IT Associate Director

Job Description

25% - Infrastructure Operations & Technical Oversight:

• Provide hands-on technical leadership and expertise in the design, implementation, and maintenance of the university's IT infrastructure, including data centers, networks, servers, storage systems, and secure cloud integration.
• Actively participate in troubleshooting, problem resolution, and escalation management for critical infrastructure issues.
• Ensure the performance, availability, and resilience of infrastructure components, leveraging advanced monitoring and observability tools.
• Lead the development of process and practice standards and documentation within assigned teams, promoting infrastructure automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles.

20% - Infrastructure Strategy & Planning Support:

• Assist the Senior Director in developing and executing a comprehensive infrastructure strategy aligned with the university's academic and research missions.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and trends, including software-defined infrastructure concepts, providing recommendations to enhance and optimize the university's infrastructure landscape.
• Support the university's cloud strategy, including the adoption and integration of cloud services, and explore hybrid solutions.

20% - Team Leadership & Mentorship:

• Provide direct supervision, guidance, and mentorship to infrastructure team members, fostering a high-performing environment.
• Delegate projects and tasks to team members and monitor progress.
• Support professional development opportunities for the team and encourage collaboration and innovation.

15% - Project Management & Collaboration:

• Oversee and manage ongoing maintenance and upgrade plans for existing systems by working with stakeholders.
• Collaborate with various IT teams, campus constituents, and external stakeholders to understand requirements, prepare project plans, and ensure successful project delivery. This includes significant interaction and coordination with the enterprise networking team on shared initiatives and operational challenges.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with campus clients regarding project needs, status, and implementation plans.

10% - Vendor Management & Procurement Support:

• Assist in the evaluation, selection, and management of relationships with external vendors and service providers for infrastructure initiatives.
• Develop requirements for hardware and software purchases and interact with vendors to evaluate and acquire necessary resources.
• Aid in the negotiation of contracts and service-level agreements.

5% - Budgeting & Resource Allocation Support:

• Provide input into the development and management of the infrastructure budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources.
• Support overall IT budget and investment decisions.

5% - Security & Compliance Support:

• Collaborate with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and other security teams to establish and enforce security policies and practices within the infrastructure domain, with a focus on Zero Trust principles and network segmentation.
• Ensure infrastructure compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

Disclaimer

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and is the Title IX coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for Civil Rights and Title IX, , Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, , 711 TTY.

Required Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree and five years of relevant experience.
2. Seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in an IT infrastructure environment, as evidenced by application materials.
3. Two years of progressive supervisory or technical lead experience over teams, as evidenced by application materials and work history.
4. Demonstrated hands-on technical expertise in networking in at least one of the following areas: servers, storage, virtualization, cloud platforms, or data center operations, as evidenced by application materials.
5. Excellent written communication skills, as evidenced by application materials.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Master's degree or higher in computer science, telecommunications, networking, engineering, or a related technical field.
2. Previous experience with ITIL and service-oriented philosophies, as evidenced by application materials.
3. Previous experience with IT Business Continuity planning, as evidenced by application materials.
4. Demonstrated ability to be highly self-directed and detail-oriented, with a high attention to accuracy, as evidenced by work history and application materials.
5. Previous experience with cloud-hosted and premise-hosted resources in a hybrid environment, as evidenced by application materials.
6. Previous experience with infrastructure automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Terraform, Python scripting for automation) and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), as evidenced by application materials.
7. Knowledge of Software-Defined Infrastructure (SDI) concepts, network segmentation, and modern security architectures, as evidenced by work history and application materials.
8. Exposure to advanced monitoring and observability platforms, as evidenced by application materials.
9. Strong time-management and organizational skills, with a record of being flexible, accurate, detail-oriented, reliable, and self-motivated, as evidenced by work history and application materials.

Position Overview

The Associate Director of Infrastructure at the University of Kansas is a vital leadership and hands-on technical role within the IT Department. This position directly supports the Senior Director of Infrastructure in overseeing the planning, development, and management of the university's technology infrastructure, ensuring its reliability, security, and scalability. This role requires close collaboration and active engagement with the network team and its leadership. As a working director, the Associate Director will actively participate in technical tasks, project execution, and problem-solving alongside various infrastructure teams, contributing directly to the operation and evolution of systems that support the university's research, teaching, and administrative functions.

KU is not able to provide H-1B sponsorship for this position.

Additional Candidate Instruction

In addition to the online application, the following documents are required to be considered for this position:

• Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
• Resume
• List of three (3) professional references

Only complete applications will be considered.

Application review begins Monday July 21, 2025 For consideration, please apply no later than Sunday July 20, 2025.