Technical Lead (Illinois)

Position Summary: The Technical Lead (TL) has accountability and ownership of all technical aspects of the territory/state(s) the TL is assigned. This position works very closely with the CSM in making sure the needs and requirements of the customer are always met (while the CSM owns the business relationship, the TL has the technical needs of the customer). This position also acts as a liaison to other facets of the company providing ownership over jurisdictional guidance and support to departments such as EPT, Engineering and Sales.

Note: It is not expected that a new technical lead will have a skillset that covers all responsibilities on day 1. It is expected that the candidate will take a degree of ownership/pride in their territory and work with team members in acquiring needed skills.

Stakeholder relationships:

• Escalation Team: It is expected that Technical Leads will escalate to the escalation team and/or their manager when escalating a concern or an issue. Guidance provided to the TL is then incorporated into the TL’s processes. It is expected that Tech Leads will attempt to solve problems before escalating, and that solutions provided by the escalation team will be incorporated into TL’s processes.
• CSMs: The technical lead is the technical counterpart to the CSM with territories that mostly line up with a CSM. The CSM and TL have joint ownership over the customer with the CSM owning the business and contractual elements of the relationship and the TL owning the technical. When a CSM has questions the TL is the point person that either answers the question or finds the answer. When a resource need is identified, the CSM asks TL to scope the project before the CSM takes it to resourcing.
• EPT: The technical lead has (is willing to learn) the knowledge necessary to advise EPT and election programming matters. Most of the time this will include election project coordination functions and may include ballot programming and or test deck building or recommendations.
• Engineering: Engineering views the technical lead as a jurisdictional expert on matters within the territory. If the TL does not know the answers they pursue and return the information to ENG. Technical leads may be asked to perform jurisdictional testing of current or new functionality.
• Sales: Technical leads may be asked to provide technical information that assists in RFP or other Sales-related activities. This can include participating in sales demos when needed.
• Certification: During certification periods or events, the technical lead is treated as point person for identifying functional or legal technical requirements. They also may be asked to participate in the certification effort for a state within their territory.

Responsibilities:

• Learn laws, regulations, processes, and equipment for all customers within TL’s territory. This includes software/firmware versions, system configurations, server/client equipment and tabulation equipment are certified for use in their territory and the product mix in use in the jurisdictions within their territory.
• Understand service requirements for customers within the territory. This includes Preventive Maintenance, Normal Maintenance best practices (schedules, charging, roller replacement, etc.) and troubleshooting steps
• Develop and provide high level technical operational expertise capable of addressing complex customer issues
• Able to support the programming of elections within the territory fully understand all jurisdictional rules and processes. Includes the ability to create and maintain template projects for all election types and assist EPT with advice, support and actual programming
• Create and maintain a professional culture within the team wherein individuals take ownership of and focus on delivering excellence, quality and value for our customers and our business.
• Work across teams to take on broad technical problems and work towards the right solution from both a technical and business perspective
• Define the functionality and system requirements for Lead’s jurisdictions as prioritized
• Gain and maintain in-depth knowledge of jurisdiction-specific election processes and requirements.
• Conduct and direct jurisdiction specific full system election simulation testing and produce detailed gap analyses and requirements specifications.
• Synthesize customer input and feedback into the overall development strategy to ensure product alignment with real market problems.
• Document and report all anomalies and issues encountered for all hardware and software products.
• Conduct system and jurisdictional knowledge transfer to team members to facilitate ongoing sales, customer support activities, and product development.
• Work with key stakeholders to develop estimates for technological implementation.
• Provide oversight and leadership to define the UAT testing strategy and plan.
• Contributes to the preparation and distribution of manuals, product brochures and technical publications.
• Works with customers to define election day ballot requirements in a manner that contributes to the ease of programming and conducting pre-election programming
• Supports state level certification efforts of products as required
• Understands the requirements for use of an election system in states within territory
• When necessary, participate as part of a team defining requirements, preparing and testing participating in state certification processes
• Ensures accurate and timely equipment delivery and acceptance testing
• Conduct customer training sessions on election products as required
• Trains customers and staff to conduct testing and election day support activities
• Support the sales department in the implementation of the sales support and sales fulfillment processes
• Works to build an understanding of customer needs and expectations
• Identifies opportunities for ongoing sales of products and services
• Adapts to changes in the work environment, manages competing demands, able to deal with frequent changes, delays or unexpected events. Willing to undertake new responsibilities, as business needs change.

Qualifications:

• Experience in the elections industry with responsibility for the maintenance and/or operation of voting systems is highly emphasized but not required.
• An undergraduate degree in Computer Science or Business is preferred.
• Proven experience delivering successful software and hardware systems implementations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including internal and external stakeholders/customers.
• Strong organizational skills to include multi-tasking and time management skills.
• Ability to manage projects with detail-oriented skills.
• Experience working with County and/or State governments is preferred but not required at hire.
• Team player and willing to assist the team to accomplish tasks.
• Experience with the following is preferred, but not required at time of hire but is expected to be learned within the first 24 months of employment:
• Competent in both client and server Windows operating systems
• Experience deploying networking infrastructure.
• Firm understanding of basic network architecture including switch management, client server relationships, static and dynamic IP config, general security.
• Microsoft Databases
• Microsoft Operating Systems (Servers/Clients)
• System virtualization (VMware)
• Software Development
• Hardware/Software Quality Assurance testing

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Knowledge and understanding of information technology to include all areas of IT.
• Ability to analyze data and make determinations from it for problem resolution.
• Ability to establish and maintain business relationships with customers.
• Ability to analyze problems and identify potential solutions and preventive measures.
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time.

Physical Demands:

Prolonged periods of time spent at a desk at the computer/phone should be expected. There will also be intermittent physical activity including walking, standing, and working in various commercial office environments. On average 40%-50% travel should be assumed with an emphasis placed on projects that occur in the territory of TL. More widespread and/or stringent travel will occur at times when additional assistance is required to complete corporate initiatives.

Working Environment:

This position is typically in an office environment with ambient room temperatures, lighting and traditional office equipment as found in an office environment.

Liberty Vote is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The position requires residency in Illinois. Relocation assistance may be offered based on individual circumstances. The expected salary range for this position is $75,000 to $100,000, depending on experience. The role is also bonus and benefits eligible. The position will remain open until it is filled.