ERP Technical Lead

Excelsior•Albany, NY

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Technical Lead, Administrative Computing is responsible for providing deep technical leadership, operational expertise, and hands-on support for the university’s core Enterprise Resource Planning system, Ellucian Colleague, and tightly coupled administrative applications. This is a senior hands-on technical role within a legacy, highly customized ERP environment, reporting to the Deputy CIO for Enterprise Applications. The position serves as the university’s primary technical expert for Colleague operations, production support, upgrades, troubleshooting, and customization analysis in a mission-critical higher education environment. The environment includes a large and complex footprint of Colleague customizations (18,000+ objects/processes), requiring strong technical depth, disciplined change control, and extensive experience supporting legacy ERP ecosystems. In addition to operational responsibilities, the role provides technical leadership for ERP readiness and rationalization efforts in preparation for potential future modernization initiatives, including data cleanup, customization inventorying, and dependency analysis in support of possible transition to a SaaS ERP platform (e.g., Ellucian Banner SaaS). This role focuses on technical analysis, engineering leadership, and operational readiness rather than formal project or personnel management.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related technical field required
Equivalent combination of education and direct Colleague ERP experience considered only in exceptional cases
Minimum 5+ years direct hands-on experience supporting Ellucian Colleague ERP (REQUIRED)
Experience must include production support and system administration responsibilities in Colleague environments
Demonstrated experience serving as a senior technical lead or subject matter expert within ERP support environments
Demonstrated experience supporting highly customized Colleague environments at scale
Direct experience with ERP upgrades, patching cycles, and production release management
Higher education ERP environment experience strongly preferred
Deep operational expertise in Ellucian Colleague ERP architecture and behavior under customization load
Proven ability to troubleshoot and stabilize complex production ERP environments with minimal vendor dependency
Experience supporting significant ERP technical debt and customization sprawl
Strong ability to analyze system dependencies across modules, integrations, and batch processes
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills within high-accountability operational environments
Excellent communication skills across technical, functional, and executive stakeholders
Demonstrated discipline in change control, operational risk management, and production support practices
Ability to operate independently while collaborating across cross-functional teams
Ellucian Colleague experience required (hands-on, not advisory or peripheral)
Deep familiarity with Colleague administrative modules, integrations, and batch processing architecture
Experience troubleshooting ERP production environments and resolving complex operational issues
Experience working with legacy database structures and data extraction/cleanup activities
ITSM and ticketing system experience required

Nice To Haves

Scripting, automation, or systems integration experience strongly preferred
Experience analyzing ERP dependencies and customization impacts preferred

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership for day-to-day operations and stability of Ellucian Colleague ERP
Ensure system uptime, performance, batch processing integrity, and data reliability
Support production operations in a high-complexity, legacy ERP environment
Serve as senior technical lead for resolution of high-impact ERP incidents and recurring system failures
Support disciplined operational controls, standards, and change management practices
Analyze system behavior and operational trends to improve platform reliability and resiliency
Intake, evaluate, and analyze ERP enhancement and production support requests
Perform deep technical and functional analysis of Colleague-related issues
Develop implementation approaches, technical impact analysis, and effort estimates
Provide technical guidance and coordination for development activities performed internally or through contracted resources
Support prioritization efforts through technical analysis and operational impact assessment
Document solution approaches, technical dependencies, and operational considerations
Provide technical leadership for planning and execution of Colleague upgrades, patches, and maintenance releases
Coordinate technical testing, validation, and controlled production deployments
Support disciplined change management practices across technical and functional teams
Mitigate operational risk during production changes and maintenance activities
Ensure upgrades and releases do not destabilize highly customized ERP configurations
Validate compatibility of customizations, integrations, and batch processes during upgrade cycles
Perform and coordinate structured technical analysis of 18,000+ Colleague customizations and extensions
Identify, classify, and document customizations by function, risk, operational dependency, and business value
Partner with stakeholders to evaluate whether customizations should be retained, redesigned, retired, or replaced
Perform data quality assessment and support targeted data cleanup initiatives
Document system dependencies, integration points, and technical debt exposure
Support ERP modernization readiness activities and SaaS migration preparation efforts
Produce accurate current-state inventory and dependency mapping for institutional planning and decision-making
Serve as senior technical escalation resource for ERP production issues and critical incidents
Ensure timely troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and long-term corrective actions
Partner with support teams to facilitate ERP-related issue resolution and operational continuity
Support mission-critical institutional operations dependent on ERP system availability and reliability
Serve as primary technical liaison with Ellucian support and product teams
Coordinate technical evaluation of patches, fixes, upgrades, and vendor recommendations
Assess vendor guidance against local customization complexity and operational constraints
Interpret vendor releases and technical advisories within the context of a highly modified ERP environment
Provide technical input into ERP lifecycle planning and modernization readiness activities
Support technical estimation and operational impact analysis related to upgrades, maintenance, and technical debt remediation
Assist leadership with planning considerations related to ERP sustainability and future-state transition readiness
Participate in ERP governance and enterprise application decision forums
Provide technical input into prioritization, sequencing, operational risk, and dependency decisions
Collaborate with academic and administrative stakeholders regarding ERP constraints, capabilities, and operational impacts
Support alignment between ERP operations and institutional continuity requirements
Maintain deep, hands-on expertise in Ellucian Colleague ERP (required and non-substitutable)
Stay current on Colleague architecture, administrative modules, batch processing, and legacy operational support patterns
Develop advanced understanding of ERP technical debt, modernization constraints, and SaaS transition considerations
Serve as institutional subject matter expert for complex Colleague operational and technical issues
Provides technical leadership and guidance to ERP support personnel, developers, contractors, and cross-functional teams
Serves as senior technical escalation resource for complex ERP operational issues
Coordinates technical activities across operational support and ERP enhancement efforts
Contributes technical expertise to institutional ERP planning and operational decision-making
Provides technical input into ERP operational planning, lifecycle considerations, and modernization readiness efforts
Assists leadership with technical estimation and operational impact analysis related to ERP initiatives
Supports operational planning activities associated with ERP sustainability and technical debt remediation