Director - Technology Strategy & Service - Chicago Architecture Foundation - Chicago

Job Description

Responsible for leading the overall technology strategy of CAF while maintaining a “hands on” approach to solving issues and getting things done. Serve as a liaison between all departments at CAF and must demonstrate the ability to communicate appropriately at all levels of the organization. Responsible for establishing technology priorities, standards, policies, and best practices. Responsible for ensuring stable technology operations that will support the revenue and audience growth. Responsible for staying knowledgeable of new technologies that may benefit CAF.


Strategy, Planning, & Administration

• Develop and execute the long-range direction of the organization’s technology function including hardware, software, operating systems, and technologies that enable operating efficiencies

• Develop and implement an annual Technology Work Plan including projects, maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, and other items

• Prepare the annual technology operating budget for capital investments and recurring expenses

• Develop and maintain CAF Technology Operations Manual

• Hire, train, and review Technology Department Staff

• Assess staff technology acumen and develop appropriate training around known issues that are conducted on a quarterly basis

• Work with the HR Director to ensure proper assessment of technology acumen during the interview process and proper technology on-boarding for all new hires

• Assist in the writing of grant applications or provide information to the CAF Development Department when there is a technology component

• Other duties as assigned

Technology Support & Maintenance

• Serve as a primary liaison between non-technical business units of CAF and the Technology Department

• Provide oversight, leadership, and hold accountable third-party managed service providers of IT Helpdesk and on premise servers and SAN

• Resolve tickets for emergencies and specific on-site services not managed by third-party help desk including ticketing and retail Point-of-Sale units, multi-function printers, audio-visual equipment, VoIP phone system hardware and software, and various user account management (adds/edits/deletes)

• Manage and negotiate all technology service and support contracts and associated vendors; vendors include managed service providers, internet and phone carriers, hardware manufacturers, software providers, cloud services, and other vendors as needed

• Manage lifecycle and replacement of all technology hardware including desktops/laptops/servers/network equipment

• Execute regularly scheduled, planned IT Maintenance nights (after normal business hours) to apply system patches, perform backup and disaster recovery tests, replace/refresh hardware, etc

• Document, report, and maintain procedures and notes about all tickets worked on and processes and policies instituted

• Be available as main point of contact for after-hours, emergency technology support calls

• Be a contributor on various CAF Committees and User Groups (Database Users Group, Docent Technology Committee, etc)

• Administrate the CAF mobile phone stipend program

• Other duties as assigned

Project Management

• Manage technology projects through the project life cycle (initiation, planning, execution, and closing phases)

• Primary liaison for technology related projects and projects with a technology component

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with all levels and departments within CAF

• Develop project charters and scopes along with other needed documentation

• Prepare project status reports keeping management, key stakeholders, and others informed of project status and related issues; prepare project post-mortems as needed

• Prepare agendas, coordinate meetings, and take minutes as required

• Other duties as assigned

Information Security

• Perform procedures necessary to ensure the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of CAF data and systems

• Collaborate with technology partners, support representatives, and CAF colleagues to coordinate and remediate security vulnerabilities and incidents

• Curate organization disaster recovery plan and processes, which includes effective server and data backup and recovery tools

• Review, implement, update and document organization-wide information security policies and procedures

• Manage malware detection and removal tools and vendors

• Regularly review network usage and system logs to detect malicious activity

• Keep abreast of information security-related technology and best practices

• Lead information security awareness and training initiatives to educate staff about risks; foster a culture that considers information security in day to day operations

• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Skills and Attributes

• Experience in identifying new technology processes as well as improving/streamlining existing technology processes

• Strong leadership, analytic, organizational, and decision making skills

• High degree of customer service and comfort with high-visibility troubleshooting

• Willing to “roll-up sleeves” and be hands on in problem solving is a must

• Effective at building relationships with all levels of the organization and can successfully work in teams

• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple priorities and maintain calmness under pressure

• Self-motivated to achieve goals and can motivate others to achieve goals as well

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are required

• Ability to work a flexible schedule when business needs dictate; weekend hours may be needed on occasion as well as available after hours due to maintenance needs

Education And Experience Requirement

• Bachelor’s Degree (or higher) in Computer Science or related discipline

• Project management certification and/or technology certifications preferred

• Five to ten years of experience with demonstrated increases in responsibilities and knowledge

• Must have proficiency and competency with the following technologies (or demonstrated aptitude to learn)

o Software

 Windows 7 Pro, Mac OS X, Active Directory

 Meraki Cloud-Managed Networking (Firewall, DHCP, DNS (public and private), client VPN, two internet carriers, traffic shaping)

 Zendesk, Box.com, Tessitura (or other cultural institution management systems)

 Veeam Backup and Recovery, Carbonite.com, Acronis Imaging Software

 Google Apps for Education Edition

o Hardware

 HP Servers and SAN, Xerox multi-function printer units, Digium PBX and phones




Additional Information

Chicago Architecture Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

o Software And Services

 Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, Hyper-V virtualization, Active Directory, DNS, MS Sql Server 2008 R2 (and newer)

 Linux system administration and the LAMP stack

 Rackspace Cloud-hosting and Amazon Web Services

 Windows 7 Pro, Mac OS X, MS Office 365 and Exchange Online, MS Office 2013, MS Office 2011 for Mac

 Bitdefender anti-malware

 MS Great Plains (2013), POSIM (retail software), Volunteer Management software

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