Join Our Team as South Carolina’s Chief Data Officer!
The South Carolina Department of Administration is seeking an experienced, visionary, and strategic leader to serve as our Chief Data Officer (CDO). This newly established executive leadership position offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of data strategy, governance, and innovation across South Carolina state government.
As the central administrative agency for state government, the Department of Administration is committed to our mission: Lead to identify efficiencies. Collaborate to provide services that enhance security and trust. Innovate to increase effectiveness.
This is an exciting time to join our team! The Department is embracing growth, innovation, and new opportunities to strengthen the way we serve state agencies and the people of South Carolina. As a newly created position reporting to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Chief Data Officer will play a pivotal role in advancing the Department’s strategic priorities and driving meaningful, statewide improvements.
In this role, you will lead the Office of State Data and provide executive leadership and strategic direction for South Carolina’s enterprise-wide approach to data governance, management, sharing, analytics, and responsible data use. You will establish and champion a statewide vision, strategy, policies, and governance framework that position data as a valuable strategic asset. Working collaboratively with state agencies and key stakeholders, you will lead efforts to improve the quality, accessibility, security, and effective use of government data. Your leadership will help strengthen government operations, support informed decision-making, enhance public services, promote transparency, and deliver better outcomes for South Carolina residents.
If you are a forward-thinking leader who is passionate about innovation, collaboration, and using data to drive meaningful change, we invite you to be part of this exciting new chapter at the Department of Administration!
Responsibilities of the Chief Data Officer:
- Manage and provide technical leadership to Statewide Data Office. Lead and support staff through coaching, training, and performance development. Streamline workflows while implementing management policies and organizational initiatives.
- Establish and lead the State’s enterprise data vision, strategy, priorities, and roadmap. Advise executive leadership on data governance, analytics, emerging technologies, and opportunities to use data to improve government operations, policy, and service delivery. Develop statewide policies, standards, frameworks, and initiatives and align Office of State Data priorities with statewide strategic and operational objectives.
- Build partnerships with agency executives, chief information officers, data and program leaders, legal counsel, privacy and security professionals, and other stakeholders. Lead or support statewide governance councils, working groups, and communities of practice to establish priorities, resolve enterprise issues, and share effective practices. Represent the State with governmental and external partners on data-related matters.
- Establish and lead statewide governance for state data assets, including roles, responsibilities, standards, and decision-making processes. Partner with agencies to strengthen data quality, stewardship, documentation, interoperability, lifecycle management, integration, and responsible data sharing. Promote appropriate access and use while addressing privacy, security, confidentiality, records management, and applicable legal requirements.
- Advance statewide use of analytics, data science, visualization, and related capabilities to support executive decision-making, policy development, program evaluation, resource allocation, and operational improvement. Build agency capacity to translate data into actionable information and promotes responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and emerging data and data sharing capabilities.
Minimum and Additional Requirements
- A bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, information technology, data management, data analytics, computer science, or a related field and progressively responsible experience in data strategy, data governance, data management, analytics, information technology, or organizational leadership, including experience leading complex enterprise initiatives.
Additional Requirements:
- Knowledge of enterprise data strategy, governance, management, analytics, architecture, data sharing, interoperability, data quality, metadata, information lifecycle management, and emerging data technologies, including artificial intelligence and cloud data platforms.
- Knowledge of strategic planning, policy development, performance and change management, government operations, legal, privacy, security, confidentiality, and public-sector data records-management.
- Ability to establish enterprise strategies, governance frameworks, policies, standards, operating models, and measurable objectives.
- Ability to lead complex initiatives involving multiple agencies and stakeholders.
- Ability to build consensus and effective partnerships; and translate complex data, technical, and policy issues into clear recommendations for executive and nontechnical audiences.
- Establish priorities, manage resources and organizational performance, exercise sound judgment, lead, supervise, and develop professional staff.
- Position may require overnight travel.
- Position may require employee to work evenings and weekends.
- Position may be required to report to work during emergency situations.
Applicants indicating college credit or degree(s) on the application may bring a copy of college transcript to the interview. A copy of the transcript may also be uploaded as an attachment to the application, if required by the hiring department or if desired by the applicant. Please note that some areas of the Department may require an official, certified copy of the transcript prior to hiring or within a specific timeframe required by that area, after hiring. Failure to produce an official, certified transcript may result in not being hired or termination.
Preferred Qualifications
Executive or senior leadership experience involving multiple organizations or diverse stakeholders is preferred.
Additional Comments
The Department of Administration is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions including, but not limited, to lactation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Supplemental questions are considered part of your official application. Any misrepresentation will result in your disqualification from employment. Please complete the state application to include all current and previous work history and education. A resume will not be accepted nor reviewed to determine if an applicant has met the qualifications for the position.
The South Carolina Department of Administration offers an exceptional benefits package for full time (FTE) employees:
- Health, dental, vision, long-term disability, and life insurance for employees, spouse, and children. Click here for additional information.
- 15 days annual (vacation) leave per year
- 15 days sick leave per year
- 13 paid holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- S.C. Deferred Compensation Program available (S.C. Deferred Compensation)
- Retirement benefit choices *
- State Retirement Plan (SCRS)
- State Optional Retirement Program (State ORP)
*Enrollment in one of the listed plans is required for all FTE employees; please refer to the contribution section of hyperlinked retirement sites for the current contribution rate of gross pay.
