Director, Systems & Engineering

The University of Wisconsin System is one of the largest systems of public higher education in the country and employs more than 39,000 faculty and staff statewide. The UW System's combined enrollment headcount exceeds 170,000, and the System confers more than 36,000 degrees each year. The UW System is comprised of 13 four-year universities with 13 two-year branch campuses affiliated with seven of the four-year institutions. Two of the universities (UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee) are doctoral degree-granting institutions and 11 are master's degree-granting comprehensive institutions. The UW System is governed by a single Board of Regents comprised of 18 members. The UW System head is the President of the System. Together, these institutions are a tremendous academic, cultural, and economic resource for Wisconsin, the nation, and the world.
The Office of Learning & Information Technology Services (OLITS) is dedicated to supporting the use of technology to enhance the teaching and learning mission of the UW System institutions. OLITS staff have responsibility for systemwide collaboration and enhancement of six major areas of Information Technology: 1) overall systemwide IT planning, 2) technology for teaching and learning, 3) support for major IT infrastructure and administrative systems, 4) wide area networking issues, 5) library automation and collections enhancement, and 6) research and development in emerging technologies. In addition, OLITS develops and supports information technology systems and services that allow UW System Administration staff to perform their responsibilities effectively and efficiently.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Director of Systems and Engineering (IT Director II) is responsible for the overall design and execution of all systems administration and engineering for the IT as a Service (ITaaS) program, which is intended to leverage the enterprise scale across the UW System for commodity IT services to improve quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. These responsibilities include system administration services provided directly to UW institutions as well as supporting the infrastructure required for other services such as cyber defense, networking, workstation support, and enterprise applications.
The Director is responsible for the overall service management aspect of systems administration and engineering, which include service strategy, design, operation, and change/transition. The Director ensures a high degree of teamwork with the Office of Information Security (OIS), IT personnel within UW institutions, and members of the CIO's leadership team to ensure successful service delivery and overall customer satisfaction.
MAJOR RESPONSIBILITES

• Build and supervise a strong technical team to deliver exemplary service to customers.
• Ensure the proper governance processes are established and followed to drive service creation and enhancement for the systems and infrastructure components of the ITaaS program.
• Lead cross-functional and cross-institutional evaluation teams to establish technology strategy, technology platforms, and partnerships across the UW-System.
• Anticipate and react to major technology changes to ensure that services and technology assets deliver value-add services to the UW-institutions.
• Provide advice concerning the budgeting process and various information technology funding requests.
• Direct the ongoing planning and road-mapping of individual services within the ITaaS program.
• Ensure there are open lines of communications and effective working relationships internally within OLITS; between the IT organizations of the UW-institutions; and between OLITS and outside organizations.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
To be considered for this position, applicants must have:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field OR equivalent work experience
• 5 years of IT experience in systems, networking or security

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Well qualified applicants will also have a substantial amount of experience in a combination of the following:

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related field
• 7 years of IT experience in systems, networking or security
• Domain knowledge of higher education
• Previous experience working in a federated IT model
• Previous experience directly managing/supervising employees

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Higher Education - Knowledge of the business of higher education is preferred.
• "Can-do" Attitude - Must have a positive, "can-do" attitude that thrives in a team environment and takes pride in being productive and accomplishing significant milestones.
• Handle Ambiguity - Must be able to handle conflicting needs/input and a lack of clear direction/specificity to persistently seek clarity and arrive at successful outcomes.
• Communication - Must be able to effectively communicate with a wide variety of audiences. Must communicate ideas clearly and concisely in written documents (graphics or text) and present these coherently and logically.
• Big-Picture Thinking - Must be able to see how the individual parts interact with the whole and be able to envision and communicate a future that is different than currently exists.
• Strategic and Innovative Thinking - Must be a strategic thinker who can bring innovative approaches to meet business objectives. However, must also be willing and able to think through operational details and how specific needs fit into the overall strategy.
• Leadership and Teamwork - Must be able lead a team, model good leadership characteristics, and help drive the team toward a successful outcome.
• Business and Political Acumen - Must have a solid understanding of how the organization's business objectives are influenced by industry drivers and trends. Must understand how the organization operates and how to effectively work within that environment.
• Technical Foundation - Solid foundational technical understanding across the areas of systems architecture, hardware, networking, and security.

Conditions of Employment
This position is a full-time, salaried (exempt) academic staff position. This is an ongoing position. The official title is IT Director II.
The UW System is required to conduct a criminal background and sexual harassment check for final candidate(s) prior to employment.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Well-qualified candidates can expect a starting annual salary within a range of $110,000 - $130,000 commensurate with the candidate's education, related experience, and qualifications. UW System employees receive an excellent benefit package. To learn more about the UWSA comprehensive benefit package, please access ALEX , the UW System's on-line virtual benefits counselor. Please see this link for total compensation information: UW System Total Compensation Estimator to provide you with total compensation information.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
To ensure full consideration, please submit application materials as soon as possible. Applicant screening will begin immediately and be ongoing through 11:55 p.m. Sunday, December 12, 2021. However, applications may be accepted until the position has been filled.

1. Follow the onscreen instructions; be sure to upload ALL THREE of the required documents: resume, cover letter, and references as PDF files. Failing to include any of these documents may disqualify your application. Uploading your documents as PDFs is also critical to maintain the formatting of your documents.
   
   1. Your cover letter MUST specifically address how your education and experience relate to the position and qualifications. Be sure to emphasize the areas outlined under "Minimum Qualifications."
   2. Your reference page should include the names, business addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers for three professional references with at least one being from your current or previous supervisor(s).
2. Include a statement of whether you wish to have your application held in confidence or made available to the public upon request. Please note that in the absence of any statement regarding confidentiality, we will assume you do not wish to have your application held in confidence. The UW System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).
3. Submit your application.

The University of Wisconsin System Administration is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and actively seeks and encourages applications from women, minorities, and person with disabilities.
Questions may be addressed to: Sarah Wilson, Human Resources, at .
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