Chief information and operations officer

This is a remote position.

Location

• Remote, U.S.-based (Eastern Time Zone preferred, with easy access to Washington, DC); approximately 20% travel

Employment Type

• Full-time, exempt

Work Authorization

• Must meet applicable U.S. citizenship or permanent residency requirements for federal security and access

Role Focus

• Technology strategy and end-to-end ownership of a FedRAMP-authorized secure data platform, including architecture, cloud operations, cybersecurity, compliance, and researcher services

Reporting

• Reports to the CEO; serves on the senior leadership team and advises the Board of Directors and Technology Advisory Board

About the Role

BizFirst is assisting our client with the search for a Chief Information & Operations Officer (CIOO) who will own technology strategy and the end-to-end security, reliability, scalability, and continued evolution of its secure research and data platform. This leader will oversee platform architecture and development, cloud and production operations, cybersecurity and compliance, data infrastructure, researcher services, internal systems, and technology support. A critical first-year priority is leading the organization toward FedRAMP High authorization.

This is a strategic and operational role. The CIOO sets long-term technology direction while making sure the platform and other critical systems run securely, reliably, efficiently, and responsively. The role is accountable for the technology itself and for how successfully researchers, government agencies, and partners can use it.

As a member of the senior leadership team, the CIOO advises the CEO, Board of Directors, and Technology Advisory Board on technology strategy, investment, cybersecurity, operational readiness, and risk. The organization is small and mission-driven, so this leader combines executive judgment with a readiness to work hands-on when the situation calls for it.

Our client is a nonprofit that helps government agencies use administrative data to make better-informed public decisions. It builds data infrastructure, analytical tools, and data skills across the public sector, and it operates a FedRAMP-authorized research platform in AWS GovCloud that lets agencies securely link longitudinal data with other states and agencies. The platform supports more than 20 state agencies, several federal agencies, and approved researchers, and the organization's work is backed by leading national foundations.

What You'll Do

• Develop and execute a technology strategy aligned with the organization's mission, business strategy, growth priorities, contractual commitments, and risk profile, supported by a multi-year platform roadmap shaped by partner and customer needs.
• Set technology budgets, investment priorities, capacity plans, staffing models, and vendor strategies, and evaluate where emerging technologies can strengthen the platform, security, and operations.
• Own the architecture, engineering, and modernization of the platform and related secure data infrastructure, leading development of researcher workspaces, data pipelines, analytical tools, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.
• Translate government, researcher, and partner needs into technical requirements and development plans, and move new capabilities into secure, reliable, documented, and supportable production.
• Own end-to-end platform operations and researcher services, including onboarding, access, workspace and data provisioning, technical support, offboarding, service levels, and escalation procedures.
• Lead the strategy and execution for progressing toward FedRAMP High authorization within the first year, including security controls, governance, documentation, resourcing, and cross-functional coordination. Embed FedRAMP continuous monitoring into daily operations and manage relationships with the government sponsor, assessors, and partners on FedRAMP, NIST, FISMA, and contractual requirements.
• Own reliability, availability, performance, and cloud cost across production environments, with clear standards for release and change management, monitoring, incident response, backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity.
• Lead the secure ingestion, processing, provisioning, and governance of sensitive administrative data, with strong controls for data movement, segregation, access, retention, and auditability.
• Oversee internal applications, identity and access management, collaboration tools, end-user technology, and service-management practices that keep support responsive and well documented.
• Build and lead a technology team of employees, contractors, consultants, and vendors; support business development and proposals by assessing feasibility, security, capacity, cost, and delivery; and communicate priorities, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to nontechnical audiences.

Required Qualifications

The following qualifications are essential for this role:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• At least 12 years of progressively responsible technology experience, including leadership in a CIOO, CTO, vice president, senior director, or comparable role.
• Demonstrated experience leading or playing a significant leadership role in a FedRAMP Moderate or High authorization effort, with knowledge of FISMA, NIST, and federal security requirements.
• Experience building and operating secure cloud platforms that handle sensitive or regulated data, including FedRAMP-authorized or comparable NIST- or FISMA-aligned environments.
• Strong working knowledge of cloud architecture, cybersecurity, software and product development, data platforms, production operations, and disaster recovery.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams across engineering, cloud operations, cybersecurity, data engineering, product delivery, and internal IT.
• Clear executive communication, including the ability to explain technology priorities, risks, and tradeoffs to leadership, board members, partners, and staff.
• Pragmatic judgment that balances security, cost, usability, reliability, and organizational capacity, along with a willingness to work hands-on in a small, mission-driven organization.
• Ability to meet applicable U.S. citizenship or permanent residency requirements for federal security and access, and to travel approximately 20% of the time.

Helpful Experience

Any of the following would be helpful, but none is required:

• Technology leadership in or for federal government environments (strongly preferred), or broader public-sector or research-sector experience.
• Hands-on work with System Security Plans, control implementation, POA&M remediation, continuous monitoring, government sponsors, or third-party assessors.
• Architecture, security, and identity and access management decisions inside AWS GovCloud.
• Secure research data environments, data enclaves, or platforms that link sensitive administrative or longitudinal data.
• An advanced degree in a technical or related field.

What We're Looking For

The strongest candidate has personally led the technical, security, and organizational work required for a FedRAMP Moderate or High authorization effort. This person can point to specific decisions on security controls, audits, remediation, and continuous monitoring and can guide the platform toward FedRAMP High in the first year.

This leader is equally comfortable in a board discussion and in the details of a production issue. The CIOO will set multi-year direction with the CEO and board while also guiding technical administration, troubleshooting, and implementation, and building a team and operating model that scale with the organization's growth.

The role suits a CIO, CTO, CISO, VP of Engineering, or senior technology director from a FedRAMP-authorized software company, a secure data platform, or a government technology contractor who wants broad ownership and a clear public-sector mission.

What Success Looks Like

Within 90 days, understand the platform architecture, authorization boundary, production operations, researcher services, team, and vendor landscape, and identify the highest-priority FedRAMP High, security, reliability, and capacity needs.

Within six months, establish a multi-year technology and platform roadmap, budget, and staffing plan, with clear service levels, escalation procedures, production-readiness standards, and a coordinated plan for FedRAMP High authorization.

Within 12 months, lead the organization's progression toward FedRAMP High authorization while running a secure, reliable, well-documented technology operation that meets contractual commitments and sustains FedRAMP continuous monitoring.

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to lead technology for our client, a nonprofit whose platform helps public agencies and researchers use administrative data to make better decisions. You will report to the CEO, advise the Board of Directors and Technology Advisory Board, and own both the long-term direction and daily performance of a platform they rely on.

Benefits

Medical plan options with employer contributions toward premiums, plus dental and vision insurance; HSA available with eligible plans.

403(b) retirement plan with a 3% employer match and an additional 3% employer contribution that does not require an employee contribution.

15 to 25 days of paid time off based on years of full-time professional experience, 14 paid holidays, and paid sick, family, and bereavement leave.

Additional benefits include short- and long-term disability insurance and potential eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

$1,500 annual professional development reimbursement and $100 monthly reimbursement for eligible remote-work expenses.