Director of Technology

About 17A

17A is a modern management consulting firm with roots in prestigious organizations like McKinsey, Palantir, JP Morgan Philanthropies, and healthcare startups. Our mission is to enhance the quality of government and social services by building trust through excellent service delivery. We have a dynamic core group and collaborate with consultants known as Project-Based Team Members to bring diverse expertise to our work. Our team combines experience in management consulting, technology, analytics, and public service and is driven by civic impact.

Role Overview

As 17A scales, we seek an insightful IT leader to develop and manage our internal technology strategy. This key individual contributor position involves collaborating closely with operations and project teams, providing frontline IT troubleshooting and support, and designing strategic infrastructure plans. You may also oversee a small support team or external helpdesk contractors.

Key Duties

• Evaluate existing technology and create a long-term IT roadmap aligned with organizational growth.
• Recommend and implement tools that streamline workflows and enhance operational efficiency.
• Establish practical IT policies, standards, and governance fitting a fast-moving organization.
• Proactively anticipate infrastructure needs and build scalable systems.
• Be the primary escalation contact for IT issues across the company.
• Handle daily troubleshooting for hardware, software, network, and access problems efficiently.
• Collaborate on identifying and managing IT support requirements, vendor evaluation, and relationships.
• Create straightforward documentation and self-help resources for common IT problems.
• Lead IT projects from initiation through completion, ensuring clear communication and timeline adherence.
• Work with operations and project leads to detect early technology needs and translate them into actionable plans.
• Manage cross-departmental initiatives effectively without excessive process overhead.
• Spot opportunities to automate repetitive IT and operational tasks using contemporary tools like Zapier, Make, and AI agents.
• Conduct small-scale trials of new automation ideas, expanding successful ones.
• Stay informed on emerging technologies and provide thoughtful recommendations to leadership.

Qualifications

• At least five years of IT experience combining strategic planning and hands-on technical support.
• Familiarity with fast-growing environments where you build systems from the ground up.
• Comfort as a primary individual contributor with the ability to manage relationships upward, laterally, and with small teams or vendors.
• Strong communication skills tailored for non-technical audiences.
• Experience with modern SaaS and no-code tools such as Slack, Notion, Google Workspace, Airtable, and Zapier.
• Proven problem-solving abilities favoring pragmatic and appropriately scaled solutions over complexity.
• A mindset of low ego, high accountability, and a bias toward action, from strategic planning to everyday issue resolution.
• A commitment to responsive IT support that fosters trust and minimizes disruption.
• Proficiency in navigating ambiguity across diverse tools, vendors, and clients to develop solutions.

Location and Compensation

This role is fully remote within the United States. It offers a full-time employment package, including a salary range of $140,000 to $175,000 per year based on experience, plus performance incentives. Benefits include health coverage, 20 days paid vacation, separate sick leave, company holidays, and life and disability insurance.

Diversity and Inclusion

17A is dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, and other protected characteristics. We warmly encourage applicants from underrepresented groups in government. Reasonable accommodations are available during the application and interview process upon request.