Head of IT Governance & Strategy Transformation

Penn State University; Pennsylvania; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Penn State University seeks a Director of IT Governance to lead the enterprise-wide governance framework, shaping decision rights, policies, and portfolio practices across IT. You will partner with the CIO office and senior leadership to accelerate strategic outcomes while managing risk and enabling innovation within a decentralized research university.

The role requires deep governance expertise, collaborative leadership, and the ability to translate complex governance concepts into practical

Qualifications

• Progressive leadership experience in IT governance, strategy, policy development, portfolio management, or enterprise architecture.
• Familiarity with established governance frameworks (COBIT, ITIL, TOGAF, NIST CSF) and the ability to apply them pragmatically.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and facilitation skills, including ability to translate complex concepts.

Responsibilities

• Define clear decision rights, accountability structures, escalation paths, and authority matrices for IT investment, architecture, data, security, and service decisions.
• Establish and steward governance bodies and councils with executive steering committees and boards; ensure outcomes-focused operations.
• Operationalize policy adoption with clear communication, training, and governance-as-a-service support.
• Partner with IT portfolio leaders and Finance to embed governance into portfolio management and funding processes.
• Develop governance dashboards, decision trackers, and risk registers for senior leadership transparency.
• Lead change management and communications to socialize governance practices across the university.
• Benchmark governance practices against peer institutions and industry standards.

Skills

IT governance leadership

Policy development

Portfolio management

Enterprise architecture

Communication & facilitation

Education

Degree in IT/related field

Job description

Penn State University seeks a Director of IT Governance to lead the enterprise-wide governance framework, shaping decision rights, policies, and portfolio practices across IT. You will partner with the CIO office and senior leadership to accelerate strategic outcomes while managing risk and enabling innovation within a decentralized research university.

The role requires deep governance expertise, collaborative leadership, and the ability to translate complex governance concepts into practical