State of Maryland

An Election Program Information Technology Specialist IV is the advanced level of specialized work providing program and technology support to staff members of a local election office. Employees in this classification coordinates, maintains and troubleshoots election programs and work in conjunction with State Board of Elections staff, local government staff, vendors and contractors to resolve program issues. Employees in this classification do not supervise.

Employees receive general supervision from an Election Director, Election Deputy Director, program manager or program supervisor of a local election office. Employees may be required to work evenings, weekends and holidays and to travel to polling sites during an Election cycle.

The Election Program Information Technology Specialist IV is differentiated from the Election Program Information Technology Specialist III in that the Election Program Information Technology Specialist IV is responsible for resource management and quality assurance.

Coordinates, maintains and troubleshoots election technology program systems, such as election equipment, polling place technology, and election judge technology in accordance with established policies and procedures;

Interacts with local government and State Board of Elections staff to discuss and coordinate program activities;

Evaluates office program technology procedures and makes recommendations to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the program;

Designs, organizes and delivers formal and informal training on election program technology operations;

Manages quality assurance for local election office programs and reports results to the program supervisor, program managers, Election Directors and Deputy Directors;

Manages resources for local election office programs, such as voting equipment, ballots, polling place locations, recommendation for staffing, event coordination, supplies and materials;

May address and resolve issues related to election office technology programs;

Monitors appropriate level of access and privileges for programs and assists users with passwords and other security procedures;

Coordinates voting equipment maintenance and programming, inventory and preparation;

Provides Tier II Help Desk support for issues encountered at polling sites during Election Cycle and documents problems and provides resolutions;

Attends meetings and training outside of the local election office;

Works with local and State government staff to maintain accurate program information on the website;

Responds to general election inquiries from the public;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of resource management, policies, practices and procedures;

Knowledge of quality assurance policies, practices and procedures;

Knowledge of the functions and capabilities of microcomputers;

Knowledge of microcomputer operating systems and program software packages;

Skill in word processing, personal computer and other office equipment and related software applications;

Skill in maintaining accurate and detailed records;

Skill in Help Desk troubleshooting;

Skill in maintenance of computer and software updates, as well as staying up-to-date with election-related cybersecurity tasks;

Ability to perform daily, weekly, and monthly data back-ups;

Ability to remain organized while performing multiple functions or tasks;

Ability to maintain workflow despite frequent interruptions and changing priorities;

Ability to communicate effectively and tactfully and maintain confidentiality when communicating with the general public, State officials, candidates, election judges, and co-workers;

Ability to use independent judgment in applying and explaining election laws, rules and procedures;

Ability to meet time sensitive deadlines and demands;

Ability to develop and deliver formal and informal training to end users in the operations of election programs; 

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with program users, local government staff and State Board of Elections staff, vendors and contractors; and

Ability to prepare routine and ad hoc reports.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Computer Information Technology, Management Information Systems or other information technology-related field to include coursework in application, communication, database or operating systems software technology.

Experience: Three years of experience designing, developing, testing, implementing and maintaining application, communication, database or operating systems software.

Notes:

1. Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate and thirty credit hours from an accredited college or university in Computer Science, Computer Technology, Management Information Systems or other information technology-related field to include coursework in application, communication, database or operating systems software technology may be substituted for the required education.

 2. Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate and one additional year of experience designing, developing, testing, implementing and maintaining application, communication, database or operating systems software may be substituted for the required education.

 3. Experience operating computer systems; or scheduling, controlling input and output to process data on computer systems; or evaluating, implementing and maintaining computer hardware and software; or converting data from project specifications by developing program code using generally accepted computer programming languages may be substituted for high school education on a year- for-year basis.

4. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in the Computer Systems Operations classifications or Computer Systems Operations specialty codes in the Information Technology field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience and education.

5. General clerical, data processing, technical or administrative experience may substitute for the required experience applying election laws, rules and procedures in a local election office at the rate of two years for each six months of the required election office experience. General clerical, data processing, technical or administrative experience is defined as work performing a variety of duties which are clear-cut and typically found in office settings, such as filing, copying, inputting data, general computer skills, and directing telephone calls.

Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland.

1. Employees in this classification are required to be registered voters in the State of Maryland in accordance with the Election Law Article, Section 2-207(d).

2. Employees in this classification may not hold or be a candidate for any elective public or political party office or any other office created under the Constitution or laws of this State in accordance with the Election Law Article, Section 2-301(b).