Senior Director, Admin IT Systems & Experiences

Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants should attach a cover letter and a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application. We suggest the documents be in a PDF format to avoid formatting issues.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Administrative IT Systems and Experiences will be responsible for the overall portfolio management and strategic direction for IT operations of Rice University's modern Oracle Cloud ERP/HCM suite and other enterprise applications within the administrative ecosystem. In addition, the position is responsible for the implementation of technology to improve the work experience of the Rice community with regard to their administrative functions. This position will report to the Associate Vice President of Constituent Technology Services and work closely with the other unit leads in the Office of Information Technology and the Operations, Finance, and Services organizations. The Senior Director will need to be a transformative leader who understands emerging technologies or new processes and how they can be leveraged to benefit the customer and Rice. They will manage the implementation and maintenance of vendor software components, upgrades, quarterly release cycles, patches, software development efforts, and ongoing production operations. They will be focused on continual process improvement by partnering with their constituents and campus partners on operational goals and university projects. Most importantly, they need to be a flexible team leader who can build connections through effective communication and respectful customer and team engagement and can instill a positive service-oriented culture. This position will oversee the Enterprise Systems and Enterprise Data Analytics teams.

Workplace Requirements

This position is offered as a hybrid role, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration after the six month probation period. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

This is a full time, benefits eligible position and salary contingent upon qualifications and experience.

*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree

• Six years of related experience, including significant expertise in ERP systems and enterprise resource management, as well as progressive leadership in IT, ERP operation, and business process management, is essential.

• Skills

• Knowledge of management principles, knowledge management, business development and information technology

• Demonstrates high levels of leadership, diplomacy, persuasion, analytical influence, and judgment skills

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to cultivate strong and collaborative relationships inside and outside the organization

• Demonstrated ability to formulate and execute a forward-looking strategic vision for the department, guiding the team toward long-term goals and organizational excellence.

• Possess high-level, advanced skills in verbal/visual / written communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, critical thinking, and versatility

• Excellent project management skills

• Strong leadership and strategic management skills

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with ability to influence

Preferences

• 10 years experience

• Masters Degree

• Prior experience in managing large-scale ERP projects and their successful operation is a significant advantage

Essential Functions

• Strong interpersonal, analytical, presentation, and critical thinking skills, including the ability to operate within distributed teams with a collaborative, intercultural mindset, with minimal oversight.

• Strategic thinking with the ability to build through consensus a future state vision for enterprise systems.

• Demonstrates exceptional ability to build relationships and interact with team, leadership, and campus constituents.

• Ability to influence others and move toward a common goal or vision.

• Ability to make decisions with long-term implications.

• Extensive managerial background with an understanding of operational HR and finance department management.

• Exceptional communication skills - both written and verbal with a high attention to detail.

• Demonstrated knowledge of ERP/HCM functionality and configuration: financials, P2P, grant management, talent lifecycle, payroll, benefits, and other significant functions within a seasoned ERP platform.

• Clear understanding of the end-to-end grant management processes and reporting needs.

• Experience in Integration and analytics platform management.

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of testing methodologies and techniques

• Must be a team player and able to work with and through others.

• Ability to build communication plans, stakeholder maps, and other critical project documentation.

• Ability to deliver presentations and speeches.

• Knowledge of security requirements management, roles-based access standards, and ability to test.

• Ability to integrate in a dynamic, fast-paced testing team environment.

• Responsible for leading the strategy of improving constituents' experience.

• Demonstrates excellent troubleshooting and problem-solving skills; ability to resolve customer issues quickly to routinely interface at all levels of the organization quickly and interchangeably.

Additional Functions

• Manage a team of directors, analysts, and administrators responsible for the ERP/HCM Oracle Cloud applications and other enterprise systems.

• Create and execute business and technical plans to meet the changing needs of Rice University's administrative business processes.

• Create procedures and guidelines for team operations.

• Responsible for department financials and employee performance.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the team and program performance to ensure success.

• Develop employees and ensure effective use of their skills and delivery of products.

• Monitor and address team SLAs, application metrics, issue tracking (ITIL methodologies), and other performance tracking.

• Monitor industry trends and vendor roadmaps for future opportunities.

• Oversee team test plan creation and execution for portfolio.

• Provide effective communications on program portfolio, projects, and overall team performance.

• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

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Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity at all levels and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.