Vicki Hildebrand, the Transportation Department chief information officer, is leaving after just over a year on the job.

Hildebrand announced her decision to leave in the next few weeks in an email to staff on Tuesday, which Federal News Network obtained.

“It is with great sadness that I will be leaving you,” Hildebrand wrote. “But I have great faith in the team. I often shared with the leadership team that you are the best group I have ever worked with. I’ve appreciated and enjoyed the commitment to our government, the willingness to drive change and the camaraderie and fun we’ve had together.”

Hildebrand said her decision to leave is solely based on the need to be closer to her family in Vermont. She was commuting back to Washington since starting as DOT’s CIO in October 2017.

During her time as DOT CIO, Hildebrand sought to reshape how the agency uses technology. She outlined nine BHAGs—big, hairy, audacious goals—that focused on everything from cybersecurity to shrinking the IT footprint to implementing intelligent software.

This was her first public sector position. Hildebrand came to DOT from the private sector, where she was vice president for customer and partner advocacy at Hewlett-Packard. According to her LinkedIn page, Hildebrand was with HP for more than 30 years, working in a variety of positions, including director for IT and senior director for global business services.

It’s unclear who will be acting CIO. Kristen Baldwin is the deputy CIO at Transportation.

Hildebrand called being the DOT CIO the “most fun job” she’s ever had, and she sees the potential for how technology can improve the agency’s mission.

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