Director of Student Information Services SY 2026-27 (NBOE)

Newark Board of Education•Newark, NJ

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The Newark Board of Education is seeking a Director of Student Information Services within the Office of Policy, Planning, Evaluation and Testing (OPPET). This office comprises four Departments: Testing, Student Information Systems (SIS), Data and Strategic Analytics, and Enrollment. The Director of Student Information Services will report to the OPPET Executive Director and will be responsible for the operation, support, and maintenance of the Student Information System (SIS) and other related modules. This role requires collaboration with other OPPET teams and central office departments, such as the Office of Information Technology. The position involves overseeing technical, administrative, and supervisory aspects of student information management, including integration, access, system recovery, and ensuring compliance with state and federal reporting requirements. The Director will be a key figure in unifying the district's student data systems.

Requirements

Master's degree in Computer Science or related field from an accredited college or university.
Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in system administration, information systems development, maintenance and support, or information technology project management.
Minimum of five (5) years of professional, demonstrated experience delivering training, professional development, public speaking and facilitation of meetings and trainings.
Five (5) or more years of professional management or supervisory experience.
Experience in working with vendors on complex implementation issues and maintenance operations.
Demonstrated working knowledge of data architecture and the appropriate management of personally identifiable information.
Demonstrated working knowledge of Sql, Java and SharePoint.
Demonstrated success in high stakes, complex project management, including ability to balance the big picture with detailed steps.
Skill in building and leading effective teams to achieve ambitious goals, prioritizing and aligning people, time, and resources to the most important issues.
Knowledge of Newark's strategic plan and a passionate belief in district's commitment to unified systems as a change lever.
Ability to develop, articulate, and build buy-in to a clear vision and mission.
Outstanding critical thinking skills, including the ability to analyze data, identify trends, pinpoint problems and root causes, and develop practical solutions.
Ability to perform statistical analyses and accurately interprets results.
Ability to work effectively across multiple functions and roles within a complex organization.
Ability to offer innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
Skill in exhibiting a strong focus on goals and results; sets clear metrics for success.
Ability to remove barriers or obstacles that make it difficult for the team to get things done and ensures team has resources necessary to succeed.
Demonstrated working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint), Google Suite and expertise in one or more statistical programming languages (e.g.: SPSS, SAS, R, SQL, etc.).

Nice To Haves

Ability to present information clearly and concisely.

Responsibilities

Direct the strategic efforts in implementing permanent student record/transcript preservation, distribution, and retrieval in accordance with district policy as well as federal and state legislation.
Develop a cohesive strategy in the provision of training for school-based clerks, administrators, counselors, and central office staff on use of student information systems, including the development of manuals, artifacts and resources in multiple modalities to scaffold ongoing staff development regarding PowerSchool data entry and reporting procedures.
Directly manage and evaluate all members of the SIS team; this includes staff who provide direct training and support for PowerSchool clerks as well as staff who focus primarily on data architecture and system integration and efficacy.
Support communication between state department of education, schools, parents and stakeholders in the community for the purpose of providing requested student information.
Lead the design, installation, testing and implementation of solutions needed for access, applications, and security issues related to student information systems and the parent portal.
Determine upgrade, patch, and modernization schedule to maintain PowerSchool uptime and usability and to avoid adverse effects on other district interdependent enterprise systems. This includes problem solving and trouble-shooting activities for the production events.
Manage security functionality of hardware and software within the student information system by maintaining staff accounts and security.
Implements data back-up procedures to ensure minimal loss of data.
Assist in designing and implementing processes for data retrieval and submission to a data warehouse. This includes managing the interchange between systems at end of period events related to student information.
Ensure accurate and timely submission of state reporting requirements.
Establish, revise and disseminate departmental standards and operating procedures in the entry, archiving, protecting, reporting and restoring of student information in accordance with legal requirements and best practices in the field, both nationally and internationally.
Collaborate with key stakeholders within OPPET as well as other offices in Academic Services and Information Technology to optimize operational objectives.
Establish and manage support provided to PowerSchool endusers throughout the district either directly or as surge support in the execution of the district's Help Desk.
Oversee the coordination of support from outside vendors in the maintenance and enhancement of the student information system.
Perform all other responsibilities consistent with the department's goals in order to meet the needs of the district schools or other Central Office departments.