North Shore challenge

Title: Information systems manager, information management division, North Shore City Council, based in Takapuna, Auckland

Function: Managing council IT systems including a WAN, 600 desktops and a range of council databases

Description: Third-tier management role leading a team of 17, answerable to CIO

Dosh: About $100,000 per annum

“Exciting and challenging” projects beckon the new information systems manager of North Shore City Council.

The vacancy at the Takapuna-based authority includes responsibility for a $4 million budget and managing 17 staff, who report to the ISM through a couple of team leaders. The job also involves being contract manager for an outsourcing arrangement with Eagle Technologies. It also means managing the council’s WAN system and the microwave system linking its 14 nodes.

Then comes looking after the various applications on its 600 desktops and ensuring all licensing and support arrangements with suppliers and other third parties are up to speed. Finally, the successful candidate will look after the council’s corporate data sets, maintaining name and address, property and geographical information systems databases.

The manager is answerable to information chief Tony Rogers.

North Shore City Council uses Microsoft software, including NT migrating towards Windows 2000 and Citrix, on 40-odd Compaq NT desktop PCs. It also runs an AS/400 and Sun Sparc Unix boxes.

Rogers says he expects the successful candidate will be tertiary qualified in IT with five to seven years’ management experience in a corporate computer network of more than 500 desktops. Local government experience would be a plus, along with knowledge in evolving “e-areas”. Leaderships skills, plus a good technical knowledge of NT, WAN and data communication, is sought. “Some helpful things would be involvement in internet mapping and electronic document management,” he says. Rogers says the post involves a high degree of change and project management, plus work helping project teams.

North Shore City Council has several projects on the go, including field GIS, internet development, an internet strategy, rolling out electronic document management and a Windows 2000 upgrade that has not yet finished.

“It’s quite an exciting and challenging position,” he says, adding the job could lead to a CIO position.