Director, Networks & Systems

Job description

Brandeis University is looking to hire a Director of Networks & Systems in the IT Department. The Director provides strategic and operational leadership for the university’s core technology infrastructure, including networking, hybrid on-prem and offsite data center environments, server platforms, storage, virtualization, backups, disaster-recovery readiness, and infrastructure-adjacent applications. This role ensures the reliability, performance, and lifecycle planning of foundational IT services that support academic, administrative, public safety, and research activities. The Director oversees engineering staff, manages key vendor and consortium relationships, and guides infrastructure architecture, capacity planning, and multi-year capital planning. The position also coordinates data center facilities such as power, cooling, and physical environment in partnership with offsite data center providers and campus units. The Director collaborates closely with ITS Security, Identity & Access Management, Integrations, and application platform teams to ensure secure, scalable, cloud-aligned, and well-integrated infrastructure services. The salary range for the position is $153,800-$172,800. Job Description: Function 1 — Infrastructure Leadership & Architecture Oversight (40%) Provides strategic leadership for the university’s core on-prem and cloud-aligned infrastructure, including networking, hybrid on-prem/offsite data center environments, server platforms, storage, virtualization, and backup/DR systems. Develops and maintains multi-year lifecycle and capacity plans for compute, storage, network, and data center facilities. Guides infrastructure architecture decisions to ensure alignment with institutional strategy, security standards, and operational requirements. Oversees vendor relationships, consortium partnerships, and major infrastructure procurements. Coordinates power, cooling, and physical environment requirements across both campus and offsite data center locations. Function 2 — Operational Excellence & Platform Reliability (30%) Ensures reliable operation, monitoring, and performance of core infrastructure platforms including virtualization, Linux and Windows server environments, enterprise storage, cloud-adjacent hosting, wired and wireless networking, routing, switching, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing, and VPN. Oversees infrastructure-adjacent operational systems such as campus surveillance platforms and physical access control systems. Oversees disaster recovery readiness, including backups, restores, replication, and alignment with business continuity needs. Establishes and enforces engineering standards, automation practices, and operational runbooks. Supports non-production environments in collaboration with application owners following best-practice development and testing principles. Function 3 — Governance, Standards, and Cross-Team Collaboration (15%) Works closely with ITS Security to ensure infrastructure and applications meet security, audit, and compliance requirements. Partners with Identity & Access Management, Integrations, Public Safety, and application platform teams to support reliable, secure service delivery across the technology stack. Contributes to institutional planning for DR, business continuity, cloud strategy, and technical governance. Participates in RFPs, vendor evaluations, contract reviews, and architectural assessments to ensure solutions align with Brandeis and industry standards. Function 4 — Staff Leadership & Professional Development (15%) Provides leadership and direction to network engineers, systems engineers, and associated technical staff. Sets priorities, defines expectations, and fosters a culture focused on reliability, service, and continuous improvement. Supports staff development through coaching, training opportunities, and succession planning. Ensures effective workload management, structured change planning, and clear communication within and across teams. Job Requirements: Bachelor's degree required. Master's degree preferred. 8+ years of experience required with 3-5 years of supervisory experience Responsible for directing work, assigning priorities, conducting performance evaluations, and supporting hiring and professional development for engineering staff. Provides leadership on staffing, succession planning, and vendor-supported operational models. This position plays a key role in shaping technical architecture and operational resiliency across the university. Typical decisions include selecting platforms, defining lifecycle strategies, approving changes with infrastructure impact, prioritizing capital investments, and recommending architectural patterns. Requires close coordination with Security, IAM, Integrations, and application platform teams to ensure holistic, secure, and reliable service delivery. Requires the ability to drive. Requires the ability to lift 50 pounds. Pay Range Disclosure The University's pay ranges represent a good faith estimate of what Brandeis reasonably expects to pay for a position at the time of posting. The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements. Equal Opportunity Statement Brandeis University is an equal opportunity employer which does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religious creed, gender identity and expression, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, genetic information, disability, caste, military or veteran status or any other category protected by law (also known as membership in a "protected class").