Assistant Deputy Minister

Posted September 3, 2024
Burnaby

BC Liquor Distribution Branch - Assistant Deputy Minister & Chief Information Officer

THE ORGANIZATION: BRITISH COLUMBIA LIQUOR DISTRIBUTION BRANCH

The BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) is one of two branches of government that provide oversight for the beverage alcohol and non-medical cannabis industries in the province. The LDB is responsible for the wholesale distribution of liquor and cannabis and operates the retail brands BCLIQUOR (BCL) and BC Cannabis Stores (BCCS).

The LDB is committed to government's goals of making life better for people in B.C., improving services, and ensuring a sustainable province for future generations. The revenue generated by the LDB helps fund essential public services like health care, education, and community programming.

LDB's Information Technology (IT) team consists of seven competency areas: Customer Experience, Infrastructure & Operations (I&O), Information Security, Enterprise Architecture, Software Services, Data Services, and IT Program Governance. Currently, the four divisions managed by IT Directors collectively are responsible for all of the seven competency areas to deliver the IT mandate of supporting LDB's corporate and business operations and enabling future needs and initiatives.

The IT department of the LDB is responsible for the entire computing infrastructure for all of the 230+ BCL, BCCS stores as well as LDB's head office in Burnaby and four warehouse/distribution centres including Delta, Kamloops, Richmond, and Victoria. The IT department also manages three data centres located in Burnaby, Delta and Kamloops.

THE OPPORTUNITY: ASSISTANT DEPUTY MINISTER & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Reporting to the General Manager and CEO, the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) & Chief Information Officer provides overall vision, direction and leadership in the effective planning, implementation and sustainment of information systems and supporting infrastructure technologies within the LDB. This includes developing strategic plans and budgets and directing activities of the IT division. This role provides vision and direction to LDB executive and senior management staff relating to corporate and LDB information technology issues, objectives, policies, and procedures.

The ADM & Chief Information Officer is accountable for technologies and their implementation to provide efficient business processes, as well as providing data and information in a usable format to ensure informed decision making for the LDB. These include internal systems/applications, data/information and infrastructure that support the enterprise as a whole, plus the retail and wholesale divisions. The scope also includes unique websites that provide services to employees, suppliers/vendors, wholesale customers and the general public.

The position provides strategic leadership and direction regarding development of strategies and plans for technology and information plus identifies potential initiatives that align with business goals and prepares the LDB for change and the future. The ADM & Chief Information Officer establishes the IT organizational structure that will support the business including alternative methods of service delivery and in addition, prepares the LDB for business continuity/disaster recovery.

The position is accountable for governance as it relates to legislation, regulation and developing LDB standards. The ADM & Chief Information Officer is responsible for the establishment of the architectural design for systems, security, infrastructure and data that enable business operations. In addition, this area is responsible for the procurement of software and hardware, related vendor management and enforcing architectural and security standards and software usage compliance.

The ADM & Chief Information Officer is accountable for the efficient and reliable systems and continuous operations of the LDB. This role is a member of the LDB's Senior Executive Team (SET).

Accountabilities

Strategic Planning:

• Leads the LDB information technology vision and leadership, ensuring the alignment with the Corporate Strategic Plan; directs the identification of IT issues, sets goals and objectives, establishes work plans and tactics by leading the planning and implementation of corporate and departmental IT strategy and plans.
• Participates in the strategic planning processes of the LDB; develops policies and programs to respond to changes in IT business environments, legislation, public opinion and fiscal realities; monitors the management of performance indicators that accurately reflect allocation of physical and human resources as they apply to delivery of services.
• Leads the strategic planning processes of the IT division; ensures development of programs and processes in timely response to changes in business environments.

Operational:

• Develops and fosters effective working relationships with government, operations, legal counsel, suppliers, and service providers to facilitate a smooth running LDB retail, wholesale, and distribution network and revenue collection.
• Provides vision and direction to LDB executive and senior management staff relating to corporate and organization-wide IT issues, objectives, policies, and procedures.
• Participates in the development and administration of an annual capital budget in regard to projected costs for all LDB technological projects including supply chain, financial, and other corporate services.
• Guides development and administration of the annual IT operating budget including salary, administration expenses, ongoing hardware needs and software licenses. Identifies and implements methods of expense monitoring; provides leadership and direction to other departments to ensure optimum utilization of technical resources.
• Oversees the negotiation and administration of license agreements of all technologies and their compliance to LDB technology standards and administration of license agreements for all technologies in LDB stores, distribution centres and office facilities; recommends, prioritizes and initiates capital expenditures by identifying needs and verifying purchases.

Corporate Executive:

• As a member of Corporate Executive, advises and supports strategic planning for establishing partnerships, frameworks and LDB operational programs that advance government priorities.
• Represents senior ministry and provincial officials on committees and meetings with controversial issues with stakeholders and other jurisdictions with the authority to negotiate solutions while ensuring the image, credibility and positions of the provincial government are maintained.

Human Resources:

• Oversees the ongoing leadership, training, development and succession planning of IT staff. This includes the recruitment, training, and performance management of staff.

Position Requirements

The BC Public Service is committed to a workplace that is representative of the diversity of the people of British Columbia and facilitates services to public we serve. Preference may be given to applications from visible minorities including women, Black, and other people of colour (BIPOC), those with diverse sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQ2S+) and/or others having abilities and experiences with diversity.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in information technology or business management combined with a minimum of 10 years of progressive management experience in an IT environment, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience at a senior level spanning strategic planning, budget, performance management, change leadership, succession planning.
• Leading, supporting, and developing direct and indirect reports within a structured organization, and managing multi-tiered support service teams with a significant number of indirect reports.
• Effectively consulting with and guiding executives to implement corporate initiatives to further the goals of the organization.
• Championing innovation and progressive change within a department to reflect the changing needs of the organization.

Candidates should also have substantive experience:

• Working in a senior capacity in, or closely and directly with, a government organization or crown corporation and making decisions with a clear understanding of government practice and relations.

Knowledge:

• Comprehensive knowledge of information technology environments, processes and tools.
• Demonstrated knowledge of planning and leading large-scale projects.

Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain positive working relationships with external and internal customers/clients and government stakeholders.
• Proven ability demonstrating good judgement and organizational skills and must possess effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, develop & manage a diverse work group of supervisors/managers & staff.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively to all levels within an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate, facilitate and influence where there are competing interests.

In addition to the three Public Service Core Competencies (Service Orientation, Results Orientation, and Teamwork & Cooperation) the following competencies are requirement of the position:

• Strategic Orientation
• Business Acumen
• Decisive Insight
• Developing Others
• Empowerment
• Leadership
• Building Partnerships with Stakeholders
• Impact & Influence
• Creating & Managing Change (Strategic Leadership)
• Solving Problems Creatively (Strategic Leadership)

BC Public Service Leadership Expectations:

• Be a model and advocate of the BC Public Service Values and Standards of Conduct in professionally serving government to the highest ethical standard.
• Be an active enabler of innovation and engagement as keys to maintaining and enhancing public trust and confidence.
• Demonstrate foresight and understanding of our modern, digital context to better service citizens.
• Be proactive, resilient and nimble, taking thoughtful, calculated risks.
• Be biased to action and removing unnecessary complexity to deliver the best possible service and outcomes for citizens.
• Act to improve the corporate capacity, capability, and commitment of the public service.

COMPENSATION

A competitive compensation package will be provided including a competitive base salary (target $196K) and excellent pension and benefits. Further details will be discussed in a personal interview.