Chief Information Officer

Purpose and Scope

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for setting the strategic vision and direction for the District’s information technology function, including instructional technology, enterprise information systems, network infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data governance. The Chief serves as a cabinet-level leader and the principal advisor to the Superintendent, the Board, and District leadership on all matters related to information technology management and planning. The Chief directs the development, implementation, and operation of technology infrastructure, architecture, and systems that support the delivery of instruction, the efficient management of central office and support operations, and the secure management of student and staff data. The Chief drives multi-year technology planning aligned with the District’s strategic plan, identifies and evaluates emerging technologies—including cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence—and determines their appropriateness for Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS). The role requires exceptional judgment, a deep understanding of public education, and the ability to lead a large, distributed technology organization in service of students, families, educators, and staff.

 

SCOPE OF WORK:

The Chief Information Officer holds District-wide oversight of the information technology function across all schools, departments, and operations. This oversight expressly includes the following areas:

• Strategic technology planning and governance
• Instructional and classroom technology
• Enterprise information systems (student information, human resources, benefits, payroll, and finance)
• Network infrastructure, data centers, and end-user computing
• Cybersecurity, data privacy, and data governance
• IT service delivery, field support, and customer service
• Technology innovation, including cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence

Essential Job Functions

• Sets the strategic vision and direction for the District’s information technology function, providing leadership at a level commensurate with a cabinet officer and ensuring the function operates with the visibility, structure, and accountability appropriate to its criticality.
• Serves as the principal advisor to the Superintendent on matters related to information technology management and planning. Serves as a key contributor on the Superintendent’s cabinet in setting the overall vision and providing leadership to the District.
• Drives multi-year information technology planning and strategy. Aligns the IT function with the District’s overall strategic plan, builds long-term road maps that allow the District to adapt to changing needs, and develops annual goals and budgets to ensure successful implementation for both administrative and instructional programs.
• Develops, implements, and evaluates the District’s technology plan in collaboration with District administrators, principals, and staff. Identifies short- and long-term District-wide information needs for systems development, hardware acquisition, and integration.
• Plans, develops, directs, and maintains an IT infrastructure, architecture, and program that supports the effective and efficient use of technology in an integrated manner for both instructional and administrative functions. Directs daily operations of the IT division to assure efficient, reliable implementation. Maintains network and infrastructure resiliency through planned lifecycle refresh and redundancy for core services, minimizing single points of failure and supporting continuity of District operations.
• Technology governance and procurement oversight. Establishes centralized governance over the acquisition, integration, and security review of District technology systems and applications, including cloud-based and department-procured solutions—to maintain a current enterprise inventory and consistent oversight across the technology environment.
• Manage new and existing enterprise application portfolios, including the Student Information System; Human Resources, Benefits, and Payroll systems; web and digital services; and data integration across platforms. Maintains a comprehensive inventory of District technology assets and enterprise systems and develops multi-year modernization and succession-planning roadmaps for critical and legacy platforms to reduce reliance on outdated technology or concentrated institutional knowledge. Establishes formal change management standards, including testing and validation prior to production release, for changes and data requests made within enterprise systems.
• Cybersecurity and data governance. Establishes and enforces District-wide cybersecurity strategy, policies, and incident-response protocols aligned with recognized frameworks (e.g., NIST). Maintains an information security function with organizational structure and reporting lines that support independent oversight of security risk. Conducts and maintains recurring, documented risk assessments of the District's technology environment, including third-party and supply chain risk. Safeguards student and staff data in compliance with applicable federal and state requirements, including FERPA and Tennessee student data privacy laws, and leads the District's data governance program, including data classification, quality, access, encryption, logging and monitoring, retention standards, and documentation of how sensitive information moves through District and third-party systems.
• Identity and access governance. Establishes and maintains a formal identity and access management program covering the full user lifecycle—provisioning, modification, periodic access recertification, and timely deprovisioning—consistently applied across all major enterprise systems, not only those centrally hosted. Defines role-based access aligned with job function and data sensitivity, maintains standardized naming and role structures that avoid redundant or individually named access groups, triggers formal access review upon role or employment changes, and enforces multi-factor authentication consistent with the principle of least privilege for remote, administrative, and privileged accounts.
• Vendor and third-party risk management. Establishes and maintains a vendor security risk management program for third parties that store, process, or transmit District data, including a centralized inventory of vendors with current risk rankings, standardized due diligence, evaluation of vendor recovery and continuity capabilities, review of independent assurance reports, and periodic reassessment based on risk. Aligns vendor system access with the contract lifecycle, including timely removal of access at contract expiration or termination.
• Business continuity and disaster recovery. Maintains a tested business continuity and disaster recovery program for critical systems and infrastructure, including defined recovery objectives, periodic recovery testing, and safeguards against overreliance on a single facility or a small number of key personnel.
• Leads responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including cloud computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, establishing guidance for their safe, ethical, and effective use in instruction and operations.
• Expands data and reporting capabilities across all levels of the management team, providing user-friendly access to school system data through modern data warehouse and analytics techniques to support efficient, timely, data-informed decision-making.
• Develops and maintains IT standards to ensure that all technology users can be creative and effective in a secure, well-controlled environment. Advances digital equity so that students, families, and staff have accessible, reliable technology and connectivity.
• Manages alliances with vendors, outsourcing contractors, and community partners. Benchmarks IT management practices against peer districts and government agencies and recommends improvements.
• Maintains close working relationships with technology officials from Shelby County Government, the Tennessee Department of Education, other school districts, and other government agencies.
• Provides enabling technologies that make it easier for students, parents, community organizations, other government agencies, and suppliers to do business with MSCS, and interacts with students, parents, teachers, staff, and community organizations to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Partners with the Office of Communications to support accurate public information regarding technology initiatives and incidents, with the Communications function serving as the District’s spokesperson.
• Builds, organizes, and leads the information technology team. Defines clear roles and reporting relationships, establishes performance standards and accountability, and recruits, supervises, develops, and evaluates staff to create a high-performing, well-structured function aligned with the District’s priorities, including specialized capacity in cybersecurity and other technical disciplines commensurate with the size and complexity of the District.
• Performs other related duties as assigned or directed.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Educational Technology, or a related field is required. A Master’s degree in one of these fields, Business Administration, or Education Leadership is preferred. A minimum of 10+ years of progressively responsible leadership in information technology, including experience with enterprise systems, infrastructure, and cybersecurity, preferably in a large, urban school district or similarly complex public organization, is required, along with proven experience managing high-performing teams and leading change in complex systems. (PROOF OF EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND/OR EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED).

 

Degree Equivalency Formula:

Bachelor’s Degree= 4 years plus required years of experience.

Master’s Degree=6 years plus required years of experience.