Sr Manager Technology

Follett Higher Education•Westchester, IL

About The Position

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer that provides students, faculty and staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America. As a technical shared service leader within the Follett Higher Education group, the Senior Manager of Technology is accountable for the leadership of IT teams, technology, and initiatives, driving benefit for Follett. Manage the day-to-day activities of the function. Provides input for the development of business strategies and goals. Specific responsibilities in the role are listed below.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent.
5+ years of Information Technology experience.
Experience leading programs in the education domain.
Prior experience working for a Big 4 or Professional Services Consulting firm.
Demonstrated ability to manage the details of programs/projects in order to drive them to fruition.
Ability to absorb a wide breadth of initiative.
Excellent communication, collaboration, team building, and relationship management skills.
Ability to communicate technology matters to business partners, senior executives, and strategic partners.
Successful in obtaining results in a large corporate, matrixed environment.
Capable of gaining support for initiatives through influence and the use of business rationale.
Proven ability to make and implement tough decisions.
Proven track record of leading enterprise-scale, complex programs successfully.
People leadership and management skills, including direct experience leading, managing, and mentoring.
Successful track record of delivering programs on scope, on time, on budget, on quality, and on benefit.
Proven experience interfacing in the cSuite of large organizations.
Experience leading programs in the education domain.
Prior experience working for a Big 4 or Professional Services Consulting firm.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

Provide governance and oversight for project/program engagements on responsible platforms from initiation, estimation, planning, technical review, to successful completion.
Drive the enforcement and oversight of platform/systems compliance, governance, and risk management. Align with the overall business and IT standards/guidelines.
Lead and participate in the continuous improvement of business and IT operational processes.
Focus on continued and improved platform performance, speed, stability, and scale.
Performs more complex and non-routine tasks. Focuses on direction and implementation. Participate in the development of function strategy. The duration of planning or issues is typically medium-term.
Identify new opportunities for business operations and uses for technology to improve processes, products, and services within the assigned platform/system.
Responsible for driving and actively participating in the development and delivery of improvements.
Maintain knowledge of new technologies and emerging trends, initiate appropriate solutions, and participate in the overall IT roadmap development.
Provide input on the evaluation of IT products, partners, and associated vendors. Assist in negotiating contracts for services and facilitate the successful implementation of new technologies.
Lead continuous optimization and innovation of the responsible technology platform and services by keeping informed of market changes, new entrants, and new technologies.
Participate in the development, alignment, and implementation of the IT platform roadmap.
Drive the enforcement and oversight of assigned platform/systems compliance, governance, and risk management. Align with the overall business and IT standards/guidelines.
Develop and manage specific vendor/partner relationships and ensure accountability.
Participate in the maintenance, licensing, and purchase of information technology software systems.
Provide input in the development of standards and knowledge-based management structure for enterprise information systems. Responsible for the enforcement of standards and maintenance of the documentation structure.
Possesses detailed functional expertise and broad company knowledge. Demonstrates the ability to provide expert business and technical guidance and leadership.
Provide management, mentoring, and coaching to onshore and offshore consultants working on assigned platforms or teams.