<p>Salary Range: $98,564 - $123,204</p> <p>This is an exempt position. Pay rates are based on education, skill, experience level and internal equity.</p> <p>Follow Your Calling, Find Your Career</p> <p>The success of Mecklenburg County rests on strong, competent talent at all levels of the organization. We are a growing team of talented and passionate IT professionals who are dedicated to delivering creative tools and innovative solutions to engage and serve more than 1 million County residents as well as 6,000 employees. Our mission is to serve the residents of Mecklenburg County by providing business-valued IT solutions and services that are flexible, engaging, and innovative.</p> <p>POSITION SUMMARY</p> <p>This role is critical in protecting the County from potential technology-related threats by meticulously assessing vendor risks, ensuring contractual compliance, collaborating with key stakeholders to maintain a secure digital environment, and assisting with the selection and acquisition of contractual agreements for hardware, software and IT services for Mecklenburg County. This position, under minimal supervision, is responsible for engaging in tasks associated with risk assessment, identification, ownership assessment, and escalation. Additionally, developing and maintaining vendor relationships; developing, coordinating, and implementing strategic sourcing; and monitoring vendor performance reports.</p> <p>ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS</p> <ul> <li>Technology Vendor Risk Assessments: Conduct comprehensive risk assessments of IT vendors and their services, identifying potential vulnerabilities and compliance issues. This includes evaluating vendor financial stability, data handling practices, and adherence to regulatory compliance and industry best practices. </li><li>Risk Identification and Documentation: Document identified risks clearly and concisely, including their potential impact and likelihood. Maintain a centralized repository of vendor risk information. </li><li>Risk Ownership Assignment: Work with relevant departments and IT teams to assign clear ownership for identified risks, ensuring accountability for remediation and mitigation efforts. </li><li>Risk Escalation: Develop and implement procedures for escalating significant or high-priority IT vendor risks to county executives and other relevant leadership for informed decision-making. </li><li>Contract Review and Compliance: Review IT contracts and agreements to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as Mecklenburg County's technology provisions and policies. Identify and negotiate contractual clauses related to security, data privacy, and risk management. </li><li>Collaboration and Communication: Collaborate closely with legal, procurement, IT security, and various county departments to facilitate effective vendor risk management. Communicate findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences. </li><li>Policy and Procedure Development: Contribute to the development and refinement of IT vendor risk management policies, procedures, and guidelines. </li><li>Continuous Improvement: Stay current with emerging threats, industry best practices, and regulatory changes related to IT vendor risk management and information security. </li><li>Provide internal support when questions and issues arise associated with IT vendor products or services </li><li>Articulate and negotiate contracts and ensure vendors are meeting contractual obligations </li><li>Work closely with the business and IT to understand their needs and serves as the IT point of contact for all purchases, deliveries and problems with products and services </li><li>Assist in the development of Request for Information (RFIs), Request for Proposal (RFPs) and business cases by providing technical risk assessments and IT contractual requirements </li></ul> <p>MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS</p> <p>Experience: Minimum of four years of progressively responsible vendor relationship experience, contract management, IT requirements gathering or technical risk management.</p> <p>Education: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management Information Systems, Finance, Statistics, Economics, purchasing or a related field.</p> <p>Combination of relevant education and relevant experience accepted: Yes</p> <p>PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS</p> <p>Cybersecurity certification, Risk Management certification</p> <p>KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES</p> <p>Knowledge of</p> <ul> <li>Experience in IT risk management and vendor risk management, preferably within a government or public sector environment. </li><li>Understanding of IT security frameworks (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001), data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA), and common IT risks. </li><li>Proven experience conducting comprehensive vendor risk assessments and documenting findings. </li><li>Familiarity with contract law and experience reviewing IT-related contracts for compliance and risk. </li><li>Vendor set up and requirements to validate a vendor for business, billing or payment with Mecklenburg County </li><li>Principles and processes for providing customer service. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction </li><li>Interpreting federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations </li><li>Procurement vendor related procedures </li><li>County Finance and Procurement policies, process and procedure as related to vendor registration and requirements for doing business with Mecklenburg County </li></ul> <p>Skills</p> <ul> <li>Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. </li><li>Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences. </li><li>Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment while managing multiple tasks. </li><li>Demonstrated superior critical-thinking abilities for effectively navigating complex challenges and making well-informed decisions that benefit the County. </li><li>Communicate effectively with executive leadership </li><li>Problem solving skills </li><li>Organization and time management </li><li>Interpretation of contract documents </li><li>Talking to others to convey information effectively </li><li>Good interpersonal skills and customer service, communication skills, analytical qualities, attention to detail and data accuracy </li></ul> <p>Abilities</p> <ul> <li>Business Acumen: Using economic, financial, market and industry data to understand and improve business results; using one's understanding of major business functions, industry trends and own organization's position to contribute to effective business strategies and tactics </li><li>Communication: Clearly conveying information and ideas through a variety of media to individuals or groups in a manner that engages the audience and helps them understand and retain the information provided </li><li>Building Partnerships: Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one's area and other areas, teams, departments, units or organizations to help achieve business goals </li><li>Collaboration: Working effectively and cooperatively with others; establishing and maintaining good working relationships </li><li>Negotiation: Effectively exploring alternatives and positions to reach outcomes that gain the support and acceptance of all parties </li></ul> <p>COMPUTER SKILLS</p> <p>Proficient in various computer applications including Microsoft Work, Access, and Excel</p> <p>REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT</p> <p>To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.</p> <p>DISCLAIMER STATEMENT</p> <p>This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of job-related responsibilities, duties, skills, requirements or working conditions. Other duties may be assigned based on business need and the supervisor's request. Mecklenburg County reserves the right to revise the job description at any time. Designated positions may be required to assist in emergency and/or disaster situations.</p>