Director of Systems Design and Technology Services

The California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) is the leading organization of independent schools in California.  The Association serves and strengthens its schools by setting standards of academic quality and ethical conduct, by providing for the professional growth of faculty, administrators, and trustees, and by promoting ethnic and socio-economic diversity.

Technology has become an increasingly vital component of the organization’s mission and member services.  One critical application is the CAIS accreditation portal, which is a custom-designed web application powered by Ruby on Rails.  The portal is transforming the accreditation process, allowing for deeper reflections during the self-study phase and more impactful recommendations during the visiting phase.  The accreditation portal has been so successful that other regional associations have licensed the portal.  Meanwhile, the association leverages other technology systems for various internal and public-facing initiatives, and has plans to do even more — particularly in the areas of data collection, content management, research, and professional development.

The outgoing director of technology was instrumental in the design and construction of the portal.  CAIS is looking for an experienced systems designer to assume responsibility of the portal and its ongoing development, in partnership with external Ruby consultants and internal CAIS stakeholders.  The next director should have experience in application design and data integration, and some prior coding experience.  Candidates fluent in Ruby would be especially welcomed, but this is not an absolute requirement.

CAIS ultimately needs a technology-focused, customer-centered project manager who can lead the big picture with respect to systems development and improvement, but also work at the tactical level to ensure that applications and data systems meet the needs of the CAIS community.  While CAIS is prepared to onboard someone as early as March, the association is willing to wait until June if the right candidate is unable to start sooner.

Applications are due February 5.  For more information please download the opportunity statement, which contains a full job description and complete application instructions.