Executive Director, Communication and Collaboration Systems

Executive Director, Communication and Collaboration Systems

The University of Miami Information Technology Department has an exciting opportunity for a full-time Executive Director, Communication and Collaboration Systems. This position is based on-site in Miami, Florida.

The Executive Director for all aspects of the communication and collaboration systems used by employees, students, and other university affiliates. This suite includes systems such as email, live chat, videoconferencing systems, office productivity software, survey systems, virtual team meeting spaces, visualization tools, and integrated AI-based enhancements. The Executive Director will oversee a team that is responsible for integrations, configuration, support, vendor management, and data migration when needed. Furthermore, the person in this position will be expected to stay current with the tools within the suite to ensure that the enterprise is able to capitalize on new features in a manner that enables the security and privacy of university data.

Core Responsibilities:

• Works with leadership for the development of competitive strategic plans to achieve the organization's mission of excellence.
• Utilizes the University technology platform to analyze service efficiency and financial productivity and make recommendations on operational improvements.
• Focuses on productivity management such as labor budget and productivity/process analyses and improvement with decision support and ongoing performance improvement support.
• Collaborates with leadership and Finance to outline strategic technology requirements for major capital expenditures that are recommended in future fiscal years, determined through a strategic planning process.
• Oversees Information Technology's support services, growth, metrics, human resource and financial functions as they relate to the University of Miami and affiliated organizations.
• Keeps senior leadership informed of technology barriers, advancements, opportunities and resource requirements to execute strategic initiatives.
• Directs the development/maintenance of IT strategic planning, workforce and resource allocation, while maintaining a forward looking vision and strategy.
• Oversees the management and coordination of activities for assigned enterprise-wide information technology projects to include an efficient and timely conclusion.
• Ensures internal control oversight and compliance with laws and regulations, safeguarding of assets, compliance with University policies and procedures, reliability of internal and external reporting, and efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
• Creates an effective control environment, conducts risk assessment, implements, and monitors controls
• Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

Department Specific Functions:

• Platform Orchestration: Ensure the smooth operation of the university's dual-tenant messaging and collaboration environments (Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace).
• AI Exploration: Lead the evaluation and implementation of AI-driven features across the enterprise stack (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, Gemini for Workspace, and Zoom AI Companion) to enhance institutional productivity.
• Provisioning/Deprovisioning: Establish appropriate processes for provisioning and deprovisioning tool access to employees, students, and affiliates as they begin their roles, change roles, and end their relationship to the university as former employees, former associates, retirees, and alumni.
• Collaboration Suite Management: Direct the administration of enterprise-wide tools including Zoom, Box, and Microsoft Teams, ensuring high availability and optimal performance.
• Data Analytics & Feedback: Utilize PowerBI to develop dashboards for service health, license utilization, and user adoption metrics. Manage the university's Qualtrics instance to gather and act on institutional feedback.
• Email Security: Partner with the Information Security Office to manage the configuration of email filtering, threat protection, and phishing mitigation systems.
• Identity & Integration: Collaborate with the Integrations Team to manage API connections, Single Sign-On (SSO) configurations, and automated provisioning workflows for all managed platforms.
• Risk Management: Ensure all collaboration platforms adhere to security best practices to protect sensitive research and student data.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary liaison between the Collaboration Team and the Security, Infrastructure, and Integration units.
• End-User Experience: Oversee the delivery of tier-3 technical support, ensuring the team provides high-quality documentation, training resources, and timely incident resolution.
• Vendor Management: Manage strategic relationships with major vendors (Microsoft, Google, Zoom, Box) to influence product roadmaps and optimize licensing costs.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities, as necessary.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's in Information Technology or a related technical or related field, Master's Degree is preferred
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience.
• Project management or ITIL certifications preferred
• Project management experience
• Experience managing an Office365 system
• Experience collaborating with security professionals
• Experience with incident response procedures
• Experience implementing and integrating cloud-based applications
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to communicate technical information to non-technical audiences
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams toward a common goal

Any appropriate combination of relevant education, experience and/or certifications may be considered.