Manager of Unified Communications and Collaboration

Position Summary

Onsite in Columbus, Ohio

The Manager of Unified Communications & M365 is responsible for the strategic direction, daily operations, and ongoing optimization of the organization’s enterprise communication platforms—including Cisco telephony, Microsoft Teams voice, Direct Routing, voicemail, conferencing, and M365 collaboration services. This onsite leader oversees engineering, administration, support, and lifecycle management of the UC ecosystem, ensuring secure, reliable, and high performing communication services that support clinical, administrative, and enterprise business needs.

This role requires deep expertise across Cisco telephony and Microsoft 365 technologies, strong vendor and stakeholder management skills, and the ability to lead a highly technical team in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

·       Cisco Unified Communications

·       Own the architecture, administration, and lifecycle management of Cisco UC platforms, including: Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)
Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco IM & Presence, Cisco Webex (Calling, Meetings, Messaging, Cisco Contact Center solutions, CCX/UCCE/Webex Contact Center, as applicable), Lead PSTN, SIP trunking, SBC, and carrier integrations.

·       Ensure call quality, high availability, and disaster recovery for Cisco voice and video services.

·       Manage Cisco endpoints (desk phones, video devices) and firmware lifecycle.

·       Serve as technical authority and escalation point for complex Cisco UC issues.

·       Microsoft 365 & Teams Integration

·       Oversee Microsoft 365 collaboration services, including: Microsoft Teams (chat, meetings, and calling integrations), Exchange Online, SharePoint Online & OneDrive

·       Design and support Cisco–Microsoft integrations, including: Teams and Cisco calling interoperability, Cisco Webex devices and Microsoft Teams meetings

·       Hybrid or coexistence models between Cisco UC and Teams Phone
Define governance, standards, and best practices for collaboration platforms.

·       Security, Identity & Compliance

·       Partner with security teams to implement secure communication and collaboration, including: Identity integration with Entra ID (Azure AD)
MFA, conditional access, and role-based access controls

·       Data retention, eDiscovery, and compliance policies across Cisco and Microsoft platforms

·       Ensure secure external collaboration and regulatory compliance.

Leadership & Team Management

·       Lead and mentor a team of UC and M365 engineers/administrators.
Provide technical direction, performance management, and career development.

·       Establish operational processes, escalation paths, and on-call support models.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

·       Act as the primary liaison with Cisco, Microsoft, telecom carriers, and UC service providers.

·       Manage licensing, contracts, renewals, and cost optimization for Cisco and M365 platforms.

·       Collaborate with business leaders to align communication solutions with organizational needs.

 Operations & Continuous Improvement

·       Monitor platform health, service availability, and user experience.
Define KPIs for call quality, uptime, adoption, and support effectiveness.

·       Drive platform modernization, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Required Qualifications

·       Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).

·       7+ years of experience in IT collaboration, messaging, or unified communications.

·       3+ years of experience managing Microsoft 365 in an enterprise environment.

2+ years of people or technical leadership experience.