Associate Director of Client Support and Services (Hybrid Opportunity)

About UMass Amherst 

The flagship of the Commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a nationally ranked public land-grant research university that seeks to expand educational access, fuel innovation and creativity, and share and use its knowledge for the common good. Founded in 1863, UMass Amherst sits on nearly 1,450-acres in scenic Western Massachusetts and boasts state-of-the-art facilities for teaching, research, scholarship, and creative activity. The institution advances a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community where everyone feels connected and valued—and thrives, and offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees across 10 schools and colleges, and 100 undergraduate majors. We believe every member of our university community can contribute to our ongoing success by striving for the highest level of excellence as we seek breakthrough solutions to mounting environmental, social, economic, and technological challenges in our world. 

 

Job Summary 

The Associate Director of Client Support and Services oversees technical teams delivering desktop support and innovative computer classroom technology to the UMass Amherst community. This role manages desktop technology administration, infrastructure, security, and equipment compliance for executives, faculty, staff, and administrators. Additionally, the position ensures continuous access to cutting-edge software and services vital to academic programs, both online and on campus. The Associate Director collaborates with departments and IT teams to develop strategic solutions for instructional and administrative needs and provides expert guidance on technology procurement, security protocols, and infrastructure management.

 

Essential Functions 

Operations Management & Technical Support 

• Oversee the team that provides technical support for executives, faculty, and staff for file servers, desktops, laptops, printers, and mobile devices for end users in multiple departments. Support functions include recording, classification, troubleshooting, and resolution of client incidents and service requests. Direct support activities related to a large network of Windows or Mac desktops including software image creation and deployment experience within an enterprise-scale research university. 
• Ensure appropriate communication, establish escalation processes, direct project and work prioritization, and analyze and report on Key Performance Indicators and trends to meet Service Level Agreement targets and identify efficiencies and areas of improvement. Develop and monitor daily, weekly, and monthly productivity metrics to ensure high customer satisfaction and to establish equal workload among the team members. 

Infrastructure and Resource Management 

• Oversee the operations related to management of groups responsible for providing access to software and services available from IT computer classrooms, departmental labs in multiple locations across campus, and virtual infrastructure to UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff. Direct the planning and implementation of long and short-term goals for IT hardware and software acquisition development and deployment across academic, administrative and classroom spaces. 
• Support facilities and budget planning activities for assigned units; manage budgets and resources to ensure their effective use and the delivery of exceptional support and services. Prepare reports as needed for broad audiences at all levels. 

Performance Evaluation and Process Improvement 

• Ensure appropriate communication, establish escalation processes, direct project and work prioritization, and analyze and report on Key Performance Indicators and trends to meet Service Level Agreement targets and identify efficiencies and areas of improvement. Develop and monitor daily, weekly, and monthly productivity metrics to ensure high customer satisfaction and to establish equal workload among the team members.
• Assist with selected organizational assessments of central and distributed IT operations and the development and implementation of service and business process improvements and standard operating procedures across campus. Collaborate with IT units and campus stakeholders to foster communication, innovation, and streamlined services to provide high quality, effective and reliable desktop support across campus. 

Planning and Collaboration 

• Participate in IT and campus strategic and operational planning efforts to align IT priorities and actions in support of university-wide goals. Establish and maintain relationships with faculty, students and academic departments and partner in the development of strategic plans that meet campus