Senior Director, Technology Applications

Westcliff University•Irvine, CA

About The Position

Westcliff University is seeking a Senior Director of Technology, Applications to lead the strategy, implementation, and optimization of enterprise applications to support the university’s rapid growth and enhance the student experience. This role will accelerate the university’s technology roadmap, with a focus on establishing an integrated scalable application platform. The position provides hands-on leadership across enterprise systems such as the Student Information System (SIS), Instructional Technology (LMS), Slate CRM, and related project management. The goal is to establish a premier IT organization that implements leading technology and provides innovative technology solutions to the organization. The Senior Director reports to the CFO and partners with academic and administrative leadership, and outside vendors to deliver proactive, high-impact technology solutions aligned with institutional priorities.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive IT leadership experience, with significant focus on enterprise applications
Proven track record leading large-scale application implementations and integrations
Experience building and scaling high-performing technology teams
Strong experience with vendor management and SaaS platforms
Demonstrated ability to operate in fast-growth, transformation-oriented environments
Hands-on leadership style with the ability to drive execution, not just strategy
Experience in higher education or similarly complex environments
Familiarity with Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Moodle

Nice To Haves

Experience balancing in-house development and commercial platforms
Exposure to offshore or hybrid delivery models

Responsibilities

Own and execute the enterprise applications roadmap, aligned to institutional growth and student experience goals
Lead implementation and enhancement of key platforms (e.g., academic/operational systems including SIS, LMS, Academic operations and CRM)
Drive delivery of SaaS and custom-built applications to support scaling needs
Leverage AI to accelerate business processes automation and build a robust knowledge base
Establish governance for application architecture, integrations, and lifecycle management
Enhance the University’s posture and awareness of Application Information Security
Able to transform the development organization to new AI development paradigm
Evaluate and recommend new technology solutions aligned with university needs
Provide strong, hands-on leadership across applications, instructional technology, and systems solutions teams
Build and scale the applications organization, including hiring critical roles and optimizing team structure
Upskill existing leadership by providing mentorship and guidance
Increase speed and quality of application implementations, addressing current resource and execution gaps
Introduce agile, product-oriented delivery models where appropriate
Ensure applications are positioned to support rapid institutional growth and scalability
Develop and manage strategic relationships with key application vendors and consulting partners
Leverage external partners (e.g., Moodle consultants, offshore resources) to accelerate delivery
Act as a visible and proactive technology leader across the university
Partner with academic and administrative leadership to understand needs and translate them into solutions
Improve IT’s reputation as a strategic, solution-oriented partner rather than a reactive function
Develop a formal data and analytics roadmap to improve data availability, reporting/analytics capabilities, including our evolution from reporting to predictive analytics
Actively incorporate AI into our roadmap, pushing the organization to have focused and insightful analytics as opposed to dashboards and reporting
All other duties as assigned