Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

To provide leadership, strategic planning advice and senior technical consulting expertise in the development and maintenance of the Ministry of Transportation's mission critical driver, vehicle and carrier systems. Provide authoritative advice to senior management regarding critical business operational requirements.
To plan, lead and coordinate the delivery of 7x24 support to MTO's driver, vehicle and carrier licensing control systems through incident management, problem management and change management and the provision of specialized technical expertise, advice and consultative services to support users of the systems.

Duties / Responsibilities :

1. Plans, organizes, and coordinates the development and delivery of a range of 7x24 technical application support for MTO's mission critical driver, vehicle and carrier Licensing Control Systems and associated photo image management and credit card system to business clients which include both the Ministry of Transportation internal users and external business partners such as OPP, Private Issuers, Serco and Highway 407;
2. Coordinates and leads teams of technical resources responsible for the support, maintenance and implementation of large and complex multi-tier information technology applications to serve end users throughout the Province. Provides timely negotiation and resolution of service related problems.
3. Develops, implements and monitors mission critical systems' support standards, policies and procedures relating to the Service Level Agreements (SLA).
4. Provides team leadership and technical expertise to colleagues for the resolution of complex technical issues and to provide support as required. Provides technical expertise, advice and consultative services to support users in the planning, coordination and implementation of systems projects and the identification and resolution of service delivery problems.
5. Provides project leadership for the introduction and upgrade of new/existing systems and services. Responsible for project planning, change management, budget recommendations, priority setting, scheduling and reporting of key deliverables, negotiations with service providers and ensuring training of users in the utilization of new/revised services;
6. Participates in the development of standards, processes, methods, techniques and controls to ensure optimum systems performance and the integrity, security, confidentiality and reliability of data and to provide technical leadership in disaster recovery process and leadership in disaster recovery planning for the event of major systems disaster or failure.

Knowledge :

Position requires an excellent knowledge of information technology including multi-tier IT application architecture, data management, database administration, network (LAN and WAN) technology and protocols, Windows 2003 and Unix operating systems and application performance enhancement techniques to coordinate the delivery of a comprehensive, high availability systems service to clients. Knowledge of computer technology, IT application and technical architecture and programming/scripting techniques within the client ministry and skills in, and understanding of, systems analysis and design, implementation and support to ensure mission critical applications are integrated with other operating environments within the ministry. Understanding of current information technology strategies, plans, standards and directives. Understanding of the strategic direction of the Ministry of Transportation and the Labour and Transportation Cluster (LTC) to ensure that data, application and technical architectures can support the client's objectives. High-level technical competency in solving problems under pressure for incident management and problem management. In-depth knowledge on applications and systems used by other government agency and business partners such as CPIC and Kiosks
In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience and skills in large-scale database administration. Experience with large-scale database capacity planning, performance tuning and backup technology. Excellent knowledge of project planning and management principles practices methods and techniques to apply theory to practical applications. Budgeting skills to estimate project costs. Contract management and negotiation skills and knowledge of government tendering policies and processes to acquire and negotiate contract agreements with external vendors. Business management skills to identify and recommend innovative business opportunities, practices and services, which address client needs and are competitive with the marketplace. Strong organizational and leadership skills to coordinate unit concurrent projects and daily unit activities. Consultative and oral communication skills to provide effective customer service to clients and to liaise with ongoing clients and vendors. Negotiation and problem resolution skills to acquire, negotiate and resolve service delivery issues with vendors.

Judgement :

Work is performed under the general direction of the Technical Support Office Manager, and within the broad framework of government and ministry information technology standards, plans and guidelines and the LTC IT strategic plans, policies, procedures and standards. Judgement is required in determining optimum program and service delivery requirements of clients with consideration to the diversity of programs, geographical locations of clients, high demand for service and serious impact of potential interruption in service. Position exercises judgement in providing advice to line management on the effective use of technology, in developing work plans relating to client's technology operational priorities, and in leading technology projects and activities within established resources, standards and project deadlines in a environment of rapid technological growth and opportunity. Judgement is also required in establishing and recommending IT applications policies and standards to maintain consistency and control; in identifying alternative sources of equipment/services based on cost and service level agreements and in resolving a range of service related problems to facilitate optimum customer service and vendor regulation.

Accountability - Programs :

Responsible for planning, organizing, and coordinating the development and delivery of a range of IT application programs, facilities and support services to the Ministry and its business partners with business IT applications with several thousands end users throughout the Province. Technical supervisor leads major development and implementation projects and recommends and/or develops ministry IT application support policies and standards

Accountability – Personnel :

Project leads assigned team members comprised of branch colleagues, ministry clients and external consultants.

Accountability - Finance and Materials :

Responsible for estimating project costs and manages assigned project resources and budget

Accountability - Impact of Errors :

Errors in project planning and leadership could delay the implementation of important systems and significantly disrupt the programs of Ministry and lead to excessive project and operating costs. The delivery of ineffective and/or non-responsive telecommunications services and facilities to clients of the Ministry which rely heavily on these services would cause a major disruption to direct program delivery to the public with potential impact on public safety.

Contact - Internal :

Frequent contact with all levels of management and staff of LTC, OCCSD and MTO to determine service requirements, plan projects, provide expertise, and resolve service problems. Regular contact with senior management to make presentations and provide explanations regarding the mission critical systems. Regular contact with Branch colleagues to plan and coordinate joint efforts/activities, with counterparts in other ministries to exchange information and participate on joint efforts and problem solving.

Contact - External :

Regular contact with systems professionals and representative from hardware and software companies to research services, technological developments, tender and contract for resource, operating equipment and software services. Regular contact with peers and colleagues in the IT community to maintain an awareness of state-of the-art technology and its application to user needs.