Assistant Vice President, IT Infrastructure and Operations

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and serving on the ITS Senior Leadership Team, the Assistant Vice President for IT Infrastructure and Operations provides executive leadership for the technology foundations and services that enable the University of Chicago’s mission. The portfolio includes enterprise networks, computing and storage, cloud infrastructure, data center services, collaboration technologies, service management, end-user support, and enterprise architecture. The role oversees all telecommunications services for the University and University of Chicago Medicine and leads approximately 120 staff, together with contractors. The Assistant Vice President sets strategic direction, develops leaders, and is accountable for service reliability, user experience, operational risk, and financial performance across the portfolio. The role modernizes infrastructure and service delivery, coordinates shared priorities with unit IT directors and University of Chicago Medicine technology leaders, and oversees major technology vendor relationships and enterprise agreements. Digital Trust owns technology disaster recovery and service resilience; this position coordinates the portfolio’s implementation and operational support. AI and Data strategy and organizational leadership reside outside this position. The successful candidate will develop and execute a multiyear infrastructure, cloud, and architecture roadmap; lead reliable, scalable, accessible, and secure services; direct telecommunications, service management, and end-user support; and measure and improve service performance. The position also oversees budgets, workforce planning, investment priorities, vendor agreements, shared-service partnerships, and a management team responsible for delivering high-quality customer service and continuous improvement. The position has a hybrid work schedule, with onsite and remote work determined by responsibilities. Work outside normal business hours may be required for critical incidents, planned maintenance, or University operational needs. Occasional travel among University locations and to professional meetings may be required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant technical discipline, business administration, or a related field.
At least 12 years of progressively responsible information technology experience, including substantial senior leadership responsibility for complex enterprise infrastructure, operations, or architecture functions.
Leadership experience in a research-intensive university or comparably complex, decentralized institution, with understanding of academic and research needs.
Experience leading infrastructure and cloud transformation, enterprise architecture governance, and measurable improvements in service quality, resilience, and cost.
Experience applying ITIL-based service management, automation, AI-assisted operations, and cloud financial management practices.
Experience supporting telecommunications or other shared technology services across a university and an academic health system, and managing major agreements with technology providers such as Microsoft, Google, and Zoom.
Executive judgment that connects technical decisions to institutional priorities, risk, and financial stewardship.
Ability to influence across organizational boundaries and explain complex issues clearly to executive, academic, and technical audiences.
Commitment to service quality, measurable outcomes, and practical innovation.
People leadership that builds trust, develops others, welcomes diverse perspectives, and sustains accountability through change.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a relevant technical discipline, business administration, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multiyear infrastructure, cloud, and architecture roadmap aligned with University priorities, service needs, risk, and financial capacity, with clear milestones and measures of value.
Modernize hybrid infrastructure and service delivery through automation, integrated monitoring, and responsible use of AI.
Reduce technical debt and complexity through lifecycle planning, standardization, and retirement of redundant services.
Prepare infrastructure and architecture for evolving research, data-intensive workloads, and AI-enabled services, including secure integration and operational readiness, in partnership with leaders accountable for those capabilities.
Lead reliable, scalable, accessible, and secure delivery of portfolio services; establish service ownership, service-level objectives, capacity plans, and appropriate support models.
Direct telecommunications for the University and University of Chicago Medicine, including strategy, service delivery, modernization, carrier relationships, and financial performance.
Align service levels, support, and change planning with academic, research, administrative, and clinical requirements.
Direct service management and end-user support, including the service catalog, incident and problem management, change and release practices, asset and configuration management, and service improvement.
Set and review measures of availability, performance, recovery, user satisfaction, delivery effectiveness, and cost; use operational data and campus feedback to improve services and make accountability visible.
Lead the portfolio’s response to major service disruptions, including coordinated restoration, timely stakeholder communications, and lessons learned; partner with information security on cybersecurity incident response.
Implement security and privacy requirements in portfolio services with the Chief Information Security Officer and relevant control owners; ensure timely vulnerability remediation, secure configurations, effective access controls, and resolution of audit findings.
Direct operating and capital budgets, workforce planning, and investment prioritization; present business cases and tradeoffs balancing reliability, modernization, institutional value, and affordability.
Optimize portfolio costs through lifecycle planning, total cost of ownership analysis, cloud financial management, and transparent service costing; align investments and resources with institutional priorities.
Provide executive oversight of major agreements and strategic relationships with Microsoft, Google, Zoom, telecommunications carriers, and other key providers.
Lead agreement strategy, negotiations, renewals, and sourcing decisions with procurement, legal counsel, Digital Trust, and service owners; define service commitments, pricing and licensing terms, data protections, and transition provisions.
Hold vendors accountable through executive relationships, performance reviews, service metrics, and timely escalation; manage licensing, utilization, renewal forecasts, and contract obligations to improve value and address supplier and exit risks.
Build partnerships with unit IT directors and University of Chicago Medicine technology leaders; establish forums to align roadmaps, investment priorities, technical standards, and shared-service expectations while respecting local accountability.
Coordinate service changes, maintenance, major incidents, and escalations across organizational boundaries; establish responsibilities, communication channels, and decision processes.
Develop shared-service models through collaborative governance, balancing institutional consistency with legitimate local needs.
Engage faculty, researchers, students, and administrative leaders to improve services; partner with research computing and academic technology leaders on infrastructure dependencies.
Lead through a strong management team with clear authority, goals, and accountability; recruit, coach, develop, and retain leaders and technical professionals, and build succession plans and skills for emerging technologies.
Create a respectful, inclusive, service-oriented culture focused on exceptional customer service; set expectations for responsiveness, clear communication, and ownership of customer needs.
Encourage collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement; lead change with attention to employee engagement and sustainable workloads.
Perform other related work as needed.