The Director of Network Services leads the team responsible for the University’s servers, networks, phone systems, and datacenters. This role provides strategic direction and hands-on oversight to ensure the reliability, security, and innovation of campus technology systems. The Director supervises a skilled team of network and systems professionals and serves as a key leader in maintaining and advancing the University’s IT infrastructure to support teaching, learning, and research. 

• Design, build, and maintain secure and reliable networks, servers, datacenters, and phone systems.
• Partner with campus leaders to make sure new construction and renovation projects have the right IT infrastructure from the start.
• Champion information security-run awareness programs, lead our incident response efforts, and stay ahead of emerging threats.
• Develop and oversee vulnerability scanning and remediation programs to reduce risk.
• Represent IT when it comes to security, privacy, and copyright issues.
• Help innovate-look for opportunities to streamline, automate, and improve our technology environment.
• Participate in the system administrator on-call rotation and take on some direct system admin duties.

Supervisory Responsibilities:
• Hire, lead, direct, coach, train, and evaluate Network Services team to ensure the delivery of timely, high- quality services across campus.
• Provide strategic leadership and direction to network engineers, administrators, and support staff.
• Oversee timekeeping, attendance, and leave management for direct reports.
• Conduct performance evaluations, provide constructive feedback and coaching, recommend disciplinary actions, when necessary, authorize overtime and work schedules, and lead onboarding and training.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and service-oriented culture that supports the missions of the University and the department.
• Develop succession planning and implement cross-training opportunities to strengthen team capacity and ensure continuity of operations.

Education:
Minimal Education: 
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field.
Preferred Education: 
• Master’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field.

Experience: 
Minimal Experience: 
• Eight years of systems or network administration experience with increasing responsibility.
• Hands-on-leadership with at least three major systems or service implementations.
Preferred Experience:
• Twelve years of systems or network administration experience.
• Experience running a large server farm, enterprise storage, and production datacenters.
• Demonstrated excellence in leadership, motivation, and coaching.

Technical 
• Knowledge of network technologies, infrastructure , and IT service delivery best practices.
• Strong technical foundation in operating systems, servers, storage, and networks.
• Solid understanding of information security practices.
• Skilled in managing priorities, time, and tasks-for yourself and others.
• Strong background with Linux (REHL/CentOS/Rocky) and Windows Server/Active Directory.
• Experience with automation tools (RANCID, Puppet, MDT, GPOs, etc.) and scripting languages (Bash, PowerShell, Python, Perl, Ruby).
• Knowledge of datacenter design and highly virtualized environments (VMware, XenServer, Proxmox, etc.).
• Experience working in complex, campus-style networks with multiple routers and VLANs.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to align network services with institutional goals and evolving technology needs.

Leadership & Supervisory Skills:
• A people-first mindset, valuing customer service, team development and technology equally. 
• Clear, confident, consistent, and respectfully communication skills (written and verbal), including active listening and the ability to adapt to different audiences.
• Strong relationship-building skills with a diverse population including all customers, partners, technicians, and university employees.
• Proven ability to mentor, train, and support professional growth for staff at all levels.
• Skill in addressing concerns, mediating disagreements, and fostering a respectful, collaborative environment.
• Experience in performance management, including setting measurable goals, providing constructive feedback, and addressing performance issues promptly.
• Demonstrated adaptability and resilience, with the ability to remain calm under pressure, manage change, and guide teams through challenges.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.

The physical demands characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Health & Safety: All staff has a statutory responsibility to take reasonable care of themselves, others and the environment and to prevent harm by their acts or omissions. All staff is therefore required to adhere to the University’s Health, Safety, and Environmental Policy & Procedures.

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, skills, and qualifications required of personnel so classified.

Special Instructions to Applicants: An equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, Clarkson actively seeks and encourages applications from veterans and people with disabilities. 

All offers of employment are subject to the applicant successfully passing a background check (including, but not limited to, employment verification, educational and other credential verification, and criminal records