Mary Winkler

1. Head of Technology Infrastructure.
Whether this is a manager, director or VP-level role depends on the size of the company that is seeking it. The bottom line: IT organizations are hiring heads of IT infrastructure because many of the Baby Boomers who've held those roles are retiring and because so many of today's technology trends (cloud, virtualization, consumerization of IT and mobility) are infrastructure and hardware-related, says Heller. Adds Greg Ambrose, managing director of Catalyst Search Group: Companies are seeking IT leaders who have experience moving elements of the IT infrastructure to the cloud.

2. Director of Outsourced Services or Vendor Management.
As companies "outsource" more functions to traditional IT services providers, SaaS companies and cloud services providers, they're increasingly looking for an individual who can manage all of these relationships&mdsash;a director of outsourced services. Some companies will seek a director of vendor management who oversees all vendor partnerships, not just with IT services providers. IT vendor managers who have experience with cloud computing will again be in demand as cloud computing presents new licensing agreements, contracts, terms, security and service-level agreements that are different from traditional IT outsourcing, says Heller.

3. Manager/Head of Unified Communications.

Heller says CIOs are starting to look for IT managers who can set a strategy for unified communications and break down the barriers between different devices, email servers, networks and telephony tools inside their organizations.

4. Manager of Master Data Management/Director of Data Architecture.

These are two different roles, but their ultimate goals are the same: to help companies get a handle on big data by establishing and implementing data integration and management strategies. The director of data architecture may also be charged with creating the technical architecture that will support the company's data management strategies.

5. Managers/Directors in Charge of Mobility.

With the proliferation of mobile devices inside enterprises and among consumers, companies are looking for IT managers who can address the challenges and business opportunities that mobile computing presents.

On the infrastructure side, they need IT managers and directors who can set usage policies for the company and maintain and secure the infrastructure needed to support those devices, along with the devices themselves. On the applications side, employers need people to determine which enterprise and/or customer-facing applications should be adapted or developed specifically for mobile devices.

6. Business Relationship Managers.

For several years, CIOs have sought business relationship managers who report into the IT organization, but who work for specific business units or functions inside the company to ensure they have the IT resources they need, says Heller.

"What's different today is the rate at which companies need these people," she adds. "Because of cloud and consumerization, in some companies the business can work directly with the service provider and get an app for their business without even talking to the CIO. CIOs need business relationship managers to maintain some degree of control and understanding of everything that's happening across the business."

Another difference between today's business relationship managers vs. yesteryears: Some CIOs are hiring them directly from the lines of business, rather than appointing someone from IT to serve as, say, the business relationship manager for the finance department, says Heller.
7. CTO/SVP of Engineering.
DHR International's Giarman says CTOs and senior VPs in charge of engineering are in great demand inside technology companies. They're seeking visionary leaders who can run technical operations, ensure products will scale to meet user demand, get products to market on time, manage geographically dispersed development teams, and motivate developers. Because this is no small task, Giarman says compensation packages for these executives can run into seven figures.

8. CIO. Chuck Pappalardo,
managing director of Trilogy Search Non+Profit, expects CIO searches to continue to be a significant source of his firm's business in 2012. "There will be plenty of opportunity for people to move into traditional CIO roles," he says.

9. CISO/IT Security Consultant.
The frequency and rising costs of data breaches are forcing companies to take IT security much more seriously. Interest in cloud computing is also renewing interest in information security. Those two trends are driving demand for chief information security officers and IT security consultants, according to Lewis at the Leadership Capital Group.
10. IT Consulting Firm Partners.

Good news for IT consultants who can sell and deliver: They're in great demand, according to the Leadership Capital Group. The bad news: They may have to move to the Arabian Peninsula. Leadership Capital Group notes that the job market for IT consultants with 'Big Five' firms is hottest in emerging markets such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and South Africa.

List of all IT Jobs

Wellington

Software Engineers and Web Developers - It seems a lot of this job requires you to be able to cut and paste. Or use pre-made code and snap it in where you need it. Almost gone are the days of actually writing code and making it work.

Creative Design and User Experience - Getting harder and harder to find new ideas. Create something from nothing and make it yours. Tough, but then if you are cut for this type of work, you should do good. It is not for everyone.

Product Management - I have found that PM's tend to be lazy and like to follow charts and numbers. This way, they can blame everyone around them and quote numbers and graphs that cannot be wrong. In this particular case, I find fault when a Manager cannot do the work of those in their department. The age of PM's is getting lower and lower, but more seemingly so for the title and not and earned position.

Marketing - This one requires more than just setting up a booth at a trade show anymore. You have to know your customers and perspective clients, tend to them, and nurture them. More and more I see this one catering to the ideas that under old school marketing would not have gotten you a seat at a trade show. Sure, you can buy a booth and set up. But you had better know how to market virally, online, and through media content.

Analytics - Want to know where your company will be and what it will be doing? How departments' decisions affect other departments? Perhaps you need to make some cutbacks or move personel around. This si the one to watch then.

Disclaimer - Please do not take any of the above as negative comments if they happen to fit you or someone you know. I base these answers on my knowledge and experience.

Smith

Never seen this in the real world. This is the ideal of software engineering - building more and more building blocks so that we don't do the same work over and over again. But we find that there is so little that can be done this way that the reuse of code is far, far lower than we always thought that it would be.

The examples of where this is successful is in Java and .NET libraries where tons of really good, low level code is handles for you.

But honestly... is rewriting the functionality of the "print" command over and over again a good thing? Rewriting makes for few eyes and lots of errors. Being a good developer means being able to reuse code effectively.

fianna_64

maybe better to state hardest jobs to fill properly
lots of people out there claiming to be this/that and the other just to get the next job/contract

fianna_64

Smith,
you make some interesting points. I agree that the recycling of code is common place for software engineers. It does have some positives though:

- You don't have to continually 'reinvent the wheel' on things that have been written before.

- Normally (but not always) standardized code is stable, compatible and tested in multiple environments.

- For repeatable installation software it is better than creating one-offs for each customer.

- Allows easier upgrades and error checking to occur.

One the flip side there are lots of copyright issues associated with it that many companies are opening themselves up to. We use Black Duck software to monitor those sorts of things. It is really helpful.