Chief Information Officer (CIO-24) Contract

Company Description:

Oakton College, a caring community of educators dedicated to excellence and learning, invites applications for the Chief Information Officer (CIO-24)

A premier comprehensive community college, Oakton is 17 miles from downtown Chicago. Oakton serves the near northern suburbs of Chicago with campuses in Des Plaines and Skokie with buildings totaling over 700,000 square feet of space resting on 192 acres. These campuses serve almost 10,000 students annually that are enrolled in over 82,000 credit hours of instruction. The College’s Operating Funds’ budget (Education and Operations & Maintenance Funds) for the academic year ending on June 30, 2023 amounts to $77.1 million.

The College is known for its academic innovations, commitment to serving students, solid financial position, and supportive environment for both students and employees.

Candidates with a commitment to working in a culturally competent environment are especially valued at Oakton.

We encourage applications from candidates who reflect the increasing diversity of Oakton’s student body and community, enhance and promote engagement with other cultures, and have demonstrated a commitment to working with and as part of a multicultural faculty and diverse student body and community.

Job Description:

Basic Function and Responsibility:

The Chief Information Officer provides leadership and vision for the use of information technology as a critical component for the success of the College. The CIO is responsible for leadership of the College’s Information Technology Division to include application development, application management, network services, infrastructure services and system administration, IT security, media and web services, and user support services. The CIO also has oversight for enterprise security of information systems and processes.

Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides leadership and vision for assessing operational and technology needs and the formulation of strategies and work plans to achieve integrated, efficient and cost- effective, innovative technology solutions for the College.
• Oversees IT functions including media and web services, application services, administrative computing, networking, user services, telecommunications, infrastructure services, and security.
• Leads the development of an overall technology plan that maintains a robust and unified information technology infrastructure to support the academic and administrative technology strategy and delivers a maximum return on investment in technology resources; includes making recommendations for the purchase of computing hardware and software necessary to support the computing and technology operations of the college.
• Works with key stakeholders to determine needs, evaluate and advance an overall shared vision for campus technology. Implements technology innovations and improvements based on continual assessment of institutional technology needs and consults with key stakeholders at the College to exchange information, present new approaches, and discuss equipment/system changes.
• Partners with campus leadership on strategies that will enhance the teaching and learning process, and coordinates work efforts with the Academic Affairs Division on academic computing and distance learning strategies. Works closely with leadership to provide IT support in areas to include finance and administration, human resources, institutional advancement, student services, and academic instruction.
• Determines procedures and technologies to keep sensitive information secure. Provides advice and guidance to leadership on the emerging challenges in information security faced by academic institutions and leads initiatives to implement strategies to effectively mitigate the risks.
• Creates an environment that ensures the integrity of institutional information, including the development, oversight and assessment of disaster recovery and backup procedures.
• Fosters a work environment that encourages a culture of high performance focused on improving and streamlining work operations, and providing quality customer and service delivery.
• Recommend for hire, supervise and evaluate administrative, supervisory and technical staff necessary for the support of computing and other technology operations. Establishes long and short term strategic goals and assigns employee responsibilities appropriately.
• Prepares, recommends, and implements operating and capital budgets for assigned areas, monitors expenditures, assures that human and financial resources are allocated efficiently and effectively, and takes necessary actions to ensure compliance with budget limitations and established fiscal policies.
• Manages key relationships with IT vendors and service providers. Participates in vendor contract negotiations for new computer equipment, cloud computing and software purchases.
• Leads the process of systemic review and evaluation for the Office of Information Technology functional areas per the model adopted by the College. Oversees projects designed to streamline administrative processes through the use of technology to improve operational efficiencies.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems or related field from an accredited college or university; or the equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired is necessary.
• Minimum of seven years of increasingly responsible experience with systems and departments including student information systems and software, or network management or administrative systems, and collaborative projects. Higher education experience or closely related general management experience preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with employee and user training and development.
• Experience in IT infrastructure strategic planning and development, project management, and policy development.
• Organizational skills in handling and directing multiple and complex assignments and projects.
• Strong experience in organizing, developing, and implementing operational systems and writing guidelines and managing a high volume workflow office; educational setting experience preferred.
• Three years of administrative experience including supervision of exempt professional staff. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a culturally diverse workforce and provide leadership in organizational change.
• Excellent interpersonal, cross-cultural communication, diversity, organizational and problem- solving skills.
• Experience of positive and proactive approaches in identifying problems, creating innovative solutions, managing projects, leading teams through collaboration, and implementing efficiencies and effectiveness using technology.

Additional Information:

Supervision Received:

General direction is received from the Vice President for Administrative Affairs.

Supervision Exercised:

Supervision is exercised over the Associate Chief Information Officer, Director of Systems and Network Services the Director of Campus Technologies, as well as other professional, technical and clerical staff within media and web services.

Salary Range: $175,000 – $185,000

A comprehensive benefit package is available which includes medical, vision, and dental insurance; flexible spending; term life insurance; tuition waivers and reimbursement; retirement; paid holidays; sick days.

Appointment to a Administrator position is contingent upon approval by the College’s Board of Trustees

Application Instructions:

To become an applicant, interested individuals must complete the online application linked from the posting found on the Oakton website. Electronic copies of a cover letter, resume/cv, list of three (3) references with contact information and transcripts must be submitted by the applicant via uploading to the Oakton employment website. Please indicate the position code (CIO-24) on the cover letter. Uploaded documents need to be under 2 MB in size and in either .doc, .txt, or .pdf format. A total of 8 separate documents may be uploaded to an application file that has been successfully submitted to the College.

TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED:

An UNOFFICIAL copy of transcripts must be submitted at the time of application by the applicant.

***Official transcripts for all degrees earned are only required prior to appointment. *** Official transcripts or a placement/credential file should be e-mailed to adminsearch@oakton.edu.

FOR FULL CONSIDERATION PLEASE APPLY BY JANUARY 2ND.

Official transcripts or placement/credential files sent by postal mail should be sent to:

Oakton College

Chief Information Officer (CIO-24)

c/o Human Resources Department

1600 East Golf Road

Des Plaines, IL 60016

Interviewees will be reimbursed for expenses associated with travel in excess of 50 miles to the interviews.

Oakton College is an equal opportunity employer and has a strong commitment to diversity. In that spirit, we seek a broad spectrum of candidates, including minorities, veterans, women and people with disabilities. EOE/AA/M/F/D/V

Oakton is committed to maintaining an environment free from harassment and discrimination for all and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex (gender), sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, and reprisal or any other protected status. Further, Oakton does not discriminate on the basis of sex in any educational, employment, or extracurricular activity

Oakton College conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer of employment. Convictions are not a bar to employment. Background checks will be performed in compliance with state and federal law and in accordance with the Illinois Department of Human Rights Conviction Record Protection Act of March 2021.

Posted positions may be removed from the Oakton website without notice when it is determined that no additional applicants are required.

Oakton is accessible by public transportation.

Out-of-State Employment Defined

Oakton College’s primary location of operation is in the state of Illinois. An “out-of-state employee” is defined as an employee of Oakton College whose primary work location is outside of the state of Illinois. State taxes, employment tax, and worker’s compensation provisions vary from state to state and require payroll compliance with these various rules.

Allowable States for Out-of-State Employment All employees must maintain their primary residence in Illinois, Indiana, or a reciprocal state with Illinois. Reciprocal states include Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Illinois has tax agreements with these reciprocal states. Employees may have their primary residence in Indiana since Indiana is adjacent to Illinois.