Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Applications And Services

Department

OPS ITS - IT Services

About the Department

IT Services at the University of Chicago deliver secure, reliable, and innovative technology solutions that enable excellence in research, teaching, and operations. The Enterprise Applications and Services team partners with academic divisions and administrative units to implement modern platforms, advance data-informed decision making, and continuously improve the digital experience for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners,

Job Summary

The Assistant Vice President for Enterprise Applications and Services (AVP) is a member of the IT Senior Leadership team and provides strategic and operational leadership for the University's enterprise applications portfolio, including Student, Finance, HR/Payroll, Research Administration, Alumni/Advancement, Facilities, and communications platforms, and the shared services that support them (data services, integration, web, and reporting/analytics). The AVP sets a clear vision, builds strong partnerships with business and academic leaders, and leads a high‑performing organization to deliver reliable services while re-architecting services and service delivery. This role stewards a sustainable financial model (operating funds, recharge, and capital), ensures disciplined governance and value realization, and champions a culture of service, learning, and inclusion. The AVP partners with other IT senior leaders to collaboratively develop strategic and organizational plans, budgets, and prioritization.

Responsibilities

• Provides vision and technical leadership for an enterprise application ecosystem spanning ERP, HCM/Payroll, Student Information Systems, CRM, research systems, and web platforms, with a focus on reliability, security, scalability, and user experience.
• Builds, mentors, and retains a diverse, high‑performing organization with a culture of accountability, inclusive leadership, and collaboration; sets clear goals, establishes career pathways, and embeds continuous learning cloud, AI/ML, data engineering, and cybersecurity. Establishes annual product roadmaps and service level objectives for each major platform in partnership with business owners; aligns capacity and funding to priorities and risk.
• Drives adoption of modern delivery practices (Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, and AI-assisted coding) to increase quality, time-to-market, and efficiency.
• Institutes robust vendor management and contract governance; negotiates service levels, aligns incentives to outcomes, and ensures compliance with University policies and regulations.
• Drives operational excellence in EAS by collaborating with peers on incident/problem/change management, disaster recovery, and continuity planning with clear metrics and post‑incident learning.
• Champions secure coding practices and application security standards across all development teams while proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating technology risks to protect institutional data and maintain regulatory compliance.
• Develops a portfolio management practice that will ensure applications are continuously evaluated to assess criticality and value, prioritize investments, and reduce technical debt.
• Serves as primary application development technology partner to Financial Services, HR/Payroll, University Research Administration, Facilities, Campus and Student Life, Alumni Relations and Development, and other academic and administrative units.
• Builds trust and transparency through regular communication, shared scorecards, and joint roadmap reviews; ensures governance bodies can prioritize work based on institutional value.
• Cultivates effective relationships with academic and administrative leaders, distributed IT leaders, data stewards, and faculty/administrative stakeholders to align enterprise platforms with business strategy, risk tolerance, architecture design, data standards, and service expectations.
• Champions an inclusive, user‑centered design approach and co‑design with end users and incorporates feedback loops to improve services.
• Translates University strategy into actionable multi‑year technology roadmaps; articulates benefits, risks, costs, and change impacts.
• Using the IT Services portfolio processes, oversees portfolio planning and execution across projects and products; ensures disciplined intake, resource management and benefits realization.
• Sponsors mission‑critical programs, such as student system modernization, master data management, AI‑enabled automation, and integration/API platform, with clear success measures.
• Serves as an escalation point for EAS directors to identify and remove impediments to delivery; escalates and resolves issues that threaten scope, schedule, budget, or value.
• Coordinates cross‑functional initiatives with IT Services Senior and Operational Leadership teams and executive sponsors; communicates progress to governance committees.
• Actively participates in portfolio management meetings and working groups for students, research, alumni and administration, the Enterprise Applications and Services Leadership Team, and other committees as assigned.
• Leads strategic initiatives such as expanding responsible AI in administrative applications, implementing a state‑of‑the‑art student system, and developing an enterprise master data and integration strategy.
• Establishes functional business plans and contributes to the development of IT systems strategy, goals, and priorities.
• Oversees the planning, execution, and management of IT Services projects. Directs front-line troubleshooting and problem solving.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 10+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

• --

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, information technology, business administration, or a related field.

Experience:

• Fifteen (15) + years leading enterprise‑scale administrative systems, including delivery of large‑scale application implementations across on‑premises and cloud platforms.
• At least three (3) years in an R1 university or comparably complex environment managing a portfolio that includes custom‑developed and third‑party solutions (client‑server, SaaS, cloud, and web).
• Proven success leading organizations of 75+ technology professionals (direct and indirect) through transformation, such as modernizing platforms, processes, and skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of AI/automation in administrative processes, including document processing, service management, and analytics, with responsible‑use practices.
• Successful leadership of ERP and enterprise platform implementations and ongoing operations, such as financials, HCM/payroll, student, and CRM.
• Hands‑on experience advancing data governance, master data management, APIs/integration, and business intelligence/analytics in a federated environment.
• Proven track record of migration initiatives from on-premise and cloud-based systems to Software as a Service (SaaS) environments.

Certifications:

• Project Management Professional (PMP), ITIL Foundation or higher, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), or comparable credentials.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficient with platforms such as Oracle Financials, Workday HCM, Salesforce, Slate, and modern data/analytics stacks.
• Skilled in vendor management across managed services, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Integration as a Service (IaaS), and business process outsourcing (BPO) support models, ensuring performance alignment, cost optimization, SLA adherence, and strategic partnership management.
• Regulatory and risk awareness - familiarity with FERPA, HIPAA, GDPR, accessibility, and cybersecurity best practices.

Preferred Competencies

• Track record building strong partnerships with academic and administrative leaders to co‑deliver measurable outcomes, such as student success, research support, and operational efficiency.
• Talent leadership - attract, develop, and retain top talent; foster psychological safety and inclusive excellence.
• Change leadership - lead organizational transformation, manage ambiguity, and drive adoption through communication, training, and enablement.
• Financial stewardship - develop sustainable operating and capital plans; manage recharges and total cost of ownership; align investments to value.
• Relationship management - collaborate across divisions with diplomacy and transparency; influence without authority.
• Strategic communication - convey complex technical topics to non‑technical audiences; write clear business cases and executive updates.
• Customer focus - design services around user needs and measurable outcomes; maintain high service quality and continuous improvement.
• Program/portfolio discipline - prioritize, sequence, and deliver complex initiatives with clear success metrics and benefits realization.

Working Conditions

• Standard office environment.
• Sit and stand for short or extended periods of time.
• Extensively use computer.
• Bend, crouch, or stoop.
• Make repetitive wrist, hand, or finger movements.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Information Technology

Role Impact

People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Range

$250,000.00 - $260,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.