Director of IT & Research Computing

University of Chicago; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Chicago seeks a Director of Information Technology to lead Kersten Institute for Urban Education's technology operations, information security, and research computing support. This role reports to Crown Senior IT Director and partners with the Sr.

Associate Dean of Administration to align IT with research goals and regulatory requirements. The Director oversees a small team, manages endpoints and infrastructure across Windows, macOS, and Linux, drives privacy and risk programs,

Qualifications

• Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
• Seven or more years of progressively responsible information technology experience, including at least three years of direct supervisory responsibility for technical staff.
• Demonstrated ownership of an information security program, including risk assessment, incident response, and audit or assessment response.

Responsibilities

• Manage the day‑to‑day operations and existing architecture for Kersten’s IT infrastructure, which includes on‑premises servers and hypervisors, cloud accounts, virtual desktop infrastructure, database servers, and web application platforms hosting Kersten and project sites.
• Supervise Kersten’s technical specialists, who support systems administration, infrastructure and database administration, and provide desktop support, with accountability for hiring, onboarding, work assignment, performance management, and professional development.
• Set priorities across competing project and service demands, and maintain work‑tracking and documentation systems, including issue templates, wikis, and operational runbooks.
• In collaboration with the Crown IT team and an aim to create synergies across team processes, establish and maintain standard processes for technical set up for new hires, device provisioning, and account lifecycle management, including technical components of employee offboarding.
• Function as the top point of escalation for the most complex technical issues, including systems administration, database administration, and network infrastructure, serving as a working technical lead.
• Serve as Kersten’s information security lead, complementing and/or maintaining synergy with Crown’s security framework and standards.
• Conduct Kersten’s annual security framework assessment and coordinate Kersten's response to University and external audit findings, in consultation with the Sr. IT Director.
• Administer the security training program across core, privileged, and research‑user tiers for Kersten employees, while undertaking steps to consolidate the program for adoption across all of Crown.
• Direct incident response for endpoint detection alerts, vulnerability findings, and exposure events, including triage, remediation, and after‑action documentation, updating the Sr. IT Director, when warranted.
• Review data security agreements and vendor security assessments for Kersten projects.
• Maintain controls appropriate to the Kersten’s data sensitivity, including endpoint encryption, privileged access management, backup and recovery, and vulnerability scanning.
• Stay abreast of emerging regulatory obligations affecting research and administrative systems, collaborating with the Sr. IT Director to translate them into unit‑level action.
• Administer endpoint and identity management across a mixed Windows, macOS, and Linux environment.

Skills

Team Leadership

Information Security

Risk Management

Cloud & On-Prem

Incident Response

Budget Management

Research Computing

Compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree

Security Certifications

Tools

Windows Server

Linux Administration

Identity & Access Management

Job description

The University of Chicago seeks a Director of Information Technology to lead Kersten Institute for Urban Education's technology operations, information security, and research computing support. This role reports to Crown Senior IT Director and partners with the Sr.

Associate Dean of Administration to align IT with research goals and regulatory requirements. The Director oversees a small team, manages endpoints and infrastructure across Windows, macOS, and Linux, drives privacy and risk programs,