Chief Technology Officer

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and a member of the executive team of the College, the Chief Technology Officer is a newly created role responsible for aligning the technology solutions and architecture while utilizing prudent capital investments to meet the short-term and long-term needs of the College to serve the constituencies of all students, faculty, staff and alumni. The ideal candidate for the CTO role is an innovative problem solver and leader of the IT department.

Responsibilities:

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) manages and leads a 40 person, $13M Technology and Facilities Services department, which includes the information technology strategic planning, information technology disaster planning, web content management systems, planning and development of applications including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), learning management system, network services, desktop computing, remote location computing access, telecommunications, help desk operations, and institution-wide technology governance and administrative offices facilities operations.

The CTO will use information technology (IT) as a strategic differentiator to enhance the institution’s culture, mission, and strategies, particularly in the following areas: the student experience, analytics, technical and operational excellence, as well as teaching and learning.

The CTO will have the necessary skills to further implement and lead a dynamic IT department that serves a rapidly evolving adult student population as part of a leading edge, technically advanced online higher education institution. The incumbent will embrace and lead a digital transformation that will require innovation and change. The incumbent will lead and champion change management within the IT department (while also acknowledging and leveraging the existing strengths and capabilities) and will assist with organizational change management Collegewide by striking the appropriate balance between strategic thinking and innovation and operational excellence.

The ideal candidate will: 

• Lead, Mentor,Coach: collaboratively and actively lead the changing IT department as the institution moves from a legacy on premises environment to using more innovative cloud based technologies.

• Communicate: establish a collaborative environment where effective communication is used to understand the enterprise current state while envisioning the future state, communicating the vision, and collaborating within the IT department and across the institution, embracing feedback from the depth and breadth of the institution.

• Provide Strategic Vision: understanding the enterprise current state of the institution’s technology, assist in envisioning the future state by improving existing IT and business processes and leveraging innovative technologies in developing new means to create, deliver and assess academic programs and improve student and employee outcomes.

• Provide Technology Leadership: provide technology leadership in developing the future state enterprise architecture in an evolving environment that can accommodate new technologies and explore and exploit innovative initiatives that support the institution’s mission. Provide motivating positive leadership by improving existing IT and business processes and enabling the department to reach its potential. The CTO will develop the next level of the institution’s IT leaders by mentoring, coaching, and working collaboratively to provide professional development opportunities.

• Represent IT: represent IT throughout the College by actively participating in cross-College work groups and meetings and ensuring that IT-related interests are well-represented.

Specific Duties

• Translate big picture institutional initiatives to the IT technical team to allow the IT team to transform technologies that support the mission of the institution.

• Develop a continuing understanding of the technology that is and can be adapted to the online higher education market enabling the institution to best serve students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

• Develop strategies, goals, initiatives, and provide leadership in all functional areas under the Technology and Facilities Services (TFS) department.

• Develop, update and monitor success of the Collegewide Information Technology Strategic Plan, identifying mission critical areas for investment to ensure the IT platforms are resilient and secure.

• Lead the ongoing maintenance and administration of the College ERP system.

• Manage technology vendors.

• Develop, update, and test the Collegewide Information Technology Disaster Recovery Plan and oversee digital and physical security efforts.

• Participate in the established IT Governance framework to ensure alignment of IT resources to institutional priorities.

• Serve on the College Technology and Facilities Council and as the primary liaison between Technology and Facilities Services and the Council.

• Develop and oversee the annual operating budget and capital budget for Technology and Facilities Services department.

• Foster and promote collaboration among all members of Technology and Facilities Services with the College community and ensure through collaborative measures the information technology needs of all College constituents are being met in a professional and courteous manner.

• Oversee the Facilities team to ensure effective administrative office facilities planning, maintenance, and service to the College community.

• Other duties and initiatives as needed.

Education

• Minimum of a Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution, Masters degree preferred.

Experience

• Demonstrated ability to work with and provide leadership for internal stakeholders including students, faculty, and staff.

• A record of innovation.

• A minimum of fifteen years of progressively responsible experience in the information technology field, with a significant portion leading IT or related units (and preferably leading the information technology unit of a complex organization) is required.

• Experience in building and leading IT departments in a fast paced technologically innovative environment.

• Experience in online higher education is preferred.

• Experience in implementing a cloud based ERP system or other large software systems is strongly preferred.

• Experience in managing technology vendors.

• Demonstrated experience with strategic IT planning and aligning information technology with academic and administrative priorities in a complex evolving online organization.

• Demonstrated achievements in planning, developing, and implementing IT strategies for academic and administrative functions.

• Experience in leading change management at a department level with experience at an institution level is preferred.

• Experience in technology governance.

• Experience with budget development and management.

• Extensive knowledge of IT legal and security issues, business continuity, and IT policy development.

• Excellent communication skills (oral, written, presentation, and listening) and ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience.

• Ability to remain current in emerging IT trends.

Other Required Attributes 

• The successful candidate must be an innovative and creative thinker with an interest in enhancing access to educational services for adult learners with delivery of such services in an on-line manner. A collegial and cooperative disposition is essential.