Chief Information Officer

Location: Welland

About the City of Welland

At the City of Welland, we're continuously rewriting our story. Not because we don't know where we're going, but because we are constantly reaching for new heights, engaging in new approaches, and pursuing what many believe to be unattainable or too ambitious. We're not satisfied with the status quo, and we're certainly not satisfied with doing things a certain way simply because that's how they were done in the past.

We expect our population to increase to over 80,000 in the next 20 years, and serving a diverse, growing community requires strategic thinkers, norm breakers, and passionate civil servants. In Niagara, Welland's growth leads every other municipality, and the City is becoming the region's heartbeat.

So, we invite you to author your chapter and contribute to the overall body of work the City of Welland is creating. At the City of Welland, your ideas are nurtured, your input is invited, a healthy work-life balance is available, and most importantly, your voice will make a difference.

About the Position

Under the direction of the General Manager of Corporate and Enterprise Services, the Chief Information Officer provides strategic direction for the City’s Information Services function. The position is responsible for executing the City’s IT Strategic Plan, including advancing digital services for residents, improving internal business systems and processes, modernizing technology infrastructure and strengthening the City’s cybersecurity posture. The CIO works closely with departments and senior leadership to align technology with organizational priorities and to drive continuous improvement and innovation across the Corporation.

Duties & Responsibilities

The duties listed are not meant to provide a description of each and every job the role performs, but those that represent the core functions of the job.

Strategic Leadership and Planning
-Lead the execution of the City’s IT Strategic Plan and ensure initiatives are sequenced, monitored and delivered according to scope and priorities.
-Support corporate planning by identifying technology opportunities that improve service delivery, operational efficiency and resident experience.
-Provide strategic advice to the General Manager and Corporate Leadership Team on emerging technology trends, major system decisions and digital modernization efforts.
Participate in the preparation of operating and capital budgets for the City’s IT needs.

Digital Services and Resident Experience
-Advance the City’s digital service agenda by supporting initiatives such as the customer portal, digitization of citizen-facing services, CRM adoption and improvements to online transactions.
-Collaborate with departments to ensure digital tools and platforms provide a consistent, user-friendly and accessible experience for residents.
-Promote consistent standards and approaches for evaluating and improving digital services across departments.

Internal Systems & Business Process Improvement
-Oversee improvements to internal business systems, including process review, systems configuration, workflow optimization and staff training.
-Support acquisitions and replacements of major corporate systems (e.g. finance, HRIS, CRM, DMS) by guiding requirements, reviewing proposals and coordinating departmental input.
-Ensure business systems are used effectively, consistently and in alignment with corporate needs and process improvements.

Technology Infrastructure & Operations
-Oversee the operation and reliability of the City’s core infrastructure, including servers, networks, storage, endpoints and cloud services.
-Direct lifecycle planning, upgrades and modernization efforts for hardware, software and network components.
-Ensure appropriate standards, documentation and procedures are in place to support stable, secure and efficient operations.

Cybersecurity and Risk Management
-Strengthen the City’s cybersecurity posture by supporting the development of policies, controls, frameworks and incident response processes.
-Oversee risk assessments, vulnerability management, access controls and related security practices.
-Support the development of business continuity and…