Description

The Director for University Systems provides strategic and operational leadership for a portfolio of enterprise applications and shared services that support the student lifecycle, administrative operations, research administration, and alumni engagement. The Director leads and develops a multi-disciplinary team of 20+ IT professionals; partners closely with Campus and Student Life, Enrollment and Student Success, Alumni Relations and Development, Financial Services, and University Research Administration; and ensures that platforms are reliable, secure, user-centered, and aligned to institutional priorities. The Director drives organizational transformation through modern delivery practices (Agile, DevOps/CI-CD, cloud-forward architectures), champions data governance and integration standards, and fosters a culture of service, learning, and inclusion.

Requirements

• Provides vision and technical leadership across an ecosystem spanning ERP/HCM, student information systems, CRM/admissions, research administration, advancement, and web platforms—prioritizing reliability, cybersecurity, scalability, and user experience.
• Establishes annual roadmaps and service level agreements (SLAs) in partnership with product owners; manages capacity, funding, and risk to deliver outcomes on time and within budget.
• Advances Agile and DevOps practices (CI/CD, automated testing, infrastructure as code) to increase delivery speed and quality while reducing technical debt.
• Leads operational excellence across incident, problem, change, and release management; ensures disaster recovery and business continuity plans are current and tested.
• Builds, mentors, and retains a diverse, high-performing team with clear goals, career pathways, and continuous learning in cloud, integration, data engineering, AI, and security.
• Fosters a culture of accountability, inclusion, and collaboration aligned with the University’s mission and IT Services priorities.
• Oversees disciplined vendor and contract management, including SLA negotiation, performance tracking, renewals, and compliance with University policies and regulations.
• Serves as the primary technology partner to Campus and Student Life, Enrollment and Student Success (Admissions/Financial Aid), Alumni Relations and Development, and University Research Administration.
• Strengthens trust and transparency through regular communication, shared scorecards, and joint roadmap reviews; enables governance bodies to prioritize work based on institutional value.
• Collaborates with distributed IT leaders, data stewards, faculty, and administrative stakeholders to align architecture, data standards, and service expectations.
• Champions user-centered design and co-creation with end users; integrates feedback loops, usability testing, and change management to improve adoption and satisfaction.
• Translates University strategy and Enterprise Application Systems priorities into actionable multi-year technology roadmaps, clearly articulating benefits, risks, costs, and change impacts.
• Oversees portfolio intake, estimation, and execution across projects and products; applies benefits-realization practices and reports progress through KPIs and OKRs.
• Sponsors key initiatives such as student system modernization, admissions CRM optimization, master data management, and API/integration platform maturity.
• Identifies and removes delivery impediments; escalates and resolves risks impacting scope, schedule, budget, security, or value.
• Coordinates cross-functional initiatives with Academic Technology Services and other IT functions; communicates progress to governance committees and executive sponsors.
• Actively participates in institutional governance bodies, including the Change Advisory Board, Operational Leadership Group, and Student Data Lifecycle Committee.
• Supports responsible AI enablement, accessibility compliance, and continuous service improvement; evaluates AI capabilities to enhance user experience and operational efficiency.
• Identifies technology needs and develops solutions supporting teaching and learning; manages campus-wide instructional technology systems.
• Advises internal and external stakeholders as a department liaison; maintains strong internal, inter-institutional, and vendor relationships.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

Master’s degree in a related field. 
Experience:

• Background in a Research 1 (R1) university or comparably complex environment.
• Project management leadership delivering large-scale enterprise systems implementations and modernization programs.
• Hands-on experience advancing master data management, API-first integration, and business intelligence/analytics.
• Skilled in vendor management across managed services, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Integration as a Service (IaaS), and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) support models, ensuring performance alignment, cost optimization, SLA adherence, and strategic partnership management.

Certifications:

PMP, ITIL Foundation (or higher), SAFe/Agile certifications, or similar credentials. 
Technical Skills or Knowledge:

Technical depth with a knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) and SaaS migration initiatives, enterprise integration (APIs, messaging), identity and access management (SSO/MFA), data modeling and governance, and modern web technologies. 

Preferred Competencies:

• Talent leadership - attract, develop, and retain top talent; foster psychological safety and inclusive excellence.
• Change leadership - lead organizational transformation; drive adoption through communication, training, and enablement. Financial stewardship: plan and manage operating/capital budgets; understand total cost of ownership and value realization.
• Relationship management - collaborate across divisions with diplomacy and transparency; influence without authority.
• Strategic communication - convey complex technical topics to non-technical audiences; write clear business cases and executive updates.
• Customer focus - design services around user needs and measurable outcomes; maintain high service quality and continuous improvement.
• Program/portfolio discipline - prioritize, sequence, and deliver complex initiatives with clear success metrics and benefits realization.
• Knowledge of educational data standards and regulations.

Working Conditions:

• Standard office environment with hybrid work flexibility as approved.
• Occasional evening/weekend work to support major releases, incident response, or cutovers.
• Extensive use of computers and standard office equipment.