Director of Infrastructure Technologies

Santa Clara University•Santa Clara, CA

About The Position

The Director of Infrastructure Technologies provides leadership for the units providing infrastructure technology support to the University. They define and deliver enterprise-class technology infrastructure solutions in support of the University’s administrative and academic needs. They provide leadership for the University-wide technology and communications infrastructure, including the data center; the University’s local and wide area networks; Inter- and intra-net services; cable plant; the University’s server farm and related operating system environments, both on-premise and in the cloud; email and directory services; voice services; technology service monitoring and response; the central storage environment; and disaster recovery services. They provide vision and leadership for the planning (strategic and tactical), budgeting, technology evaluation and selection, implementation, and assessment of the University’s technology infrastructure systems. They facilitate the creation and implementation of policies, procedures, processes, and strategies for the adoption and utilization of the University’s infrastructure technologies. The Director of Infrastructure Technologies provides leadership to and management of assigned staff, including hiring, training, managing, and establishing projects and resource priorities. They manage direct reports to promote teamwork and to develop professional and technical qualities necessary in order to meet the goals and objectives of IS and the University. They function as a member of the senior leadership team of the Information Services Division and act as directed as a representative of the Division to University and external constituencies. They recommend, initiate, and implement improvements to infrastructure, and contribute constructive suggestions for change or improvement in other IS areas. The Director of Infrastructure Technologies will build consensus and develop collegial, collaborative working relationships with a broad range of constituencies in support of the IS mission. They determine the most appropriate and effective means of successfully implementing infrastructure technology solutions for the user community. They coordinate their activities with the CIO and Vice Provost for IS in support of University priorities and strategic plans. The Director of Infrastructure Technologies will have a passion for providing excellent customer service, and a focus on continual improvement across all units; a commitment to supporting innovative infrastructure technologies; and a desire to identify and deliver the best possible technology resources and services to meet the needs of the campus community.

Requirements

Knowledge of information technology and campus technology issues and trends in higher education.
Appreciation for the University’s mission, vision, values, priorities, procedures, and policies.
Understanding of the full spectrum of information technologies.
Understanding of, and preferably experience working in, cloud-based computing environments.
Thorough understanding of enterprise infrastructure design and support.
Ability to listen and understand customer needs.
Self-motivated and shows initiative.
Proven track record in project planning and project management.
Must possess impeccable integrity and be able to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information.
Deep technical skills in one or more of the technical domains that they supervise.
Experience managing infrastructure systems delivery in a large, complex IT environment, preferably in Higher Education.
Experience planning and leading short- and long-range infrastructure projects.
Experience developing and maintaining annual operational and capital budgets.
Experience providing leadership and supervision of technical staff.
Familiarity with server virtualization, preferably VMware.
Familiarity with high availability and disaster-recovery architectures.
Familiarity with Microsoft Active Directory.
Familiarity with managing enterprise storage.
Experience leading the development, implementation, and improvement of operational standards, with an emphasis on the security, performance, reliability, and availability of the University’s information assets.
Experience with assessment, selection, and implementation of new technologies.
Familiarity with email administration, and with managing collaboration suites like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
Familiarity with principles of identity and account management.
Familiarity with enterprise networking (wired and wireless).
Experience negotiating contracts with vendors.
Ability to listen and understand customer needs.
Ability to plan, implement, and evaluate customer service initiatives and to serve as a leader in providing excellent customer service.
Ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment.
Ability to manage a diverse workforce.
Ability to exercise independent judgment, and to engage in critical thinking and problem solving.
Ability to work effectively under pressure in a busy (often chaotic) and demanding information services environment, while maintaining a sense of humor.
Ability to explain technical issues and policies to non-technical people.
Ability to foster and maintain good working relationships with faculty, administrators, students, senior management, and other leaders.
Ability to handle sensitive matters with diplomacy and the ability to mediate between competing parties.
Ability to speak truth to power.
Ability to plan and execute technology infrastructure initiatives strategically, tactically, and expansively.
Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution of higher education required.
Minimum of twelve years of experience, with a focus on providing excellent customer service to support technology in support of an organization’s mission, preferably in Higher Education.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Hire and manage performance and productivity of Infrastructure Technologies personnel.
Conduct annual performance reviews of staff.
Cultivate organizational values and hold employees accountable for fostering these values for a healthy, professional, and productive work environment.
Provide individualized consultation, guidance, and development to team members.
Initiate and develop technologies and systems to support short-term and long-term strategic goals.
Create an environment of technology innovation.
Work with the campus community, other campus technology support personnel, strategic IT vendors, other IS Departments, and off-campus service providers to coordinate the design and delivery of infrastructure technologies to the campus community in an architecturally sound manner.
Play an active role as a technical expert during the planning and implementation phases of new technologies and participate in architecture brainstorming and design discussions with technical team members.
Provide technical guidance on complex infrastructure architecture challenges to IS team members and other solution partners.
Participate in IS management team decision-making processes to meet campus obligations.
Promote and ensure a customer-service focus among staff members.
Build consensus and enhance positive relationships based on trust, predictability, and communication.
Collaborate with the CIO and other IS Directors and staff on campus-wide technology initiatives.
Determine Infrastructure Technologies priorities and allocate resources accordingly.
Refine the organization and develop staff through job development and training, skills forecasting and development, direct report coaching and development, and staff engagement.
Collaborate with the CIO and other IS Directors and staff on campus-wide technology initiatives.
Participate in technology planning processes.
Lead and supervise the operations of SCU’s networking and computing infrastructure in accordance with established best practices.
Ensure that architecture principles and standards are consistently applied across the data center, computer, storage, and network services.
Create and document enterprise-wide standards and practices regarding data center, computer storage, and network services.
Ensure services are monitored and supported with on-call availability.
Manage operating and capital budgets.
Assist in the design, planning, and implementation of infrastructure systems optimization and process improvement projects.
Test and assess existing infrastructure against industry standard internal and external benchmarks to ensure optimal performance and service delivery.
Participate in IT and information-security audits and supervise corrective actions.
Lead and participate in the change management process to ensure all changes to relevant services are documented, tested, deployed, and prepared for back-out strategies if necessary.
Serve as a good steward of SCU resources: evaluate and pursue cost-containment and cost-reduction strategies.
Act as the Service Manager for Google Workspace, Alumni Email, and Retiree Email services.
Add technical input during the planning phase of projects in the form of technical architecture standards, designs, and recommendations.
Regularly communicate with Infrastructure Technologies staff regarding IS and University issues, initiatives, and activities.
Update the campus community as needed regarding Infrastructure Technologies activities.
Keep the CIO informed of current and potential issues, activities, service outages or impairments, and any other risks that might negatively impact IT service delivery to the University community.
Consult and advise the CIO on information technology trends, opportunities, strategy, solutions, resources, and compliance.
Foster partnerships with key stakeholders across the University.
Build a strong network of peers at comparable institutions.
Actively participate in University activities and initiatives.
Work with the Planning, Projects, and Facilities Offices to meet the infrastructure needs for new or renovated campus buildings.
Manage the Infrastructure Technologies functional units

Benefits

Santa Clara University offers a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees with programs and resources designed to promote and sustain personal health care, well-being, and the financial objectives of our employees and families.

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