Executive Director Enterprise Systems

Reporting to the Chief Information Officer of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), the Executive Director of Enterprise Systems has a vital role delivering all applications and systems serving the business enterprise and delivering enabling tools to the IT Services organization.

The Executive Director leads planning, design, launch and support of efficient business, financial and operational systems in support of all college core organizational functions and business processes, as well as delivery of key systems and services including artificial intelligence, the campus data center, data integrity, data lake/store/warehouse and associated systems, documentation, enterprise cloud services, the customer relationship management system, enterprise policy administration, the enterprise resource planning system, knowledge management, learning management systems, machine learning, reporting and analytics, and software contract management and renewals.

The position functions as a key advisor to the CIO and is the IT Liaison to the Administration and Finance Division, Human Resources, and Workforce Development as well as the Staff. The Executive Director leads a customer-focused team across all CCRI campuses, providing computing systems and software solutions across the College.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership and Strategy

• Provide strategic leadership, planning and vision for the college’s enterprise-facing functions that include a diverse set of service areas the College relies on to perform its mission and align our goals and strategies to those of the College.
• Actively participate in governance and in college committees and working groups to provide expertise and promote best practice use of information technology in areas of responsibility.
• Implement innovative staffing, scheduling and self-service models to provide superior enterprise systems within budget constraints.
• Act as a change agent to introduce new technologies and services utilizing creative and organized approaches

Operations

• Plan and manage the installation, maintenance, and support of Enterprise Systems and Software that support the college’s students, faculty and staff, including but not limited to the college’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and the Data Center. Manage and collaborate in the planning, design, development, and deployment of new applications, upgrades and enhancements to existing enterprise systems. Analyze and evaluate new product versions and recommend upgrade schedules.
• Partner with appropriate college academic departments, administrative departments, college leadership, students, IT leadership team, strategic vendors and other off-campus organizations to define and establish goals, priorities and operational and strategic plans for providing enterprise services that meets the college’s current and future needs. Oversee the cloud and local installation, maintenance, and operation of all enterprise servers and software.
• Leads IT Incident response during recovery from any service-affecting event.
• Develops and manage a Software Management program for planning and evaluating customer/end-user tools, reducing duplication and cost controls, license acquisition and technology transition and retirement.
• Coordinate the development and review of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with other Information Technology functional areas and key customer groups to establish realistic expectations; and continually increase customer satisfaction within budget and other college constraints. Analyze and evaluate business requirements with business owners to leverage application functionality that meets requirements.
• Continuously review and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of existing enterprise systems and manage the development of strategies and plans for improving or further leveraging these systems.
• Respond to high priority requests from the college’s senior leaders.

Projects

• Coordinate Enterprise Systems projects with colleagues within the Enterprise Systems unit and with other information technology units. Assign projects to Enterprise Systems staff and manage the status of all projects assigned.
• Provide expert consultative functional, technical and development guidance to colleagues

Administration

• Provide leadership for managers and team members across the Enterprise Systems organization. Supervise and review the performance of Enterprise Systems staff.
• Lead all unit financial, human resources and procurement activities including licensing, asset management, and lifecycle administration. Ensure appropriate lead time for all renewals including customer affirmation, duplication review and contract negotiation.
• Provides all performance management across the business unit due to current collective bargaining agreements regarding union members managing performance of other members of the union.
• Recognize, evangelize and lead adoption of best practices across areas of functional responsibility. Deliver efficiencies and control costs.
• Coordinate with the College Grants office to seek and obtain funding through grants and awards, document and report on projects funded by grants, and manage grants effectively as required by the granting agency.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Maintain technical currency and proficiency with system features, functionality, related skills, and academic trends in higher education technology, necessary to lead and support college-wide enterprise activity, applications and systems.
• Additional responsibilities as directed consistent with rank and position.
• Other duties as assigned

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:

This position is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s Degree preferably in Computer Science, Business or a related field with five years of significant experience with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and database applications
• Experienced and innovative enterprise service-focused technology leader with a demonstrated record of leadership, problem solving, and staff development.
• Proven experience in the operation and analysis of database hardware, software and standards, as well as data retrieval methodologies.
• Knowledge and experience with enterprise systems deployed in higher education and demonstrated experience with the implementation of best practices using these systems
• Knowledge and experience with cloud and on-premises data centers
• Demonstrated capacity for self-directed learning
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collegially across the college
• Excellent analytical, organizational, logic, and communication skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to communicate ideas in both technical and “user-friendly” language is
• Excellent leadership skills and the ability to work collaboratively within a team
• Excellent ability to work independently on multiple assignments and to work collaboratively within a team

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Demonstrated business analysis and project management skills with Project Management Professional (PMP) and/or Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
• Knowledge and experience directing an Ellucian Banner system in a higher education environment