Primary Department: Universal Services
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Sindhu Menon
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Position
Project ID (if applicable):
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable):
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: Choose an item.
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable):
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of three positions effective March 7, 2026.
end
Background and Discussion:
Third-party risk management is a critical component of the organization’s cybersecurity strategy. Over the past decade, cybersecurity risk associated with vendors and external partners has increased significantly, making strong governance, contract oversight, and compliance essential control points for risk mitigation.
The Chief role provides strategic leadership and governance for the contracts and third-party risk function, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities, regulatory requirements, and cybersecurity standards. This position establishes oversight, sets risk tolerance, drives consistency across procurement and contract processes, and elevates issues for executive awareness and decision-making.
Under the Chief’s leadership, the Contracts Compliance Analysts execute the day-to-day operational responsibilities by ensuring Universal Services contracts and agreements comply with applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies. The Analysts monitor contract terms, performance metrics, compliance requirements, and third-party risk indicators, with a strong emphasis on cybersecurity exposure.
The Analysts also review and extract contract information, maintain the contract management database with a high degree of accuracy, and serve as liaisons between internal departments and external vendors to support contract execution and timely issue resolution. Together, this structure increases visibility, strengthens accountability, and supports informed, risk-based decision-making related to vendor management and contract compliance.
Expected Impact:
Adding one Chief and two Contracts Compliance Analyst positions will strengthen the Universal Services Contracts Group’s capacity to meet the increasing volume and complexity of procurement and contract service requests. This structure provides both strategic oversight and operational execution.
The Chief role will establish clear governance, prioritize risk, and ensure alignment with organizational objectives, while the Analysts will support effective and efficient management of departmental procurement requests, contract administration, and compliance monitoring.
Collectively, these positions will enhance the Department’s ability to monitor and mitigate third-party cybersecurity risk, ensure contract compliance, improve turnaround times, and provide stronger controls and accountability across the procurement and contracts lifecycle.
Alternative Options:
County Strategic Plan Goal: N/A
County Strategic Plan Objective: N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): Choose an item.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
|
|
|
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
|
Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
|
Service Name |
Universal Services |
|
|
|
Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
Existing Budget |
|
|
|
|
|
Other |
$73,908.57 |
$ |
$ |
$106,756.82 |
|
Other |
$73,908.57 |
$ |
$ |
$106,756.82 |
|
Other |
$257,836.80 |
$ |
$ |
$338,888.50 |
|
Total Existing Budget |
$405,653.94 |
$ |
$ |
$552,402.14 |
|
Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
|
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
|
|
Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
|
Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
|
|
Current Position Count for Service |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Additional Positions Request |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
|
Total Personnel |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
|
County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
|
CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
|
CAO Review Completion Date |
Click or tap to enter a date. |
Anticipated Court Date: 2/26/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 3/7/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Iris Casas, Asst. Director HR, Universal Services
Attachments (if applicable): 3441