State of South Carolina · 15 hours ago
Chief Innovation Officer (Program Manager IV) - 60027638
Lexington County, SC
Full-time
Onsite
Director/ExecutiveThe State of South Carolina Department of Education is seeking a Chief Innovation Officer to join the Executive Leadership Team. This role is responsible for shaping and advancing the technical, data, and innovation infrastructure required for the agency to modernize and lead nationally.
Government
Responsibilities
Define and steward SCDE’s enterprise innovation and technical strategy in alignment with the agency’s North Star goals and strategic plan
Ensure technology investments reinforce one another rather than operate as isolated solutions
Translate emerging national best practices into practical, scalable state systems
Oversee enterprise architecture to ensure technical coherence, interoperability, and sustainability across agency initiatives
Provide strategic guidance across SCDE’s major X-Teams, including but not limited to: Growing Pathways for Students (GPS), Accountability & State Report Card, Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) Operations, Accelerated Instruction & Motivation, Special Education, Civics Standards & Curriculum, Shared Services, Career Pathways, District Funding Formulas, Education Technology
Ensure teams align on technical architecture, data standards, governance models, security requirements, and implementation of roadmaps to enable coordinated execution
Guide the evolution of GPS, SCDE’s statewide K–12 decision-support and analytics platform, ensuring it remains secure, interoperable, and instructionally meaningful
Lead the strategic development of a digital career pathways and credentialing ecosystem, enabling learners’ skills, credentials, and accomplishments to be portable, verifiable, and actionable across education and workforce systems
Ensure alignment with national interoperability standards and emerging federal and philanthropic initiatives
Lead enterprise-wide efforts that integrate data analytics and innovative practices to improve policy development, operational decisions, and student outcomes
Build internal capacity by providing input into: Technical roles, teams, and talent development, Governance models, Sustainable operating processes
Help SCDE move from reliance on individual expertise to shared, institutional capability
Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the Superintendent and Executive Team
Represent SCDE in national innovation, data, and workforce-aligned education conversations
Cultivate partnerships with other states, federal agencies, philanthropy, and technical organizations
Qualification
Required
A bachelor's degree and relevant program management experience
Preferred
Extensive experience leading large-scale data systems, enterprise technology strategy, or innovation initiatives in complex organizations
Proven ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable strategies that drive organizational execution
Demonstrated comfort operating at the intersection of policy, practice, technology, and people, with the ability to align a variety of stakeholders
Strong track record of designing, building, and sustaining systems that endure beyond initial launch and scale effectively over time
Company
State of South Carolina
South Carolina is a southeastern U.S. state.
Founded in 2005
10001+ employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
David Sella-Villa
Chief Privacy Officer
Mark Rhoden
Chief Financial Officer, Office of Regulatory Staff
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