Chief Information Officer

Job Level
Senior position
Job Category
C Level
Sector
  • Technology
Job Status
Areas of Responsibility
  • All Areas of Technology

Reporting to the President, The Chief Information Officer (CIO) provides technology vision and leadership in the development and implementation of the university-wide information technology (IT) program. The CIO will lead the university in planning and implementing enterprise information systems to support both distributed and centralized business operations and achieve more effective and cost beneficial enterprise-wide IT operations.

Essential Job Functions:

  • Provides strategic and tactical planning, development, evaluation, and coordination of the information and technology systems for the university. 

  • Ensuring that information technology in its many forms fully serves teaching, and research, using a model of partnership and collaboration.

  • Facilitates communication between staff, management, vendors, and other technology resources within the organization.

  • Ensuring an appropriate campus IT infrastructure in support of administration, research, and instruction. Provision of mass storage, networks, directories, administrative applications, server platforms, and IT security, are examples.

  • Oversees the back office computer operations of the student information system, including local area networks, wireless network, and wide-area networks. 

  • Engaging academic, administrative units and students in dialogue.

  • Responsible for the management of multiple information and communications systems and projects, including video, voice, data, imaging, and office automation. 

  • Designs, implements, and evaluates the systems that support end users in the productive use of computer hardware and software.

  • Develops and implements user-training programs. With partners, planning the future development of information technology at Shaw University. Supporting IT staff in continuous development of professional skills as they contribute to the success of the University.

  • Oversees and evaluates system security and back up procedures. Supervises the Network Administrators, Database Administrators, Application Specialist, and other helpdesk staff.

Strategy & Planning

  • Participate in strategic and operational governance processes of Shaw University as a member of the senior management team.

  • Lead IT strategic and operational planning to achieve Shaw University goals by fostering innovation, prioritizing IT initiatives, and coordinating the evaluation, deployment, and management of current and future IT systems across the organization.

  • Develop and maintain an appropriate IT organizational structure that supports the needs of the business.

  • Establish IT departmental goals, objectives, and operating procedures.

  • Identify opportunities for the appropriate and cost-effective investment of financial resources in IT systems and resources, including staffing, sourcing, purchasing, and in-house development.

  • Assess and communicate risks associated with IT investments.

  • Develop, track, and control the information technology annual operating and capital budgets.

  • Develop business case justifications and cost/benefit analyses for IT spending and initiatives.

  • Direct development and execution of an enterprise-wide disaster recovery and business continuity plan.

  • Assess and make recommendations on the improvement or re-engineering of the IT organization.

 

Acquisition & Deployment

  • Coordinate and facilitate consultation with stakeholders to define business and systems requirements for new technology implementations.

  • Approve, prioritize, and control projects and the project portfolio as they relate to the selection, acquisition, development, and installation of major information systems.

  • Review hardware and software acquisition and maintenance contracts and pursue master agreements to capitalize on economies of scale.

  • Define and communicate corporate plans, policies, and standards for the organization for acquiring, implementing, and operating IT systems.

 

Operational Management 

  • Ensure continuous delivery of IT services through oversight of service level agreements with end users and monitoring of IT systems performance.

  • Ensure IT system operation adheres to applicable laws and regulations.

  • Establish lines of control for current and proposed information systems.

  • Keep current with trends and issues in the IT industry, including current technologies and prices. Advise, counsel, and educate executives and management on their competitive or financial impact.

  • Promote and oversee strategic relationships between internal IT resources and external entities.

  • Supervise recruitment, development, retention, and organization of all IT staff in accordance with corporate budgetary objectives and personnel policies.

  • All other related duties as assigned.

 

Supervisory Responsibilities

IT Staff

Education and/or Experience

  • BS/BA in computer science, business administration or related major or equivalent combination of education and experience. A graduate degree in one of these fields is a plus.

  • Demonstrated ability to envision and architect web-based services that meet consumer needs or solve business problems.

  • Minimum of 15 years of professional experience.

  • Minimum of 7 years' experience managing tech teams.

  • Extensive Microsoft tool experience - C#, .Net and SQL.

  • Experience in Back Office systems and knowledge in legal workflow.

  • Keen business acumen and proven executive management abilities based on prior experience.

  • Forthright and a team player who is open to being a member of a high performance management team.

  • Ability to have effective two-way communication with management and development team.

  • Provide leadership and motivation to the development team via a dynamic, confident and professional demeanor.

  • Experience with startup companies.

  • Hands-on experience coding in more than one currently popular web application framework.

  • Familiar with more than one software development methodology.

  • Ability to discern user requirements and develop specifications.

  • Has contributed to one or more open source projects.

  • Skill with CSS, XHTML, one or more Java script frameworks, and AJAX.

  • Knowledge of web standards.

  • Knowledge of Internet protocols, data base management systems, and revision control systems.

  • Familiarity with technical requirements of Internet marketing and search engine optimization.

  • Familiarity with information security vulnerabilities and risk management.

  • Familiarity with consumer privacy and payments industry compliance requirements.

  • Exposure to business theory, business process development, governance processes, management, budgeting, and administrative operations.

  • Willingness to work occasional weekends, including summer, fall and spring orientation/registration, as well as other non-office hours work as required.

  • Working familiarity with data warehousing and business intelligence concepts, techniques, tools; experience with Jenzabar or similar systems preferred.

  • Jenzabar, PowerFAIDS Administration and Higher Education experience is preferred. Other combinations of education and experience may be considered.

Qualifications

Education

Required

  • Bachelors or better in Information Technology or related field.

Preferred

  • Masters or better in Information Technology or related field.

Experience

Preferred

7 years:

  • Experience managing tech teams

15 years:

  • Professional experience in IT.