Strategic Tech Partner Director — Higher Education

Collegis Education; Oak Brook (IL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Collegis Education is seeking a strategic technology partner to shape technology priorities across our higher-education partnerships. You will align client objectives with scalable solutions and lead governance, delivery, and stakeholder relationships.

In this hybrid role, you will manage cross-functional teams, drive account performance and profitability, and mentor colleagues while delivering continuous improvement and growth for our partners.

Qualifications

• 3 years of experience in a customer-facing role interfacing with executive stakeholders.
• At least 10 years of IT professional experience with at least 2 years of direct staff management or leadership experience.
• Understanding of IT operations, databases, networking, IT security, application or integration development, service architecture, or hosting services.
• Ability to provide effort, leadership, and creative thinking to solve complex and significant problems in a collaborative environment.
• Ability to work concurrently on multiple complex and sometimes ambiguous problems.
• Strong ability to communicate complex concepts, problems, and solutions clearly and effectively to all levels of an organization.
• Excellent communication, presentation, problem-solving, and management skills.
• Ability to adapt communication style to the listener’s experience, background, and expectations, including technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to communicate in an effective and approachable style that engages others and builds credibility.
• Ability to provide rationale when delivering complex or challenging information.
• Strong relationship management skills with the ability to build trust, manage expectations, and drive partner satisfaction.
• Financial and business acumen with the ability to manage account performance, profitability, budgets, and growth opportunities.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and coordinate service delivery across internal and external stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technology account leader for up to three higher education institutions, ensuring successful, enduring, and productive partner relationships
• Partner with institutional leaders, CIOs, and key stakeholders to understand technology needs, strategic objectives, service expectations, and institutional priorities
• Provide technology thought leadership and input into IT strategy based on partner objectives, collaboration with CIOs, and alignment with Collegis technology functional leaders
• Facilitate IT project governance and steering committee processes to prioritize technology initiatives and align technology priorities with institutional strategic objectives
• Define project and service scope, resource plans, schedules, staffing needs, tools, budgets, and internal or external constraints
• Oversee the IT project portfolio for assigned partners, including project schedules, delivery progress, stakeholder communication, and expectation management
• Build and nurture inter-organizational and interpersonal relationships that strengthen trust, enhance collaboration, and support partner and Collegis business plans
• Conduct regular check-ins with external stakeholders, including monthly and/or quarterly business reviews
• Provide clear direction to internal technology teams on client priorities, objectives, and expectations to ensure projects are appropriately scoped and executed
• Manage ongoing communication with partner leadership, key departments, stakeholders, and internal Collegis teams
• Review monthly service level reports and provide analysis and feedback to support continuous improvement
• Develop the annual account operating budget and monitor account profit and loss financial statements to manage profitability and drive improvement initiatives
• Support account growth by identifying upsell and cross-sell opportunities aligned with partner needs
• Report to management on information technology plans, projects, account performance, and related matters
• Provide continual process and technology improvement suggestions for Partner Management
• Provide assistance and mentorship to less senior team members
• Manage assigned IT Managed Services partners simultaneously with minimal oversight
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned
• Adhere to the appropriate information security policies based on the sensitivity of company data and report any security-related issues

Skills

Customer-facing leadership

IT strategy

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Cross-functional leadership

Relationship building

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

Collegis Education is seeking a strategic technology partner to shape technology priorities across our higher-education partnerships. You will align client objectives with scalable solutions and lead governance, delivery, and stakeholder relationships.

In this hybrid role, you will manage cross-functional teams, drive account performance and profitability, and mentor colleagues while delivering continuous improvement and growth for our partners.