Director of Technology (Remote from anywhere in CO)

About the Role

The Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) is looking for a Director of Technology to help shape the next phase of public service delivery. This is a leadership role in OIT’s agency service model, where the focus is on partnering with state agencies early, understanding mission needs, and building technology strategies that improve outcomes for Coloradans.

OIT is in a period of major transformation, building cross-functional pod teams that work directly with agencies to design, deliver, and improve services. The goal is to create equitable access to services through technology that is practical, collaborative, and centered on public impact.

Important application note: Applicants should make sure their application is complete, since the hiring team reviews only the information included in the application. Attachments such as resumes or cover letters should not be included because they are not used in the review process.

What You Will Do

• Bridge the gap between technology work and agency mission needs for senior stakeholders such as executive leadership, finance leaders, and program managers.
• Lead conversations with agency and operations teams to clarify priorities, resolve competing needs, and support decision-making.
• Maintain an evolving technology roadmap that stays aligned to agency goals and can adapt as priorities shift.
• Guide advisory groups as a matrixed leader across multiple technology portfolios.
• Track vendor performance against agreed outcomes and raise issues when commitments are not being met.
• Communicate technology risks clearly to leaders who may not have a technical background.
• Align OIT services with customer expectations to support strong service satisfaction.
• Create outcome-focused performance agreements that define success through mission value and benefit to constituents, rather than system uptime or ticket counts.
• Ensure adherence to enterprise architecture standards, while elevating exceptions to the appropriate OIT architecture function.
• Apply user-centered design, agile methods, product ownership, modular procurement, and continuous delivery in both planning and execution.
• Collaborate across agency and OIT teams to move through state governance and procurement requirements, including considerations such as SOO vs. SOW and time-and-materials structures.
• Set clear expectations for staff and hold the team accountable to results rather than activity alone.
• Hold regular one-on-one meetings and coaching conversations that provide direct feedback, support growth, and encourage early issue escalation.
• Step in early to address workload, skill gaps, and other issues without waiting for the performance review cycle.
• Handle people-management responsibilities, including performance planning, review approvals, corrective action, disciplinary steps, and separations.
• Work with OIT HR to support recruiting and selection practices that reflect user-centered outcomes and a positive candidate experience.

What You Bring

• The ability to speak credibly with executive and program leadership and translate technology issues into mission impact.
• Skill in identifying and communicating technology risk to non-technical audiences.
• Comfort operating in complex political environments while keeping attention on outcomes.
• The ability to influence agency staff and political leaders through collaboration and relationship management.
• Experience building and maintaining multi-year roadmaps that connect technology investment to mission priorities.
• Ability to manage budgets and resources and shape thinking around technology investment decisions.
• Experience setting team and individual expectations around outcomes, coaching staff, and addressing performance concerns constructively.
• Ability to lead across multiple disciplines and provide accountability without needing to be a practitioner in every specialty.
• Understanding of state planning, budgeting, and decision-making processes, including budget cycles, legislative limits, and executive branch governance.
• Knowledge of enterprise architecture principles enough to apply standards, recognize exceptions, and work effectively with architecture teams.
• Ability to apply modern delivery practices such as user centricity, agile, product ownership, modular procurement, and continuous delivery.
• Working knowledge of state IT governance, procurement law, and government vendor contracting.

Minimum Qualifications

This is a skills-based posting. The minimum requirements are:

• At least 8 years of experience leading technology solution delivery, including 3 years managing cross-functional teams using iterative, user-centered methods.
• A demonstrated history of working across disciplines such as design, engineering, policy, or operations to deliver solutions that work for real users.
• Additional relevant education may substitute for required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot fully replace the qualification set.
• Additional relevant paid or unpaid experience may substitute for required education on a year-for-year basis.
• Training or certifications related to the role may count toward substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot fully substitute for the required qualifications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Credentials such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Pragmatic Institute Product Management, PMP, or Professional Product Manager (PPM).
• Experience in a digital service agency or government-adjacent technology environment, especially translating policy goals into actionable product backlogs.
• Experience with modern procurement methods that keep vendor work outcome-oriented and flexible rather than overly rigid and fixed-scope.
• Background in User-Centered Design (UCD).

Conditions of Employment

• OIT employees must comply with any screening procedures required at state agency worksites where they may perform work.
• A background check is required before hire.
• Post-hire background checks may also be required for certain agencies depending on business need, and may include a polygraph exam, fingerprint-based criminal history search, reference checks, and drug testing.
• The role may involve travel within the designated geographic area and to locations across the state as needed.

Remote Work and Location Requirements

Although this position is titled as remote from anywhere in Colorado, periodic reporting to the designated primary state work location is required. All remote work must be performed within Colorado.

Candidates living outside the state may be considered, but the selected person must relocate to and reside in Colorado on the first day of employment. A reasonable relocation timeline will be set individually based on business needs and the start date.

Additional Information

This posting may be used to fill more than one vacancy depending on business need.

The State of Colorado does not sponsor visas for this position.

The state is committed to equal opportunity, merit-based hiring, and workplace inclusion. OIT also supports reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities throughout the application, interview, testing, and employment process. Accommodation requests may be directed to OIT_HR@state.co.us or by calling (303) 764-7900.

For more information about benefits and the application process, the posting directs candidates to the state’s benefits and “How to Apply” resources.