Academic Partnerships assists primarily regional universities in increasing their access and impact by making their academic programs available to students online. Founded in 2007, AP's mission is to expand access to high-quality, affordable, and workforce-relevant education, especially for working and adult students. AP brings single-minded dedication to student success, an integrated set of services, and data-driven performance to our collaboration with university partners.

A Day in the Life:

The essential functions of this role are as follows:

Strategy & Planning

• Design and implement short- and long- term strategic plans to ensure infrastructure and cloud capacity meets existing and future requirements.
• Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, and associated training plans for infrastructure administration, cloud operations and project management.
• Participate in the development of IT strategies in collaboration with the executive team.
• Conduct research and make recommendations on products, services, protocols, and standards in support of all infrastructure/cloud procurement and development efforts.
• Establish service level agreements with business units.
• Understand team operations using actionable data by developing and reporting on metrics for the performance of their staff and team operations. Use these metrics to guide decisions and drive individual and operational improvements.
• Understand business and departmental objectives and use this knowledge to develop a strategic roadmap for the team. Communicate a clear message to their team about where they are headed, the impact of their ongoing and future projects, and how they plan to achieve them.
• Assist with the planning and deployment of infrastructure/cloud security measures.

Operational Management

• Manage and set priorities for the design, maintenance, development, and evaluation of all infrastructure/cloud systems, including LANs, WANs, Internet, intranet, security, wireless, Cloud services implementations, and the complete Microsoft M365 environment.
• Conduct feasibility studies for various upgrade projects, improvements, and other conversions.
• Define hardware and software standards in conjunction with owners and stakeholders.
• Test network performance and provide network performance statistics and reports; develop strategies for maintaining network infrastructure.
• Test server performance and provide network performance statistics and reports; develop strategies for maintaining server infrastructure.
• Manage operational costs; conduct near- and long-term financial forecasts for cloud operating expenses
• Establish and maintain regular written and in-person communications with the organization's stakeholders, department managers, and end users regarding pertinent infrastructure activities.
• Practice IT asset management for all Infrastructure and Cloud services, including maintenance of component inventory and related documentation.
• Maintain and track projects assigned to the team. Create and track milestones, deadlines, and prioritize workloads using a well maintained project list. Hold the team accountable for delivering on commitments and meeting project deadlines.
• Strive to provide the best possible service to the business. Acknowledge that there is always room for improvement and look for opportunities to improve the service that the team provides to the business. Make department leaders aware of improvement opportunities, create plans to address them, and follow through on the execution of those plans.

Staff Development

• Optimize the productivity, efficiency, and skills growth of the team and each individual team member. This is accomplished through driving cross training initiatives, assisting with career development, improving working methods, improving collaboration, implementation of productivity tools, and improving old or outdated processes. When members of their team are not meeting performance or productivity standards, they identify the issue quickly and resolve the problem.
• Define the culture for the team by exhibiting ideal performance and attitude. Demonstrate confident leadership and a positive outlook. Strive to keep the team motivated and feeling positive about their work and goals, and praise individual and group achievements.

• Direct and administrate a contingent of systems and cloud administrators, and where necessary, conduct performance reviews and corrective action.

What You'll Need for Success:

You must meet the following requirements to be considered for employment:

Formal Education & Certification

• Four-year university degree or college diploma in the field of computer science and/or 6 years equivalent work experience.
• Certifications in Microsoft Server, Azure, AWS or Google Cloud Services, M365, or Security preferred

Knowledge & Experience

• 6 years' experience managing and delivering infrastructure design and operational excellence.
• Exceptional knowledge of service and application delivery, as well as successful service level agreement accomplishments.
• 6 years successful leadership of an Infrastructure/Operations/Cloud team.
• Proficiency in Azure, AWS and Google Cloud platforms.
• Proficiency in the Microsoft M365 environment.
• Proficiency in Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms.
• Hands-on experience in troubleshooting hardware.
• Experience in interpreting the applicability of local and federal laws/regulations to company operations.

Personal Attributes

• Ability to make sound and logical judgments.
• Demonstrated leadership and personnel/project management skills.
• Good understanding of the organization's goals and objectives.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
• Ability to perform general mathematical calculations for the purpose of creating needs assessments, budgets, and so on.
• Able to conduct research into issues and products as required.
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment and make sound decisions in emergency situations.

Academic Partnerships is an equal opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Academic Partnerships offers the following comprehensive benefits:

• PTO - accumulated from day one
• 11 designated holidays
• Medical - four options (including PPO and HDP)
• Dental
• Vision
• Life & Disability (company paid)
• Flexible Spending Account & Health Savings Account (company contribution to HSA)
• Retirement plan with company match
• Maternity / Paternity / Parental Leave (company paid)
• Volunteer Time Off

Supplemental Benefits:

• Wellness program
• Alternative medicine options
• Pet discounts
• Accident, Critical Illness and Hospital Indemnity

Personal and Professional Development:

• Continuous Professional and Leadership Development Programs
• Tuition Reimbursement for employees and their dependents