Director of Information Technology

Project On Government Oversight; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 128,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Project On Government Oversight (POGO) seeks a Director of Information Technology to provide strategic leadership of IT strategy, security, governance, and infrastructure. The role partners with the VP of Finance and Administration to align technology with organizational goals and ensure data protection, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience.

The successful candidate will lead a cloud-first environment, oversee cybersecurity, policy development, vendor negotiations, budget

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive IT experience with leadership and budget responsibility.
• Experience setting and executing technology strategy aligned to organizational goals.
• Experience owning a cybersecurity program, including risk assessment and policy development.
• Experience governance and compliance, including data protection, privacy, PCI, and accessibility obligations.
• Budget ownership, vendor selection and contract negotiation; build/buy decisions.
• Knowledge of cloud-first enterprise environments, including Microsoft 365 and Entra.
• Experience supervising and developing technical staff.
• Excellent communication to translate technical matters for non-technical executives.
• Commitment to an inclusive work environment and to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Legal/compliance or privacy background or advisory experience preferred.
• Experience delivering technology solutions to increase program impact (data pipelines, automation, analysis tools).

Responsibilities

• Set multi-year technology strategy and roadmap aligned with the organization.
• Advise leadership on technology posture with options and costs.
• Own cybersecurity program and report risk to executives.
• Develop and adopt technology, data governance, and security policies.
• Define data protection, privacy, accessibility, PCI obligations, and legal considerations.
• Identify technology solutions to increase program impact in research, policy, advocacy, or investigations.
• Lead information architecture, data management, and standards adoption across departments.
• Lead and develop the IT team and set service standards for the function.

Skills

IT leadership

Cybersecurity program

Budget management

Vendor negotiations

Cloud environments

Communication skills

DEI commitment

Legal/compliance background

Technology strategy

Tools

Microsoft 365

Entra

Job description

Founded in 1981 in partnership with whistleblowers, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan independent watchdog that works to expose waste, corruption, abuse of power, and other instances where the government fails to serve the public. We champion reforms to achieve a more effective, ethical, and accountable federal government that safeguards constitutional principles. POGO has an over $7 million annual budget that supports a staff of over 50 employees.

POGO is looking for a talented Director of Information Technology to play a crucial role in advancing POGO’s mission by providing strategic leadership on IT and oversight of our IT systems and infrastructure. You will help POGO better leverage technology by being responsible for: developing and implementing IT strategies to support the organization's goals; ensuring the security, compliance, and integrity of our systems and data; and optimizing technology resources to enhance not only operational efficiency but also the impact of our work. This position reports directly to the Vice President (VP) of Finance and Administration.

We encourage potential applicants to apply even if they only have experience or familiarity in some of the areas described below. We fully recognize that many great candidates will not have experience in all of the areas we list, or may have relevant experiences and skills that we have not listed or considered.

Responsibilities include:

• Set POGO’s multi-year technology strategy and roadmap in alignment with the strategic plan, and translate it into annual priorities, investments, and measurable outcomes.

• Advise the executive leadership team on the organization’s technology posture, including the tradeoffs among operational stability, speed of adoption, cost, compliance obligations, and organizational capacity, and bring recommendations with clear options and costs.

• Own the organization’s cybersecurity program: set the risk posture and security roadmap, direct the virtual CISO engagement, oversee risk assessment and penetration testing, maintain cyber insurance readiness, and report on risk to executive leadership.

• Author and maintain the organization’s technology, data governance, cybersecurity, and acceptable use policies, and lead their adoption across the organization in coordination with Legal and Human Resources.

• Define POGO’s compliance posture for data protection and privacy, accessibility, PCI DSS, and related obligations, and serve as the organization’s internal advisor on technology-related legal and regulatory questions in partnership with Legal.

• Identify where technology can materially increase the impact of POGO’s investigative, policy, and advocacy work, and scope, source, or build solutions — including data collection, pipelines, automation, and analysis tooling — in partnership with program leadership.

• Set the organizational framework for information architecture, records, and data management, and lead cross-departmental adoption of technology standards, with teams owning their own structures within it.

• Lead the IT team: supervise and develop the IT team, set priorities and service standards for the function, and ensure they have the capacity, skills, and succession depth to meet organizational needs.

Qualifications include:

• Minimum of 8 years of progressive IT experience, including at least 3 years in a leadership role with responsibility for technology strategy, budget and staff, preferably at a nonprofit, law firm, or other organization with comparable sensitivity around data.

• Demonstrated experience setting and executing technology strategy aligned to organizational goals, and presenting options and recommendations to executive leadership.

• Demonstrated experience owning a cybersecurity program, including risk assessment, policy development, incident response planning, and directing external security advisors.

• Demonstrated experience with technology governance and compliance, including data protection and privacy, PCI, and accessibility obligations, and working in partnership with legal counsel.

• Demonstrated experience owning a technology budget, leading vendor selection and contract negotiation, and making build, buy, and sourcing decisions.

• Strong working knowledge of modern cloud-first enterprise environments, including Microsoft 365 and Entra, sufficient to direct, evaluate, and hold accountable technical work performed by others.

• Demonstrated experience supervising and developing technical staff.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate technical matters for non-technical executives and staff and to build consensus across departments.

• Commitment to creating, maintaining, and otherwise fostering an inclusive work environment.

• Commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

• (+) Legal, compliance, or privacy background or credential (e.g., CIPP), or experience serving as a technology advisor to legal teams preferred but not required

• (+) Experience identifying and delivering technology solutions that increase program impact in research, policy, advocacy, or investigative settings, including data pipelines, automation, and analysis tooling preferred but not required.

Compensation, benefits, and other information:

This position is eligible for remote work from anywhere within the United States provided you are available during POGO’s work hours of 9AM-6PM in the Eastern Time Zone.Otherwise, the position and POGO are based in Washington, DC.

This is a full-time position and includes the listed benefits:

• Competitive nonprofit salary in the range of $128K - $140K

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• 403(b) employee investment plan available, with employer retirement contribution once eligible

• Life insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage

• Paid holiday, vacation, and sick leave

Application Deadline:

October 20, 2026

POGO is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. We encourage all interested and qualified individuals to apply.