Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued a notice of priority recruitment late last week for the position of commander of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center, a post advertised nearly a month ago by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES). It has been vacant since November, when Commander Keith Tresh, previously CIO at the California High-Speed Rail Authority, stepped down. Among the takeaways:
• This is at least the second time this year that the Governor’s Office has issued a priority recruitment for a high-level position that’s been open for a moment. The office did so in March, a little more than two months after Newsom took office, to emphasize the ongoing search for a DMV director on its website and in a LinkedIn post. (Its new director, Steve Gordon, who joined DMV last month, is a tech industry veteran who applied via its website.) The new commander will be appointed by the Governor’s Office.
“We felt it was a good idea to amplify the pull of candidates,” Vicky Waters, deputy director for media and public affairs at the Governor’s Office, told Techwire.
• Cal-CSIC, created four years ago by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, is an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental organization with the job of improving coordination and strategy and reducing the likelihood and severity of cyberattacks. CalOES seeks a “dynamic, innovative and collaboratively minded leader,” it said in the job description, someone who will “cultivate” the center by directing the development of policies and processes that ensure its success. The candidate chosen will be someone to drive Cal-CSIC “toward successful statewide operations, completing cyber threat analyses and building cybersecurity partnerships with public and private entities,” the listing said. The Governor’s Office highlighted these points in its recruitment.
• The ideal candidate, according to the listing, has experience as a “cybersecurity intelligence manager or supervisor”; a “strong knowledge” of law enforcement and homeland security disciplines; and is familiar with the “ technical aspects of threat assessment” and CalOES’s place in the homeland security enterprise. The incumbent should have a bachelor’s degree, with experience potentially substituting for education. A typical level of job experience would include at least four years of supervisorial, administrative or equivalent staff-level experience at a local, state or federal service organization – with a major responsibility for cybersecurity.
“As is the cases with all appointments, the governor is always looking for the most qualified people," Waters said. "And this particular area, of course, is an area of emphasis for us.”
• There’s no precise timeline for filling the position, although officials hope to do so with all deliberate speed. The yearly salary range depends on a candidate’s qualifications and experience.
