Chief Information Officer

Polsinelli

1d•$450,000 - $525,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a strategic partner to the executive leadership team, responsible for shaping and advancing the firm's technology strategy in ways that strengthen performance, resilience, service delivery, and competitive advantage. This leader oversees the technology function with a focus on system performance and reliability, disciplined execution, modernization, and security, while ensuring the firm remains at the forefront of a rapidly evolving technology landscape. The CIO will lead the continued maturation of the Technology Division by advancing critical technology initiatives and building a high-performing, collaborative organization that is trusted across the enterprise, equipping attorneys and business professionals to do their best work and enabling the firm's broader strategic and operational success. Preferred location is Kansas City; however, candidates may also be based in St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Houston, or Dallas. This position requires full-time, in-office presence.

Requirements

Leadership: Demonstrates the ability to inspire, influence, and guide others to perform at a high level, especially through periods of change, transformation, and increased accountability.
Accountability: Takes ownership of responsibilities, decisions, and outcomes while maintaining transparency and integrity in actions and results.
Organizational Change Management: Leads complex organizational and technology change with clear communication, stakeholder alignment, and thoughtful adoption across a distributed professional services environment.
Coaching and Development: Provides mentorship, feedback, and professional development opportunities that strengthen individual capabilities and support the growth of high-performing teams.
Service Delivery and Operational Excellence: Builds disciplined operating rhythms, establishes service levels and KPIs, and improves processes to strengthen responsiveness, reliability, and user experience.
Financial Acumen: Demonstrates strong understanding of financial principles, including budgeting, cost management, investment evaluation, and vendor spend management, to support sound technology and business decisions.
Results Orientation: Maintains a strong focus on execution, measurable outcomes, and follow-through against defined priorities.
Security and Risk Management: Demonstrates sound judgment in identifying technology and cybersecurity risk and maturing controls, policies, and incident response capabilities.
Vendor and Partner Management: Effectively manages vendors, consultants, and strategic partners to align external support, performance, and spend with firm priorities.
Strategic Planning: Develops a clear vision for the future and translates that vision into executable roadmaps, sequencing, and resource plans.
Project / Program Leadership: Ability to scope, prioritize, govern, and deliver complex IT and security initiatives on time and on budget, while clearly communicating status, milestones, dependencies, risks, and tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders.
BS Computer Science / Information Systems
MBA or MS IT / Cybersecurity
15+ years of progressive IT and cybersecurity leadership experience, including executive responsibility for enterprise operations, service delivery, and strategic planning.
Previous Director / CISO / CTO / CIO experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in complex, multi-office environments.
Experience in professional services (law firm strongly preferred; accounting, consulting, or similarly client-service-driven organizations also relevant).
Demonstrated success leading large-scale enterprise implementations, cloud migrations, platform modernization, and change management with minimal disruption to end users.
Broad and deep technical credibility across infrastructure, network, end-user computing, cybersecurity, Microsoft enterprise platforms, document management, and third-party software selection and implementation.
Experience establishing KPIs, governance, and reporting across IT functions, and using data to drive prioritization, performance improvement, and resource allocation.
Experienced with integrating multiple systems, platforms, and applications.
Proficient in Microsoft environment/products, Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online, endpoint lifecycle management, and document management systems (iManage preferred).
Familiarity with information governance, data retention, incident response, and vendor management in regulated or security-sensitive environments.

Nice To Haves

CISSP or CISM
ITIL
PMP or equivalent program delivery certification

Responsibilities

Shape and execute a multi-year technology strategy and roadmap, with clear priorities, KPIs, and governance, that advances the firm's business objectives and improves the effectiveness, efficiency, and value of information systems.
Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and high performance while strengthening day-to-day IT operations, service delivery, and a client-service mindset across the Technology Division.
Build and maintain a resilient technology environment that delivers reliable, secure, and responsive IT services and supports attorneys and business professionals at the highest level.
Lead complex enterprise technology initiatives, including platform modernization, cloud migrations, endpoint lifecycle and operating system deployments, messaging and collaboration improvements, document management initiatives, and related change management.
Assess and mature the firm's information security program, including governance, policies, SOPs, user awareness, incident response readiness, and remediation planning.
Implement modern governance, operational processes, and industry best practices, including project and portfolio management disciplines, financial stewardship, strategic resource planning, vendor governance, and transparent executive reporting.
Establish trusted partnerships with firm leadership, attorneys, and administrative stakeholders by delivering transparent communication, disciplined execution, and technology solutions aligned with firm priorities.
Evaluate and optimize the firm's technology portfolio, including applications, infrastructure, security, data management, network services, end-user computing, and information governance, ensuring they meet the firm's operational and strategic needs.
Identify and recommend emerging technologies and information services that support the firm's continued growth, innovation, and ability to deliver exceptional service to clients.