IT Director

Information Technology Director

The City of Forest Park is seeking an experienced and service-minded Information Technology Director to lead the City's technology operations and help guide its next phase of technology investment and innovation. The department is a five-person operation, including the Director, so the next leader will need to be comfortable working at both the strategic and operational levels.

The incoming Director will inherit a strong technology environment. Over the past five years, the City has substantially rebuilt its IT systems and infrastructure, strengthened cybersecurity, established sound replacement practices, and developed a stable and highly regarded internal team. The opportunity now is to build on that foundation and help Forest Park take its technology program to the next level.

The Information Technology Department operates with an annual budget of more than $2 million and a five-person team, including the Director. The department supports 13 network-connected City locations, including Police and Fire operations and the City's own 911/dispatch center.

The City completed a major server refresh in 2025, with a network refresh budgeted for the current year. Forest Park also follows an established five-year computer replacement program designed to keep end-user equipment current and avoid the problems associated with aging technology.

The department has experienced no employee turnover during the past five years and has received 100% positive results on internal IT customer surveys for the past two years. A managed services agreement provides additional expertise and capacity for specialized projects and escalated technical support.

Most core City applications have moved to hosted or cloud-based environments. The primary exception is the public safety CAD/RMS environment, which remains on premises. SharePoint has been implemented Citywide, and an updated IT policy was recently approved by the Mayor and City Council.

Forest Park has also made a deliberate investment in innovation. In 2026, the City added and filled a new Technology Innovation Engineer position focused on discovering, testing, and implementing emerging technologies.

The position works with departments to understand how they operate, identify opportunities to improve processes, and evaluate technology that can save time, reduce manual work, or improve service delivery. This gives the IT Department dedicated capacity to explore new ideas without losing focus on the reliability and security of the City's core technology systems.

For the incoming Director, this creates an opportunity to help set the City's innovation agenda and provide direction to a resource specifically assigned to turn promising ideas into practical improvements.

The current IT Director will remain with the City and assist with the transition to new leadership. This will give the incoming Director an opportunity to learn the City's systems, projects, vendor relationships, and technology environment directly from the individual who helped lead much of its modernization.

Forest Park is looking for a Director who can protect the significant investments already made while helping determine where the City's technology program should go next. The right person will be comfortable managing today's technology environment while also encouraging the team to explore what is possible tomorrow.

The Director should be willing to challenge old processes when there is a better way to do something, but should also recognize that new technology has to solve a real problem or provide measurable value. Working with the City's Technology Innovation Engineer, the Director will have an opportunity to help departments explore automation, artificial intelligence, data tools, system integration, and other technologies in a thoughtful and practical way.

Because this remains a relatively small department, the Director should be comfortable staying close to the work. At the same time, the position needs someone who can look several years ahead, communicate complicated technology issues in plain language, manage a significant budget, and help City leadership make sound decisions about cybersecurity, infrastructure, applications, public safety technology, staffing, and emerging technologies.

Hiring Range: $127,753.60 - $159,702.40