Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies

Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies

The Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies provides leadership for the units providing infrastructure technology support to the University. They define and deliver enterprise-class technology infrastructure solutions in support of the University's administrative and academic needs. They provide leadership for the University-wide technology and communications infrastructure, including the data center, the University's local and wide area networks, Inter- and intra-net services, cable plant, the University's server farm and related operating system environments, both on-premise and in the cloud, email and directory services, voice services, technology service monitoring and response, the central storage environment, and disaster recovery services.

They provide vision and leadership for the planning (strategic and tactical), budgeting, technology evaluation and selection, implementation, and assessment of the University's technology infrastructure systems. They facilitate the creation and implementation of policies, procedures, processes, and strategies for the adoption and utilization of the University's infrastructure technologies.

The Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies provides leadership to and management of assigned staff, including hiring, training, managing, and establishing projects and resource priorities. They manage direct reports to promote teamwork and to develop professional and technical qualities necessary in order to meet the goals and objectives of the Information Services Division and the University. They function as a member of the senior leadership team of the Information Services Division and act as directed as a representative of the Division to University and external constituencies. They recommend, initiate, and implement improvements to infrastructure, and contribute constructive suggestions for change or improvement in other IS areas.

The Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies will build consensus and develop collegial, collaborative working relationships with a broad range of constituencies in support of the IS mission. They determine the most appropriate and effective means of successfully implementing infrastructure technology solutions for the user community. They coordinate their activities with the CIO and Vice Provost for IS in support of University priorities and strategic plans.

The Director of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies will have a passion for providing excellent customer service, and a focus on continual improvement across all units; a commitment to supporting innovative infrastructure technologies; and a desire to identify and deliver the best possible technology resources and services to meet the needs of the campus community.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Management and Strategy

a. Hire and manage performance and productivity of Cyberinfrastructure Technologies personnel.

b. Conduct annual performance reviews of staff.

c. Cultivate organizational values and hold employees accountable for fostering these values for a healthy, professional, and productive work environment.

d. Provide individualized consultation, guidance, and development to team members.

e. Initiate and develop technologies and systems to support short-term and long-term strategic goals.

f. Create an environment of technology innovation.

2. Coordination and Collaboration

a. Work with the campus community, other campus technology support personnel, strategic IT vendors, other IS Departments, and off-campus service providers to coordinate the design and delivery of infrastructure technologies to the campus community in an architecturally sound manner.

b. Play an active role as a technical expert during the planning and implementation phases of new technologies and participate in architecture brainstorming and design discussions with technical team members.

c. Provide technical guidance on complex infrastructure architecture challenges to IS team members and other solution partners.

d. Participate in IS management team decision-making processes to meet campus obligations.

e. Promote and ensure a customer-service focus among staff members.

f. Build consensus and enhance positive relationships based on trust, predictability, and communication.

g. Collaborate with the CIO and other IS Directors and staff on campus-wide technology initiatives.

3. Resource Planning

a. Determine Cyberinfrastructure Technologies priorities and allocate resources accordingly.

b. Refine the organization and develop staff through job development and training, skills forecasting and development, direct report coaching and development, and staff engagement.

c. Collaborate with the CIO and other IS Directors and staff on campus-wide technology initiatives.

d. Participate in technology planning processes.

4. Service Delivery

a. Lead and supervise the operations of SCU's networking and computing infrastructure in accordance with established best practices.

b. Ensure that architecture principles and standards are consistently applied across the data center, computer, storage, and network services.

c. Create and document enterprise-wide standards and practices regarding data center, computer storage, and network services.

d. Ensure services are monitored and supported with on-call availability.

e. Manage operating and capital budgets.

5. Service Optimization

a. Assist in the design, planning, and implementation of infrastructure systems optimization and process improvement projects.

b. Test and assess existing infrastructure against industry standard internal and external benchmarks to ensure optimal performance and service delivery.

c. Participate in IT and information-security audits and supervise corrective actions.

d. Lead and participate in the change management process to ensure all changes to relevant services are documented, tested, deployed, and prepared for back-out strategies if necessary.

e. Serve as a good steward of SCU resources : evaluate and pursue cost-containment and cost-reduction strategies.

f. Act as the Service Manager for Google Workspace, Alumni Email, and Retiree Email services.

6. Communication

a. Add technical input during the planning phase of projects in the form of technical architecture standards, designs, and recommendations.

b. Regularly communicate with Cyberinfrastructure Technologies staff regarding IS and University issues, initiatives, and activities.

c. Update the campus community as needed regarding Cyberinfrastructure Technologies activities.

d. Keep the CIO informed of current and potential issues, activities, service outages or impairments, and any other risks that might negatively impact IT service delivery to the University community.

7. Leadership

a. Consult and advise the CIO on information technology trends, opportunities, strategy, solutions, resources, and compliance.

b. Foster partnerships with key stakeholders across the University.

c. Build a strong network of peers at comparable institutions.

d. Actively participate in University activities and initiatives.

e. Work with the Planning, Projects, and Facilities Offices to meet the infrastructure needs for new or renovated campus buildings.

8. Unit Administration

a. Manage the Cyberinfrastructure Technologies functional units :

i. Networking and Telecommunications

1. Design, implement, and validate network components of campus technology efforts.

2. Support ISP connections, perimeter firewall, core routers, and VPN services.

3. Manage networking services including DNS, DHCP, distribution- and access-layer switching environment, firewalls, wireless access points and controllers, and connections to off-campus and campus-adjacent buildings in Santa Clara and Berkeley.

4. Maintain physical copper and fiber infrastructure.

5. Provide Data Center networking support.

6. Administer infrastructure applications including Identity and Account Management, Single Sign On and Two-Factor Authentication, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.

7. Support telephone system and endpoints.

ii. Enterprise Systems

1. Monitor and maintain SCU's on-premises Data Centers.

2. Architect, deploy, and maintain SCU's core compute, storage, and backup infrastructure.

3. Administer mission-critical virtual and physical machines.

4. Manage and monitor storage arrays that support virtual infrastructure, physical compute, and file shares.

5. Back up and protect SCU data.

6. Monitor SCU technology, and alert administrators and application owners when services are offline or impaired.

7. Manage secure file transfers between SCU systems and third-party vendors.

8. Lead the cross-functional Cloud Team to encourage cloud enablement for student projects, researchers, and other IT staff.

9. Perform advanced troubleshooting for systems and services.

iii. Local Academic Computing Support

1. Provide support for the School of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and interdisciplinary initiatives.

2. CAS : Provide computer-application support to CAS faculty, staff, and students; manages CAS labs and related resources, including software and licenses.

3. SoE : Manage the ECC computer labs and related infrastructure, including software and licenses; manages the SoE IT environment; provides hardware and software support to SoE researchers.

9. Other duties as assigned.

Provides Work Direction