Charles Edward Vopicka
Missoula, MT and Helena, MT - (406) 549-1263
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Montana Department of Agriculture IT team lead and database administrator with more than a decade of public-sector and small-business technical service experience. Works at the intersection of agency priorities and technical operations: leads department IT staff, serves as liaison among State IT, department IT, and agency leadership, and has rebuilt working relationships with agency programs through plain-language communication and practical solutions. Background in service management, systems adoption, database administration, and software development.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
- IT Department Team Lead and Database Administrator - May 2024 to Present
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Set and execute department IT priorities in line with CIO and agency requirements; lead and assign IT staff.
- Serve as liaison among State IT, department IT, and agency leadership; lead security matters for the department.
- Develop and manage databases (MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, SQLite, MS Access); automate, integrate, and migrate systems.
- Oversee desktop and systems support, project development and management, and network administration.
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Database Administrator - May 2021 to May 2024
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Developed and managed agency databases; led systems integration and migration projects.
- Provided desktop and systems support and managed project development.
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Interim IT Department Team Lead - March 2023 to August 2023
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Led department IT staff and set priorities in the absence of the CIO and Network Administrator, covering their responsibilities during the interim.
- Built relationships with agency programs that had viewed IT as a source of blame or refusal; worked with them to explain technical problems in plain language and find practical solutions, shifting the relationship from demand to collaboration.
- Montana Department of Agriculture, Helena, MT
- Statewide Projects Technical Support - November 2018 to May 2021
- Montana State Library, Helena, MT
- Provided customer and technical support for statewide projects and users.
- Developed and managed software in ASP.NET, T-SQL, and Python; served as SQL Server DBA.
- Managed content management platforms (CONTENTdm, Recollect) and supported their adoption across programs.
- Led archive and metadata management and conversion between metadata standards.
- Montana State Library, Helena, MT
- Owner - 2006 to Present
- Free State Drivers, Missoula, MT
- Primary technical support resource for small companies and nonprofit clients; established support processes and tracked response times and outcomes.
- Led adoption of forest inventory management software for client organizations; delivered software training and workshops.
- Developed and maintained client databases (MS Access, MySQL, SQLite) and websites.
- Performed sustained yield analysis and inventory design auditing.
- Free State Drivers, Missoula, MT
- Database Manager - 2004 to 2006
- Forest Biometrics Research Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
- Developed and maintained institute databases and GIS; provided technical support to contributing organizations and staff.
- Delivered training and maintained the institute website.
- Forest Biometrics Research Institute, University of Montana, Missoula, MT
EDUCATION
- M.S., Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula (2007)
- B.S., Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula (2003)
- A.A.S., Park Management, Frederick Community College (1999)
CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
- Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate (2020)
- Google IT Support Professional Certificate (2018)
- Montana Department of Administration SITSD 2025 Emerging Leaders Program