Chief IT Architect

University of Baltimore • Baltimore, MD

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Chief IT Architect reports to the deputy chief information officer and provides leadership, guidance, and support to the campus community by collaborating with business units and information technology disciplines across the university. The role supports the university’s mission by selecting and integrating technology to improve student experiences and the efficiency and effectiveness of administrative and business operations. The position interacts regularly with OTS leadership and staff, frontline transactional employees, business unit directors, and managers, and is responsible for university IT architecture development, design, and analysis. It advises OTS senior management on technology strategy and monitors industry trends to advocate for technology solutions.

This is a hybrid position requiring on-campus work at least one day per week, with the option to telework up to four days per week. Additional on-campus presence may be required periodically during the academic year to support university activities and operational needs.

The architect develops and maintains technology architecture and strategy; assesses university IT needs and solutions; reviews technology procurements; leads technology change management; maintains IT portfolio and configuration-management information; and collaborates with information security staff on security architecture, policy, and audit support.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, or a related field.
• Five years of experience designing information and system architecture.
• Understanding of IT infrastructure and enterprise architectures.
• Knowledge of systems including network design and management and server infrastructure.
• Analytical skills, including the ability to determine broad implications from basic specifications, translate complex requirements into functional architecture, perform cost-benefit analyses, and assess risk.
• Ability to manage simultaneous projects and help ensure timely delivery that meets customer requirements.
• Ability to understand and apply legislative, regulatory, policy, and procedural requirements regarding enterprise architecture and security.
• Organizational skills, including attention to detail; tracking and documenting requirements; prioritizing tasks and deadlines; and working on multiple projects concurrently.
• Ability to contribute to project plans, including tasks, timelines, and dependencies, and to develop, adopt, and implement technical and industry standards.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with stakeholders with divergent interests, communicate complex technical issues to different audiences, make technical presentations in lay terms, and keep management informed of pertinent issues and project progress.
• Ability to work with end users and business and senior management on changing business processes, training, requirements, and issues while ensuring architecture policies are followed.
• Knowledge and understanding of software engineering principles and programming languages; ability to solve complex IT issues.
• Knowledge of cloud services, technology, and infrastructure; enterprise architecture methodologies such as Zachman and TOGAF; networking protocols and frameworks; routing, switching, and wireless networking; application gateways, firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention; communications technology; SIEM; security integration approaches and technologies including federation; encryption; identity and lifecycle management; desktop and server operating systems; database management; and enterprise applications including ERP and CRM systems.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in computer science, IT engineering, or a related field or discipline supporting the position’s responsibilities and duties.
• Seven years of experience designing information and system architecture.
• Knowledge of application and integration architectures and enterprise data management paradigms, in addition to network design and management and server infrastructure.
• Advanced understanding of IT infrastructure and enterprise architectures.
• Experience with higher education IT systems.
• Familiarity with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a framework for developing technology solutions that meet university requirements and the needs of students, faculty, and staff.
• Organize and lead OTS staff skill-development and educational sessions on emerging technologies.
• Design secure technology solutions based on industry standards and best practices; monitor industry trends; evaluate and recommend products and technologies; document architectural components and systems; and assess technical concerns, ideas, and suggestions.
• Participate as an expert on UBalt and USM workgroups concerning cloud services, system architecture, and technology solution strategies.
• Coordinate the review, design, and implementation of solutions that meet customer needs and expectations.
• Review proposed technology purchases and advise on compliance considerations so purchases meet university standards and methodologies.
• Document university needs and define system requirements and specifications; assess architectural alternatives and recommend solutions.
• Work with the university community, external vendors, senior technical staff, USM peers, and other higher education institutions to obtain functional requirements, best practices, and technology trends.
• Analyze the scope and impact of proposed systems and integrations; evaluate hardware and software; suggest integration methods; communicate requirements to development teams; and provide technical leadership and support to implementation teams.
• Complete pre-procurement reviews of software and subscriptions, including review for alignment with UBalt’s framework, methodologies, and USM and institutional IT security and architecture policies and standards.
• Establish and oversee an IT change-review, coordination, and communication program to maintain a stable technology environment and avoid unplanned impacts to users.
• Organize and lead the university’s IT Change Control Board; ensure change requests follow approved procedures and are accurately documented; review changes for compliance with architecture standards and policies and for impacts on the university community; facilitate discussions; and mentor team members on change-management protocols.
• Maintain an inventory of IT resources and a configuration management database (CMDB) to support data-driven decisions.
• Participate in project management through initial technical reviews and serve as a team member on technology projects.
• Provide analysis and reporting relevant to university projects, initiatives, and compliance.
• Validate CMDB accuracy twice per year with OTS managers against Office of Procurement records and maintain accurate documentation of the current IT environment.
• Collaborate with IT security staff to develop, document, and implement security architecture and policy supporting appropriate confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and systems.
• Incorporate security architecture into enterprise architecture planning and design; review USM security policies for their impact on university technology architecture; and advise staff on security issues.
• Provide backup support for information security tasks and support audit requirements and processes as necessary.

Benefits

• Health, life, prescription, and dental plans.
• Tuition remission benefits.
• Paid leave: 22 days of annual leave, 15 days of sick leave, 3 days of personal leave, and 14–15 holidays.
• Retirement plans with employer contributions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior