provider and by specialized vendors, and this position is accountable for outcomes related to that work.

This is a senior, highly independent position with full ownership of the areas it is responsible for. It does not manage staff and is not responsible for general bank management outside of technology. It is expected to operate with minimal direction, to anticipate problems rather than react to them, and to carry personal accountability for the reliability, security, and performance of the Bank's technology, including work performed by third parties.

The position requires technical depth to understand how the Bank's systems are actually built and connected: how data and email move, what depends on what, where risk accumulates, and when a vendor's recommendation does not add up. That depth is used to evaluate, direct, question, and coordinate the work of others, and to perform initial troubleshooting on smaller issues before engaging outside support.

It is not used to personally administer systems on a daily basis.

A substantial portion of the work involves partnering with employees and department leaders across nine locations, understanding what they are trying to accomplish, and leading the technology projects that help achieve those goals. The ability to communicate clearly and patiently with colleagues who are not technical is an important skill for this role. The position reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer and serves as the technology subject matter resource to senior management, the IT Steering Committee, and the Board.

First State Bank and Trust strives to be more technology-forward than many of its peers. The next two years include a core system evaluation, key operations software installations, and enterprise initiatives in artificial intelligence and workflow automation. This position carries real ownership and visibility from the first day, working directly with the President and Chief Executive Officer.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Monticello, Illinois. This is an onsite position, with regular travel to the Bank's other locations.

• Serve as the Bank's primary owner of day-to-day technology operations across all locations.
• Manage the relationship with the Bank's managed service provider, including service quality, responsiveness, ticket resolution, and adherence to agreed service levels.
• Monitor the performance, capacity, and reliability of servers, networks, endpoints, telephony, and Microsoft 365 services, and identify developing issues before they affect the business.
• Review and challenge vendor recommendations, elevate unresolved issues, and drive them to closure.
• Perform initial triage on user and system issues, determining what can reasonably be resolved internally and what requires outside support.
• Oversee user device standards, procurement, deployment, and lifecycle replacement.
• Maintain accurate documentation of the technology environment, including network diagrams, system and license inventories, configurations, and change history.
• Coordinate technology support for branch openings, relocations, and facility projects.

• Lead technology projects from planning through implementation, including scope, timeline, dependencies, testing, training, and post-implementation review.
• Partner with departments across the Bank to understand business needs and recommend practical technology solutions.
• Serve as the technology representative on enterprise initiatives, including the Bank's core system evaluation and any resulting conversion, loan origination system work, and workflow automation projects.
• Coordinate implementation partners and vendors, holding them accountable to…