Senior Director, Enterprise Application Infrastructure

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT); Blacksburg (VA); Hybrid; USD 163,000 - 182,000; Full time

Job summary

Virginia Tech seeks a Senior Director of Application Infrastructure to lead the university's enterprise platforms, databases, and integration services. You will drive strategic evolution, resilience, and security while aligning with governance and enterprise architecture.

The role reports to the AVP for ESET and requires strong executive partnership, budgeting, and vendor management across a highly matrixed university environment. Hybrid onsite work at Blacksburg is expected.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent in a related field.
• Experience leading enterprise application, database administration, or related infrastructure services.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for enterprise application infrastructure.
• Lead managers and technical teams ensuring alignment with governance and architecture.
• Partner with executive stakeholders and vendors to balance priorities and execution.

Skills

Leadership experience

Strategic thinking

Communication

Change management

Budget & vendor management

Stakeholder partnering

Education

Master's degree in CS/IT/Business or related field

Equivalent experience/education

Tools

Enterprise app platforms

API management & middleware

Job description

Job Description

The Senior Director of Application Infrastructure provides strategic and operational leadership for the university's enterprise application infrastructure ecosystem, including enterprise database and application administration, integration services, web hosting, disaster recovery testing, and supporting platforms that enable mission-critical administrative, academic, research, and engagement functions. Reporting to the AVP for Enterprise Solutions and Enabling Technologies (ESET), the Senior Director serves as a member of the ESET leadership team and is accountable for the long-term health, sustainability, security, performance, and strategic evolution of enterprise application delivery platforms and the infrastructure services that support them. The role provides direction to managers and technical teams while ensuring alignment between institutional priorities, enterprise architecture, governance frameworks, and operational execution. Success in this role requires balancing strategic vision with operational excellence, fostering strong partnerships with executive stakeholders, distributed IT leaders, and vendors, while ensuring enterprise platforms remain resilient, scalable, secure, and adaptable to evolving university needs.

Work Location

This is a hybrid position. The successful candidate may work onsite at the Blacksburg campus approximately 2–3 days per week. As a senior director-level role, regular onsite presence is essential to support team leadership, collaboration, planning, and relationship‑building efforts.

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
• Significant experience leading enterprise application, database administration, application administration, or related infrastructure services in large, complex organizations.
• Demonstrated success leading managers and technical teams with accountability for operational outcomes and strategic initiatives.
• Experience supporting mission-critical enterprise platforms requiring high availability, reliability, security, and regulatory compliance.
• Proven ability to lead enterprise-scale technology initiatives in highly matrixed organizations.
• Experience partnering effectively with executive stakeholders and leading through influence.
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong understanding of enterprise applications, databases, integrations, service management, and operational excellence practices.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, communication, organizational leadership, and change management skills.
• Experience in higher education or another complex, highly regulated institutional environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting ERP, CRM, student systems, research administration systems, or other enterprise administrative platforms.
• Experience with AI, cloud, hybrid cloud, and modern application platform architectures.
• Experience operating within formal governance, cybersecurity, compliance, and audit frameworks.
• Demonstrated success leading digital transformation, application modernization, or enterprise service evolution initiatives.
• Experience improving operational maturity through automation, service management practices, and platform standardization.
• Familiarity with enterprise integration platforms, API management, middleware technologies, and data integration architectures.

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

$162,500 - $182,450

Hours per week

40

Review Date

09/23/2026

Additional Information

Sponsorship is not available for this role.

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto,Ut Prosim(That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension offices and research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact IT Human Resources at [e-mail] during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.