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, and web platforms; 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; 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. 
• Champions user-centered design and co-creation with end users; incorporates feedback loops, usability testing, and change-management practices to improve adoption and satisfaction. 
• Translates University strategy and Enterprise Application Systems priorities into actionable multi-year technology roadmaps; articulates benefits, risks, costs, and change impacts. 
• Oversees portfolio intake, estimation, and execution across projects and products; applies benefits-realization practices and reports progress through KPIs and OKRs. 
• Sponsors initiatives such as student system modernization, admissions CRM optimization, master data management, and API/integration platform maturity. 
• Identifies and removes impediments to delivery; escalates and resolves issues that threaten scope, schedule, budget, security, or value. 
• Coordinates cross-functional work with Academic Technology Services and other IT functions; communicates progress to governance committees and executive sponsors. 
• Actively participates in the Change Advisory Board, Operational Leadership Group, Student Data Lifecycle Committee, and other committees as required. 
• Contributes to responsible AI enablement in administrative applications, accessibility compliance, and continuous service improvement initiatives, including identify and evaluate AI capabilities within business applications and processes to enhance user experience and operational efficiency. 
• Identifies technological needs and develops products and solutions in support of teaching and learning. Manages the support for campus-wide instructional technology systems.
• 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 7+ 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:

• Background in a Research 1 (R1) university or comparably complex environment. 
• Project management leadership delivering large-scale enterprise systems implementations and modernization programs. 
• Hands-on experience advancing master data management, API-first integration, and business intelligence/analytics. 
• Skilled in vendor management across managed services, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Integration as a Service (IaaS), and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) support models, ensuring performance alignment, cost optimization, SLA adherence, and strategic partnership management. 

Certifications: 

• PMP, ITIL Foundation (or higher), SAFe/Agile certifications, or similar credentials. 

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Technical depth with a knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS/Azure) and SaaS migration initiatives, enterprise integration (APIs, messaging), identity and access management (SSO/MFA), data modeling and governance, and modern web technologies. 

Preferred Competencies 

• Talent leadership - attract, develop, and retain top talent; foster psychological safety and inclusive excellence. 
• Change leadership - lead organizational transformation; drive adoption through communication, training, and enablement. Financial stewardship: plan and manage operating/capital budgets; understand total cost of ownership and value realization. 
• Relationship management - collaborate across divisions with diplomacy and transparency; influence without authority. 
• Strategic communication - convey complex technical topics to non-technical audiences; write clear business cases and executive updates. 
• Customer focus - design services around user needs and measurable outcomes; maintain high service quality and continuous improvement. 
• Program/portfolio discipline - prioritize, sequence, and deliver complex initiatives with clear success metrics and benefits realization. 
• Knowledge of educational data standards and regulations.

Working Conditions  

• Standard office environment with hybrid work flexibility as approved. 
• Occasional evening/weekend work to support major releases, incident response, or cutovers. 
• Extensive use of computers and standard office equipment. 

Application Documents  

• Resume/CV (required)  
• Cover Letter (required) 

Job Family

Information Technology

Role Impact

People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$160,000.00 - $175,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

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