Director of Enterprise Applications & Data Analytics

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc.; Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Samuel Merritt University seeks a Director of Enterprise Applications & Data Analytics to provide strategic leadership for the university’s enterprise applications portfolio, including Workday Student and Platform, analytics, and data governance. The role partners with IT and academic, administrative, and financial units to optimize processes and data quality.

The successful candidate will drive data-informed decision making, oversee integrations, and lead a team of analysts, developers, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information systems, computer science, business administration, data analytics, or related field.
• Seven to ten years of progressively responsible experience in enterprise applications or IT leadership.
• Three or more years of management or supervisory experience.
• Experience supporting enterprise ERP platforms in higher education.
• Experience with BI, reporting, and analytics solutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for enterprise applications.
• Provide leadership for the Workday ecosystem (Student, Finance, HCM, Platform).
• Establish governance for enhancements, upgrades, integrations, and change management.
• Collaborate with campus leadership to drive process improvement and digital transformation.
• Ensure security, reliability, and scalability of enterprise systems.
• Lead Workday Administration, optimization, and platform capabilities.
• Oversee Workday releases, testing, and deployment activities.
• Manage vendor relationships and contracts.
• Develop data analytics strategy and governance for reporting and KPIs.
• Foster data literacy and evidence-based decision making.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Data governance

Stakeholder management

Team building

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

Workday Student

Workday Platform

Workday Extend

Prism Analytics

Job description

Description

Job Description Summary: TheDirector of Enterprise Applications & Data Analytics providesstrategic leadership, planning, implementation, governance, andoperational support for Samuel Merritt University’s enterpriseapplications portfolio. This role is responsible for ensuring thatenterprise systems effectively support the University’s academic,administrative, financial, student success, and operationalobjectives.

The Director oversees Workday Student, Workday Platform, Workdayintegrations, enterprise reporting, analytics, data governance, andapplication support services. The position serves as a key liaisonbetween Information Technology and functional departments tooptimize business processes, improve data quality, and leveragetechnology solutions that enhance the student, faculty, and staffexperience.

The Director develops and executes enterprise applicationstrategies that align with institutional goals, promotesdata-informed decision-making, and ensures the reliability,security, and continuous improvement of critical business systems.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Enterprise Applications Leadership (30%)

• Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for enterpriseapplications supporting academic and administrativeoperations.
• Provide leadership for the University’s Workday ecosystem,including Workday Student, Finance, Human Capital Management (HCM),and Workday Platform technologies.
• Establish governance processes for application enhancements,upgrades, integrations, and change management.
• Collaborate with campus leadership to identify opportunitiesfor process improvement and digital transformation.
• Ensure enterprise systems remain secure, reliable, scalable,and aligned with University objectives.

Workday Student & Platform Administration (20%)

• Lead the administration, optimization, and continuousimprovement of Workday Student and Workday Platformcapabilities.
• Partner with Enrollment Services, Registrar, Student FinancialServices, Academic Affairs, Human Resources, and Finance to supportbusiness processes and system functionality.
• Oversee Workday releases, testing, configuration management,and deployment activities.
• Ensure effective utilization of Workday Extend, WorkdayOrchestrate, Prism Analytics, and related platform technologies asappropriate.
• Manage relationships with Workday, implementation partners, andthird-party vendors.

Data Analytics & Business Intelligence (20%)

• Develop and lead the University’s enterprise data analyticsstrategy.
• Establish standards and governance for institutional reporting,analytics, and data stewardship.
• Oversee development of dashboards, key performance indicators(KPIs), operational reports, and executive analytics.
• Partner with Institutional Research and business stakeholdersto improve access to actionable information.
• Promote data literacy and a culture of evidence-baseddecision-making across the University.
• Support predictive analytics and student success initiativesthrough effective use of institutional data.

Integration & Data Management (10%)

• Direct enterprise integration strategy across cloud andon-premises systems.
• Ensure reliable data exchange among Workday and ancillaryapplications.
• Oversee data quality initiatives, master data management, andintegration architecture.
• Collaborate with cybersecurity and infrastructure teams tomaintain compliance, security, and privacy requirements.

Team Leadership & Vendor Management (15%)

• Recruit, develop, mentor, and evaluate enterprise applicationand analytics staff.
• Establish performance expectations and professional developmentplans.
• Manage vendor relationships, contracts, licensing, andservice-level agreements.
• Foster a customer-service-oriented culture focused onpartnership and continuous improvement.

Governance, Budgeting & Strategic Planning (5%)

• Participate in University strategic planning initiatives.
• Develop and manage departmental operating and projectbudgets.
• Establish policies, procedures, and standards for enterpriseapplication management.
• Support institutional compliance requirements and auditactivities.

Other Duties

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

May supervise:

• S r. Enterprise Applications Manager
• Business Systems Analysts
• Integration Developers
• Data Analysts / BI Developers
• Reporting and Analytics Specialists
• Application Support Staff

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science,Business Administration, Data Analytics, or related field.
• Seven (7) to ten (10) years of progressively responsibleexperience in enterprise applications, ERP systems, or informationtechnology leadership.
• Three (3) or more years of management or supervisoryexperience.
• Experience supporting enterprise ERP platforms in highereducation.
• Experience with business intelligence, reporting, and analyticssolutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Information Systems, BusinessAdministration, Higher Education, Data Analytics, or relatedfield.
• Experience with Workday Student implementation andpost-production support.
• Experience with Workday Platform technologies, includingWorkday Extend, Prism Analytics, and Orchestrate.
• Experience leading data governance and institutional analyticsinitiatives.
• Experience managing enterprise integrations and cloud-basedapplications.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Workday certifications,or related professional certifications.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Extensive knowledge of enterprise application managementprinciples and practices.
• Demonstrated experience with Workday Student and WorkdayPlatform technologies.
• Strong understanding of higher education business processes,including student lifecycle management.
• Experience leading enterprise application implementations andoptimization initiatives.
• Knowledge of business intelligence, analytics, datawarehousing, and reporting platforms.
• Experience with data governance, data quality, and informationmanagement frameworks.
• Understanding of cloud-based SaaS architectures and enterpriseintegrations.
• Knowledge of API management, middleware, and integrationplatforms.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and stakeholdermanagement skills.
• Ability to influence and collaborate effectively across diverseconstituencies.
• Commitment to customer service and continuous improvement.

Work Environment

Office Location: Oakland] Campus – Onsite

• This is an onsite position based in Oakland, CA, requiringregular in-office presence to support daily operations,collaboration, and student or team engagement.
• Work is performed primarily on campus in a dynamic academicenvironment, with direct interaction across multidisciplinaryteams.

Mental/Physical Requirements

This position will be performed in an office setting. The positionwill require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicatein person, video and by telephone, frequently operate standardoffice equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Employee Status

Regular

Exemption Status

United States of America (Exempt)

Time Type

Full time

Pay Range

Up to $185,000 [Annual/Exempt] depending on experience,qualifications, geographic location, and other relevantfactors.