Vice President and Chief Information Officer

Villanova University, United States

Updated: 11 days ago
Location: Villanova, PENNSYLVANIA
Deadline: ;

Posting Details

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Posting Details (Default Section)


Posting Number: 20243946S
Position Title: Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Position Type: Staff
Location: Villanova, PA
Recruitment Type: Internal/External Applicants
Work Schedule: full-time/12-months
Avg Hours Week
Department: 711-UNIT - Senior Management Team
Position Summary:
Villanova University seeks an engaging team builder and leader to serve as the Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO). As an officer of the University and reporting to the Executive Vice President of Administration and Operations, the CIO will serve as a member of the President’s cabinet and work in collaboration with academic and administrative colleagues to help Villanova leverage technology and data to further its mission and goals. The CIO will join a growing and vibrant institution and will help Villanova realize important strategic initiatives including supporting the growth of undergraduate and graduate teaching and learning, advancing research and scholarship, further personalizing student services, and enhancing community engagement. Villanova’s recent acquisition of Cabrini University’s campus is a unique opportunity to help plan the usage and technical capabilities of a new location. An active and visible leader on campus, the CIO will possess a deep appreciation for the mission, history, and achievements of Villanova, as well as the University’s Augustinian values. Villanova is especially committed to recruiting candidates from historically marginalized or underrepresented backgrounds and identities, as well as individuals whose leadership fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Villanova is a Catholic university sponsored by the Augustinian Order. Diversity and inclusion have been and will continue to be an integral component of Villanova University’s mission. The University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and seeks candidates who understand, respect and can contribute to the University’s mission and values.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The CIO is the principal member of the University’s executive leadership team responsible for leading the University’s technology strategy in support of teaching, learning, research, operations, and the student experience. They will build a positive culture within UNIT and strengthen partnerships with the Villanova community. Working in collaboration with the President, Provost, faculty, staff, and key administrators, and the University IT team (UNIT), the CIO will build on past successes and articulate a vision and roadmap for technology and data that include:
  • Creating greater organizational effectiveness within UNIT, improving coordination across all IT service providers and service delivery to all University stakeholders and operating units.
  • Building planning and outreach capabilities to engage the community to identify emerging needs and surface opportunities to use technology to further Villanova’s priorities.
  • Improving IT planning and governance processes to embrace Villanova’s commitment to shared governance and align technology to University priorities.
  • Enabling academic distinction by completing the transition to a new learning management system, upgrading classroom technology, and expanding research computing capabilities.
  • Developing a roadmap for administrative systems and data to optimize operational effectiveness, enrollment outcomes, and student services and processes.
  • Leveraging technology to create intuitive and consistent service experiences and enable effective engagement strategies for all University constituents.
  • Expanding technologies and support to facilitate the use of technology in teaching and research.


About Villanova University Information Technologies (UNIT)
The CIO will lead UNIT, presently organized into eight divisions: Enterprise Technology Services, University Information Systems, Customer Experience Support, Instructional Technology, Security, University Card Services, Project Management and Finance/Business Operations. The CIO builds community and collaboration between UNIT and the local IT leaders across the University. The CIO partners with the Provost and the Division of Academic Affairs to plan and deploy capabilities to support Villanova’s learning technologies, online programs, and research computing. Leading a staff of more than 125 employees and contractors, the CIO oversees the development and execution of an annual operating budget of $24 million and the University’s technology capital budget to support a diverse portfolio of services and solutions including Ellucian Banner ERP, SalesForce, HelioCampus and a migration to D2L as a new learning management system.
UNIT has a solid foundation to enable new strategic directions. It has a dedicated leadership team and staff, and the University regularly invests in the renewal and replacement of its core infrastructure and classroom technology and is actively maturing its information security program. Executive leadership is supportive of UNIT and recognizes the importance of technology to Villanova’s strategic priorities.
Minimum Qualifications:
The successful candidate will have excellent leadership, management, collaboration, and persuasive communication skills. A bachelor’s degree and ten or more years of significant management experience in a comparably complex IT organization are required. At the University’s discretion, the education and experience prerequisites may be accepted where the candidate can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the University, an equivalent combination of education and experience preparing the candidate for success in the position.
Successful candidates will excel at listening and communication and demonstrate the following required qualifications.
  • Curiosity and ability to learn, contribute to, and advance Villanova’s distinctive mission in the context of excellence in digital technology.
  • Track record of building an effective organizational culture and cohesive IT team.
  • Experience guiding implementation of complex technology and process change projects with a substantial emphasis on managing change.
  • Experience guiding IT organizations (including distributed IT) to innovate and modernize technology management processes and IT support services.
  • Commitment to advancing Augustinian values and to creating a culture welcoming of diversity and fostering equity and inclusion.
  • Financial acumen and experience developing and managing operating and capital budgets.
Preferred Qualifications:
The most competitive candidates will possess several of the following experiences:
  • Led an organization of similar size and complexity to enable changes to culture, structure, processes, and service.
  • Collaborated with executives, key stakeholders, and IT team to develop an IT strategic plan and service delivery model in support of institutional priorities and emerging directions.
  • Established effective IT governance practices to establish priorities and allocate human and financial resources.
  • Significant contributor to an organization’s use of technology to support research and scholarship in diverse academic disciplines.
  • Experience introducing and implementing user design principles in enterprise solutions.
  • Awareness of how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning are impacting IT service delivery.
  • Demonstrated awareness of key issues and trends in broad areas of technology, including infrastructure, cloud services, data management, mobility, and security.
  • Guided discussions and decisions regarding the ethical uses of technology.
  • Contributed to their local or professional community through service in an association, non-profit or mission-based organization.
  • Developed processes and organizational capacity to pilot new ideas, explore emerging technologies and support innovation.
Physical Requirements and/or Unusual Work Hours:
Special Message to Applicants:
Villanova University has engaged Next Generation Partners to lead this search. Inquiries, applications, and nominations may be directed in confidence to Mary Beth Baker, Managing Partner, Next Generation: [email protected] . Please email a cover letter and resume to: [email protected] .
Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until a successful candidate is identified. For the fullest consideration, please submit materials by April 5, 2024.
Posting Date: 03/12/2024
Closing Date (11:59pm ET):
Salary Posting Information:
Commensurate with experience.
Salary Band:
Job Classification: exempt

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