Position Summary

The IT Division provides the core information technology infrastructure and services for San Diego State University that support the learning, research, and outreach mission of the University. The Unit’s mission is inherently and intrinsically a shared services approach to collaboration across our campuses, colleges, administrative and auxiliary units.

The Information Technology Division (ITD) within San Diego State University (SDSU) has an immediate opening for an Associate Vice President for IT Service & Support. This is a new and critical leadership role that will report directly to the Chief Information Officer. The primary purpose of this position is to provide executive leadership for the new campus wide IT User Services customer engagement model, OneIT@SDSU, recently established to enhance structural collaboration among IT professionals working at San Diego State University.

The Associate Vice President for IT Service & Support will be responsible for leading and implementing an organizational change process to ensure integration of college IT and IT Division User Services personnel and processes, working directly with leaders in the colleges and the IT Division, especially the Deputy CIO who is spearheading integrated strategic planning for the IT Division.

The Associate Vice President for IT Service & Support will directly oversee multiple teams responsible for the development of our innovation narrative, customer service portfolio, and key selling points including customer engagement, IT Service Management (ITSM) strategy, and Help Desk unification. The Associate Vice President for IT Service & Support works closely with campus partners to create an integrated service model that positions IT to win customer and partner preference with straightforward, convenient and accessible solutions.

The Associate Vice President for IT Service & Support performs work with broad management and strategic responsibilities of considerable difficulty and sensitivity in planning, organizing, directing and coordinating administrative and operational activities of OneIT@SDSU, and supervising all aspects of User Services leadership and helping coordinate IT staff and services in academic colleges.

The desired candidate will be comfortable with advancing ambiguous solutions into tangible deliverables that help drive efficiencies and customer satisfaction. This leader will be asked to streamline the IT support services experience, drive adoption of integrated OneIT@SDSU services across the University, help prioritize customer demand, provide data driven views of users services, and other miscellaneous duties as assigned. As with everyone in the ITD, culture and communications are core responsibilities in this role.

This is a senior leadership role, which is a direct report to the Vice President for Information Technology and the Chief Information Officer.

Essential Duties

• Develop and implement a framework for unified support for faculty, staff, and students. This involves not only a service philosophy but also organizational alignment and technology infrastructure.
• Provide strategic leadership for the Division and be the lead “people manager” for the IT personnel providing support to staff, faculty, and students in the IT Division and CollegeIT.
• Provide insights to assist in the design of seamless user services and strategic communications, as needed to deliver an integrated service experience.
• Foster personal and team reputation for creative and engaging thought leadership with each stakeholder organization.
• Responsible for creating and implementing technology infrastructure for a new coordinated IT support and service center for faculty, staff and students.
• Responsible for all aspects of people management function including establishing, setting, and monitoring all annual performance plans; mentoring and career/professional development; ensuring proper tools are in place to support the team and the processes.
• Responsible for partnering with IT User Services and the college leadership on all aspects of people management.
• Works with college and ITD leaders to create a cross-university service-oriented narrative that connects with the SDSU mission and strategic plan, to both inform and inspire our customers.
• Responsible for partnering with college and ITD leadership to determine customer service engagement team goals and objectives.
• Manage and monitor current support and services with new and existing SLAs.
• Drive results and workforce motivation by providing flexible telecommute options for appropriate staff
• Motivate and energize staff to develop a OneIT “Service” definition, and unified Service Catalog that is simple to use, fast, flexible, and accessible.
• Create monthly, quarterly and annual growth goals and projections and keep Senior IT Division leaders, C-level executives and college leaders apprised of the progress.

A key factor for success in this role includes bringing INNOVATION into IT support and services by leveraging the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework, and IT Service Management (ITSM) with a focus on delivering services to customers, rather than leading a department that manages technology.

Candidate Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• 5-10 years of technology leadership with a focus on providing IT support and services (overseeing technical support, help desk, and workflow automation).
• 3-5 years of implementing organizational changes to reach key progress indicators defined by an explicit model for collaboration.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, with a particular focus on facilitation of generative discussions that lead to action items tied to clear outcomes.
• Leadership experience in creating and executing resource management plans, including budget allocation, to reach key progress indicators.
• Knowledge and experience creating strategic plans and implementation plans for community collaborative frameworks for IT personnel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a field appropriate to the area of the assignment
• Experience working in higher education, with a particular focus on complex multi-divisional information technology collaborations.
• Experience with IT workflow automation and analytics tool such as ServiceNow.
• Senior leadership role in information technology organizations, including and up to Chief Information Officer title.
• College degree and or relevant professional experience appropriate to the change management and leadership skills required for implementation of the unified OneIT model and integrated IT support strategy.
• Experience with project management, in particular the RACI model for understanding roles and responsibilities.
• Understanding of job titles, and career ladders, with a particular focus on examining and understanding IT work.

Compensation and Benefits

San Diego State University will offer a competitive salary based on the qualifications and experience of the selected candidate.

Anticipating hiring range: $175,000-$190,000

San Diego State University also offers a rich benefits package that includes:

• Extensive Leave benefits: 14 paid holidays, 24 vacation days, and 12 sick days per year;
• Retirement security through a CalPERS defined benefit pension (with CalPERS and UC Retirement Plan reciprocity) and retiree healthcare benefits;
• An array of health, dental, and vision coverage at no-cost or low-cost to the employee; and
• California State University system fee reduction program (fee waiver) for the employee or their qualified dependent

Supplemental Information

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a letter of interest addressing the themes in this profile and a CV or resume. Insight Global is assisting San Diego State University in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by January 22, 2023.

Application materials should be submitted through Insight Global's candidate portal: APPLY NOW

Nominations and inquiries can be directed to Juliana VanLaanen at Juliana.VanLaanen@insightglobal.com.

San Diego State University is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against persons based on race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, marital status, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, or covered veteran status.

After a contingent offer of employment is made, a background check (including a criminal records check) must be completed. Any offer of employment is contingent upon successful completion of the background check. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the application status of the applicant or continued employment of current CSU employees who apply for this position.

The person holding this position is considered a mandated reporter under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

SDSU COVID-19 Vaccine Policy

In accordance with the California State University systemwide policy, students, faculty, and staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide a valid medical or religious exemption in order to access campus. An individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of a two-shot vaccine or two weeks after the first dose of a single-shot vaccine.

The individual hired into this role will be required to submit their completed vaccination documentation to the university’s secure online health portal prior to beginning work. Individuals with an approved medical or religious exemption on file with the university will be required to participate in SDSU’s COVID-19 testing program.