Director of Technology Delivery

Nelnet•Lincoln, NE

1d•$140,000 - $205,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Technology Delivery owns the connection between the development of business strategy and the technical execution that supports it. The successful candidate will be collaborating with executive leadership to help shape our roadmaps, developing and maintaining the high-performing teams within their organization, and ensuring that our delivery of technology consistently translates into measurable, long term business value. This role is the catalyst to meeting the continuous and fast-paced evolution of business needs, as well as ensuring the constant evolution of our technology stack that supports it, with a heavy focus on implementing modernized, scalable technology practices that fully leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence. External Candidates must reside near one of these office locations: Centennial, CO; Lincoln, NE; Brownsville, TX; Madison, WI. Nelnet believes in a hybrid work environment. The standard hybrid work schedule for this position includes 24 hours of in-office work each week for external candidates. This is subject to change, based on manager discretion. Internal Associates working in a remote capacity may be considered for this position. This position requires work in support of the Company’s contract with the United States Department of Education (“ED”). As such, the United States Government requires that any applicant for this position must complete United States Government security clearance. Effective June 1, 2018, ED has informed Nelnet that security clearance applications for foreign nationals are not being accepted or processed. In light of this direction from ED, Nelnet will be unable to hire applicants without United States citizenship for such positions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s of Science Degree (MBA preferred) and/or commensurate experience.
10+ years IT experience with 5 - 10 years in a management position.
Experience should include IT planning, governance and system development.
Strategic Leadership
Strong business acumen with the ability to connect technical decisions to market opportunity
Sound judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving situations; comfortable deciding with incomplete information
Curiosity and fluency with emerging technology trends, including AI
Financial & Business Acumen
Disciplined, detail-oriented approach to budgeting and forecasting
Skilled negotiator with vendors and partners
Ability to weigh trade-offs and make resourcing decisions under constraint
Talent & Team Leadership
Genuine investment in developing others; coaching mindset
Strong judgment in hiring and identifying leadership potential
Ability to build trust and motivate diverse, distributed teams
Accountability
Highly organized with strong follow-through and bias toward action
Calm, clear communicator under pressure or ambiguity
Comfortable holding others accountable while maintaining strong working relationships
Rigorous, structured thinking around risk and compliance
United States citizenship

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred

Responsibilities

Define and drive strategic plans that balance technology investment with business goals, translating enterprise vision into actionable roadmaps.
Prioritize the IT delivery portfolio, aligning initiatives with business strategy and converting technical capability into business value.
Apply systems thinking to anticipate the long-term impact of strategic decisions, and champion emerging technology—sponsoring POCs that move modern capabilities into production.
Own delivery budgets and technology spend, driving accurate forecasting, variance management, and cost-efficient resourcing.
Align technical investments to prioritized initiatives, balancing delivery capacity against business value and ROI.
Develop leaders and teams through clear goal-setting, regular feedback, and active career coaching.
Build workforce plans that anticipate future capability needs, and attract, hire, and retain top talent while building succession depth.
Hold delivery teams accountable to OKRs, guiding managers to adjust plans proactively as priorities shift.
Build and sustain relationships across business, vendor, and internal networks, representing IT's strategic value to diverse audiences.
Align to governance frameworks for compliance, risk, and architectural consistency, driving standardization across domains.