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The GroundTruth Project is an award-winning, independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. Our mission is to restore journalism from the ground up by supporting emerging journalists through field reporting that serves under-covered corners of the United States and the world. Our team is headquartered at WGBH in Boston, the flagship PBS station.

The Director, Information Systems will be responsible and accountable for development and implementation of results focused, innovative solutions to a wide range of activities related to technology, process improvement, and project management that serve to support the organization dramatically expand in scale and achieve our ambitious mission to get journalists on the ground covering the key stories of our time.

The Director, Information Systems will work with all GroundTruth teams, including Report for America, our fast-growing, flagship program. This position reports to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the organization.

Essential Functions:

• Anticipate and understand business strategies, objectives, and priorities needed to support effective business operations, improve performance, and achieve Organizational goals.
• Serve as business and technology solutions development specialist – Serve as a consultant to departments concerning business and technology solutions development theory and practice. Provide innovative, results-focused, information-based solutions to address complex cross-functional needs. Monitor business and technology solutions development plans and schedules.
• Serve as project manager for GroundTruth’s business systems projects – Analyze, organize, and prioritize business system projects. Ensure new operation plans, policies, procedures, and transition/migration plans are consistent with overall organizational goals and objectives.
• Promote relevant data leveraging culture – Develop and coach organizational talent to access and manage data to synthesize valuable, relevant information and leverage it effectively to make better business decisions and drive performance.
• Proactively evaluate current and emerging technologies, application customizations, and system enhancements for consideration in meeting organization’s business needs. Identify opportunities to strengthen, streamline, and improve applications, processes, and procedures relative to business systems and technology solutions throughout the organization. Make recommendations as appropriate. Ensure solutions selected provide the most efficient cost/performance ratio.
• Serve as key contact with external consultants and support providers. Negotiate service level agreements with vendors and service providers. Monitor service delivery to ensure targets and standards are met.
• Formulate plan, budget, and recommendation of information systems capital expenditures. Manage purchases, and coordinate installation and upgrades.
• Budget and monitor Information Systems operating expense on an organization-wide basis.
• Ensure security is maintained to mitigate threats and risks to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all information.
• Understand and support the mission, standards and policies of GroundTruth, contribute to their formulation and evaluation, and be able to interpret them to others.
• Advise department and senior leadership in the interpretation of systems data and recommend further analysis as needed and assist with questions or concerns over both internal and external data and reporting requirements.
• Performs other similar and related duties as required.

Non-Essential Functions:

• Attends periodic staff meetings and training sessions.
• Complies proper paperwork procedures, prompt follow-up communications and departmental policies.

Internal and External Contacts:

• Interfaces regularly with general employee population in person, on the phone and through email.
• Interfaces with outside vendors in person, through email and on the phone.

Educational Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree

Qualifications & Experience Requirements

• Experience managing an informational system function in a non-profit environment.
• At least 7-10 years of relevant experience.
• At least 5 years effectively managing personnel and leading teams.
• The ability to speak both “people” and “technology”.
• Strong analytic and problem-solving skills, verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• A team player first and foremost mentality.
• The ability and desire to take on both a strategic and “hands on” role.
• Experience working in a mixed Mac and PC environment.
• Experience working with Salesforce and Google Workspace strongly preferred.
• Experience working with Box, Zoom, Zapier, Okta, Submittable, 8×8, WordPress, Asana and/or Slack, social media programs, database applications, or similar programs and applications.
• Well-organized, comfortable managing multiple projects simultaneously, ability to multitask with ease, adapting to evolving needs of a growing organization.
• Strong understanding of and familiarity with domestic and international data security and confidentiality laws.
• Understanding of data models and database design/development as well as experience gathering data from various systems and performing analyses preferred.
• Highly self-motivated and self-directed to work within a team and/or work independently.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical users.
• Ability to analyze, organize, delegate and make decisions.
• Provides excellent customer service to staff and external customers in a professional, service-oriented, respectful manner using skills in active listening and problem solving. Remains calm in stressful situations.

This job description reflects essential functions of the position for The GroundTruth Project/Report for America/Report for the World. It does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned for this particular position. A shift in the roles and responsibilities of this specific position or in the strategic needs of the organization may result in this job description changing. All changes will be made in consultation with the employee to the furthest extent possible.