Chief Information Officer

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) serves as the agency's senior executive for information resources management, information technology (IT), cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, digital services, data operations, and technology modernization. The CIO also provides leadership for the planning, acquisition, security, operation, and performance of IT resources and ensures that technology investments support the Department's mission. ***This position may be detailed to another Federal agency

The Department operates as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agency with complex enterprise systems, major grantmaking and financial assistance functions, significant personally identifiable information and sensitive data holdings, extensive contractor-supported operations, and technology-dependent mission delivery. The CIO must operate as both an enterprise executive and a mission partner, ensuring program offices can execute statutory responsibilities while the Department reduces duplication, manages risk, modernizes legacy systems, strengthens cybersecurity, and controls costs. The CIO is expected to work in close partnership with the CFO and Chief Acquisition Officer (CAO) so that technology decisions are integrated with budget formulation and execution, capital planning and investment control, acquisition planning, contract oversight, internal controls, audit readiness, and financial management. In addition, the CIO is expected to coordinate with Federal Student Aid, or any successor or separately governed entity, to ensure interoperability, secure services, appropriate cost allocation, transition planning, and continuity of mission-critical systems. Within this operating environment, the CIO: Serves as principal advisor to the Secretary and senior leadership on information resources management, IT, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, digital modernization, and IT-enabled mission execution; Leads Department-wide implementation of the Clinger-Cohen Act, the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), the E-Government Act, OMB Circular A-130, Federal CIO guidance, and related technology, cybersecurity, privacy, data, accessibility, and records-management requirements; Establishes and enforces Department-wide technology governance, including clear decision rights, standards, policies, controls, escalation paths, and executive review mechanisms for IT investments, systems, platforms, digital services, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, and technology workforce planning; Ensures the Department has one accountable enterprise CIO function with appropriate oversight of component, principal office, or mission-area technology leaders and with clear expectations for reporting, compliance, risk management, and performance; Partners with the CFO to align IT planning with budget formulation and execution, internal controls, financial reporting, chargeback methodologies, shared services decisions, cost allocation, and audit readiness; Uses TechStat, PortfolioStat, CyberStat, or comparable governance processes to identify troubled investments, require corrective action, recommend modification or termination of underperforming efforts, and elevate enterprise risks to senior leadership; Serves as the executive accountable for Department-wide cybersecurity strategy, information security risk management, and implementation of FISMA, zero trust, identity and access management, continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, supply chain risk management, secure configuration, and federal cybersecurity directives; Provides executive oversight for the Chief Information Security Officer and ensures cybersecurity risks are presented to leadership in terms of mission, operational, financial, legal, privacy, and reputational risk; Develops, maintains, and enforces a Department-wide enterprise architecture that supports mission delivery, interoperability, security, data quality, cloud adoption, digital services, financial stewardship, and lifecycle management; Leads modernization of legacy systems and infrastructure, including development of roadmaps that identify technical debt, end-of-life risks, cyber vulnerabilities, duplicative platforms, required investments, decommissioning opportunities, and migration paths to secure, scalable, and cost-effective solutions; Evaluates and executes opportunities for shared services, interagency agreements, cloud services, government-wide acquisition vehicles, platform consolidation, software license optimization, and commodity IT management where such approaches improve mission performance, reduce cost, or mitigate risk; Ensures technology modernization integrates with acquisition planning, human capital planning, change management, records disposition, data migration, security authorization, privacy review, and program operations; Partners with the CAO to ensure IT acquisitions are strategically planned, properly competed, performance-based where appropriate, cyber-secure, aligned with enterprise architecture, and structured to support incremental delivery and measurable outcomes; and Leads responsible adoption of digital services, automation, artificial intelligence, analytics, and emerging technologies to improve operations, customer experience, program integrity, grants management, financial management, cybersecurity, and employee productivity.