Senior Director, University Systems

Department

OPS ITS - Enterprise Applications and Services

About the Department

IT Services at the University of Chicago delivers secure, reliable, and innovative technology solutions that enable excellence in research, teaching, and operations. The Enterprise Applications and Services team partners with academic divisions and administrative units to implement modern platforms, advance data-informed decision making, and continuously improve the digital experience for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners.

Job Summary

The Director for University Systems provides strategic and operational leadership for a portfolio of enterprise applications and shared services that support the student lifecycle, administrative operations, research administration, and alumni engagement. The Director leads and develops a multi-disciplinary team of 20+ IT professionals; partners closely with Campus and Student Life, Enrollment and Student Success, Alumni Relations and Development, Financial Services, and University Research Administration; and ensures that platforms are reliable, secure, user-centered, and aligned to institutional priorities. The Director drives organizational transformation through modern delivery practices (Agile, DevOps/CI-CD, cloud-forward architectures), champions data governance and integration standards, and fosters a culture of service, learning, and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Provides vision and technical leadership for an ecosystem spanning ERP/HCM, student information, CRM/admissions, research administration, advancement; prioritizing reliability, cybersecurity, scalability, and user experience.
• Establishes annual roadmaps and service level agreements (SLAs) for each platform in partnership with product owners; manages capacity, funding, and risk to deliver outcomes on time and within budget.
• Adopts and matures Agile and DevOps practices (CI/CD, automated testing, infrastructure as code) to increase delivery speed and quality while reducing technical debt.
• Leads operational excellence across incident, problem, change, and release management for the applications in their portfolio; ensures disaster recovery and business continuity plans are current and tested.
• Builds, mentors, and retains a diverse, high-performing organization with clear goals, career paths, and continuous learning in cloud, integration, data engineering, AI, and security.
• Cultivates a culture of accountability, inclusion, and collaboration that supports the mission of the University and IT Services.
• Executes disciplined vendor and contract management, negotiates SLAs, tracks performance, and manages renewals and compliance with University policies and regulations.
• Serves as primary technology partner to Campus and Student Life, Enrollment and Student Success including Admissions/Financial Aid, Alumni Relations and Development, and University Research Administration.
• Strengthens trust and transparency with regular communication, shared scorecards, and joint roadmap reviews; ensures governance bodies can prioritize work based on institutional value.
• Collaborates closely with distributed IT leaders, data stewards, and faculty/administrative stakeholders to align architectures, data standards, and service expectations.
• Oversees portfolio intake, estimation, and execution across projects and products; applies benefits-realization practices and reports progress through KPIs and OKRs.
• Identifies and removes impediments to delivery; escalates and resolves issues that threaten scope, schedule, budget, security, or value.
• Contributes to responsible AI enablement in administrative applications, accessibility compliance, and continuous service improvement initiatives, including identifying and evaluating AI capabilities within business applications and processes to enhance user experience and operational efficiency.
• Develops departmental plans and direction for academic technology applications, initiatives, and services. Provides fiscal and budgetary oversight for the department.
• Advises internal and external stakeholders as a department liaison. Maintains appropriate internal, inter-institutional, and vendor relationships.
• Performs other related work as needed. 

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 10+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications 

Education:

• Master’s degree in a related field.

Experience:

• Backgr