Director of IT & AI

Collective/Great States•Fargo, ND

2d•Onsite

About The Position

This role supports all three of our organizations: Great States Construction, Great States Development, and Collective, offering a diverse and rewarding opportunity to make a broad impact across the construction, real estate development, and property management sectors. The Director of IT & AI owns technology strategy, security, and AI adoption across all three entities and our five-state footprint. You will be our first dedicated technology leader, operating through a managed IT service provider rather than an internal team — directing that provider and our technology vendors, holding them accountable to defined service standards, and ensuring our people, properties, and data stay secure, connected, and productive. Beyond core IT, this role leads our AI strategy — governance, tool evaluation, staff enablement, and a practical roadmap that moves us from everyday AI assistants toward deeper automation. The Director of IT & AI reports directly to executive leadership.

Requirements

7+ years of progressive IT experience, including 3+ years in an IT leadership role owning strategy, budget, and vendor relationships
Experience managing a managed service provider (MSP) or outsourced IT relationship required
Hands-on experience administering a Microsoft 365 cloud environment (Entra ID, Intune, SharePoint, Teams) required
Strong knowledge of security frameworks, identity management, and data protection practices
Ability to translate business needs into technology decisions and hold vendors accountable to measurable outcomes
Strong project management, budgeting, and communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
Ability to handle sensitive information with confidentiality

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated fluency with AI tools and a track record of practical adoption strongly preferred
Multi-site or multi-entity IT experience strongly preferred
Property management, real estate, or construction technology exposure a plus
Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, or a related field preferred, or equivalent experience

Responsibilities

Own the technology roadmap and multi-year IT budget across all three entities, planning spend proactively rather than reactively
Direct the managed IT service provider relationship: lead quarterly business reviews, enforce defined service standards and response times, and hold the provider accountable for help desk, network, and multi-site support performance
Serve as the single internal owner for all IT-related vendor relationships, contracts, and escalations, including internet/telecom carriers and the business phone system (RingCentral)
Ensure IT costs are allocated and reported by entity and property for accounting and ownership reporting
Maintain ownership of company data, licenses, accounts, and documentation, with clean exit terms from any provider
Build and own the company AI roadmap: identify where AI can streamline property management, construction, and development work — leasing, maintenance, resident communications, project workflows, and reporting — and pilot and roll it out safely
Establish and evolve AI usage and data-protection governance that keeps tenant, resident, and company data secure and compliant as adoption expands
Evaluate, secure, and integrate new AI tools as the landscape shifts, moving from assistants toward deeper automation and AI agents over time
Train staff, share best practices, and keep the organization current on AI capabilities that genuinely help
Own the company security posture: endpoint protection (EDR/XDR), MFA everywhere, patching, email security, and secure remote access across our Microsoft 365 / Entra / Intune environment
Protect tenant and resident PII and payment data (AppFolio; ACH payments) and align practices with applicable privacy, payment-handling, and multi-state data-breach notification requirements
Maintain a documented, periodically tested incident-response plan and dark-web monitoring
Oversee security awareness training for all staff and a business password/credential management program that survives staff turnover
Oversee our cloud-first environment (Microsoft 365, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Entra/Intune-managed devices) and office/property networks through the managed service provider
Own the new-property standup and teardown playbook — network, Wi-Fi, workstations, phones, and access — when we acquire or exit a building or open a jobsite
Ensure first-call triage and vendor coordination standards are met for property technology: door access and key FOBs, cameras, intercom/video entry, package systems, smart-building devices, EV charging, and resident Wi-Fi
Treat physical-security and life-safety connectivity as urgent: door-access failures, camera outages, elevator phones, and fire-panel connections, including planning for copper/POTS line retirement
Own business continuity: internet failover at key sites, tested and recoverable backups, and clear recovery-time expectations so leasing, payments, and operations keep running during an outage
Ensure every new hire is set up end-to-end (email, computer, phone, apps, access) before day one and fully offboarded the same day they leave, in partnership with HR
Oversee help desk performance and serve as the internal escalation point when staff issues stall
Maintain shared and role-based mailboxes and distribution lists so access stays with the role, not one person
Oversee hardware lifecycle: sourcing standards, replacement planning, and spares
Ensure secure access and first-call troubleshooting standards for key business applications, including AppFolio, BambooHR, RingCentral, Procore, and check scanner / remote deposit systems
Partner with department leaders on application selection, integration, and data flow between systems