IT Associate Director

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.

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.

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.

This position requires a formal degree in the cited discipline area(s) to ensure that candidates have advanced knowledge, analytical skills and professional competencies necessary to perform the duties of the position. The level of degree is commonly recognized as the standard qualification for similar roles in the public and private sector, ensuring that the university remains competitive with industry aligned practices, enhances collaboration with external partners, and supports the delivery of services and programs that meet professional and market-driven expectations.

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.

Vickye Kozlowski
vickye@ku.edu

100,000-109,764

Monday July 21, 2025

Monday August 25, 2025