"Director of IT and Security"

About the Department:

The College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) is the largest academic unit at George Mason University with approximately 11,000 students and over 400 faculty and staff and annual research expenditures of over $80M.

The IT Department supports and administers all computing systems in the College of Engineering and Computing. The department coordinates with CEC faculty and staff to meet academic and research needs, and coordinates with George Mason central IT (ITS) and other George Mason entities as needed for operational continuity and constituent support.

George Mason University provides outstanding benefits to employees, including, but not limited to, a generous number of holidays and tuition remission. More information is available at https://hr.gmu.edu/benefits/

About the Position:

The Director of IT and Security serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC). The position is also responsible for developing and directing implementation of IT strategies, security, compliance, and best practices, and supervising department staff to support all IT functions within CEC or used by CEC constituents.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning and University Collaboration:

• Works with faculty and school administration to identify and plan for enrollment growth and changes in academic programs;
• Works with central IT department and other campus units to prepare for changes to systems, university policies, and regulations;
• Plans for needed changes in computing and networking infrastructure;
• Serves as subject matter expert and CEC advocate on university committees related to IT technology at George Mason, including, but not limited to, research computing support, pedagogical computing requirements, software management, classroom design and management, and security management;
• Disaster planning - in partnership with central IT, works to ensure that there is a plan for business continuity related to CEC IT systems and technology in event of a natural disaster;
• Emergency response - is responsible for managing and overseeing the emergency response plan related to CEC IT systems and technology;
• Maintains awareness of and plans for implementation of new technology;
• Provides advice to faculty and school administration on technology and security issues, including use of technology in research, course delivery on-line and on-campus, audio-visual equipment use, and technology use in labs;
• Identifies and prepares for changes in technology, government regulations, and higher education that may affect the role of the department in supporting the community; and
• Maintains awareness of changes in higher education landscape that will affect IT functions and support in CEC and GMU.

Supervisory - Directs Department Staff in Support of:

• Student and educational computing, including classrooms, computer labs, and software license acquisition and management;
• Faculty and staff computing needs, including advice on computer purchases and configuration, application support, and problem diagnoses and remediation;
• Faculty computing needs for teaching and research, to include advice on equipment and services acquisition and use through internal or public resources;
• Network management to provide computer connectivity and maintain systems security;
• Compliance with campus security and other policies and practices;
• Maintenance of inventory of CEC IT resources and assets (e.g., networks, servers, websites, and systems administrators);
• Room scheduling requests; and
• Fixed asset management including acquisition, replacement, and disposal.

Policy:

• Ensures compliance with federal, state, and George Mason policies, laws, and regulations, including export control restrictions and data security restrictions such as CUI, PCI, PII, HIPAA, FERPA, export controls, and ITAR;
• Educates CEC students, staff, and faculty on security risks and best practices;
• Educates CEC students, staff, and faculty on issues involving software license compliance and risks;
• Ensures policy and legal compliance on central campus systems where feasible;
• Supports campus work on security audit compliance;
• Works with CEC students, staff, and faculty to minimize risks to data, equipment, facilities, and community members, and mitigate any breaches; and
• Collaborates with campus entities on development of new policies.

Administrative - Works with Staff to:

• Monitor expenditures to align with budget;
• Intermediate with campus technology providers where needed;
• Work with technology and A/V vendors to develop and implement systems supporting teaching, research, and meetings;
• Work with vendors and appropriate campus resources in support of software acquisition and license compliance and management; and
• Manage the equipment life cycle, including replacement planning; and
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Considerable experience in enterprise technology management;
• Significant experience working with enterprise technology;
• Experience in department budget management;
• Experience in managing IT in an environment with multiple user hierarchical levels, such as in education and healthcare;
• Knowledge of computing support requirements in a diverse environment consisting of a user community performing in multiple roles (administrative, operational, teaching, research) and diverse platforms, both on premises and through public cloud providers. Transferable skills, such as from healthcare, government, or research facilities are acceptable;
• Knowledge of IT security management including regulatory and standards compliance (e.g., HIPAA, CUI, PII, FERPA, NIST, ISO);
• Knowledge of current cybersecurity issues and protocols;
• Superior customer service skills including ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with both technically-oriented and non-technical users;
• Goal oriented with ability to manage task-oriented staff;
• Ability to anticipate future needs and develop and implement strategy to meet them; and
• Ability to translate between "big picture" goals and details needed for implementation.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Terminal degree in related field;
• CISSP, GSEC, CCNA; Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert; Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate, RHCSA;
• Experience working with technology in support of higher education;
• Experience working in education, especially in higher education with a research orientation;
• Experience in network management and/or configuration;
• Experience in Windows or Linux systems administration;
• Experience in software license administration;
• Experience in IT support center management;
• Proof of knowledge of IT-related fields through one or more certifications; and
• Knowledge of government contracting procedures.

Instructions to Applicants:

For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Director of IT and Security at https://jobs.gmu.edu/ Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume for review.

Salary:

Salary commensurate with education and experience

Posting Dates:

Posting Open Date: October 28, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by: November 17, 2025

Open Until Filled: Yes