Director of Client Services

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts ( UNCSA) is a top-ranked creative and performing arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was founded in 1963 as America's first public arts conservatory. UNCSA provides gifted emerging artists with the experience, knowledge, and skills needed to excel in their disciplines and in their lives, and it serves and enriches the cultural and economic prosperity of the people of North Carolina and the nation. UNCSA is the state's unique professional school for the performing, visual, and moving image arts, training students at the high school, undergraduate, and master's levels for professional careers in the arts.

UNCSA Information Technologies (IT) department's mission is to lead, serve, and support the school as it embraces and encourages integration of information technology in all aspects of campus life where it is appropriate and in alignment with UNCSA's mission. UNCSA's IT department is responsible for centralized IT management.

The Client Services team exists within the UNCSA IT department and consists of two groups: System Administration and Tech Support. The System Administration group is responsible for administering servers, storage, and cloud infrastructure, enterprise-level software systems and services, and mobile device management ( MDM) for the University. The Tech Support group focuses on providing customer service and tech support for the client devices in the organization to students, faculty, and staff. The department serves as the main point of contact for users needing assistance with IT-related issues, ensuring efficient and effective use of the university's technological resources. The primary goal is to deliver high-quality customer service; resolve technical problems; set guidelines for approval of IT technology purchasing; and assist in the adoption of new technologies to enhance academic and administrative experiences at the university.

The Director of Client Services is part of the leadership team in the UNCSA Information Technology department. The director is a thought leader, a consensus builder, and an integrator of people and processes. This position reports to and will work closely with the CIO to build processes and improve service delivery for the campus. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership and operating system expertise. The director will serve as the project manager and escalation resource for all related technical activities for the Client Services team. This position will follow industry trends and technologies to recommend and implement services that enhance business operations. The director will supervise the service catalog portfolio and act as liaison between IT staff and customers.

The director is responsible for supervising a professional staff of system administrators and support technicians in the respective System Administration and Tech Support groups. This position has the responsibility to plan, implement, and provide oversight for those groups, as well as manage the relationship between the business and the customer/user. They will also back up the duties of the System Administrators as needed. This will include the administration of mobile device management ( MDM) systems.

Normal working hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Also expected to occasionally work additional hours outside normal hours during weekdays and weekends. Also expected to be available to respond to emergencies during off hours related to the specific systems for which they are responsible.

This position will work closely with internal customers and team members daily. The director may be expected to attend vendor conferences and meetings with representatives of UNCSA departments, other universities, and UNC Systems Office.

The Director of Client Services is responsible for:

* Supervising a group of system administrators responsible for endpoint management, university compute, storage, and infrastructure.

* Supervising a group of support technicians responsible for delivering high-quality customer service; resolving technical problems; setting guidelines for approval and support of IT technology purchasing; and assisting in the adoption of new technologies to enhance academic and administrative experiences at the university.

* Supervising the development and use of the incident and asset management system.

* Evaluating the performance of all direct reports.

* Supervising all systems and services provided by all direct reports, delegating work on tasks and projects, and coordinating efforts for requests and issues.

To maintain high-quality customer service, this position will act as the point of escalation for requests and issues. The director will collaborate with IT leadership to identify optimum solutions to problems. The director also provides technical consultation on minor or moderately complex system problems. This position requires a significant ability to manage multiple competing objectives and to communicate complex technical information in understandable terms to university management and end user personnel.

The Director of Client Services is responsible for:

* Aligning all direct reports to meet service delivery needs to support the IT department's initiative as part of the university's strategic plan and to increase customer satisfaction.

* Addressing operational needs for customer service, including service during evenings, nights, or weekends if necessary.

* Assisting team in diagnosing and remediating issues when necessary.

* Troubleshooting and remediating server systems issues, including identification of technical trends in problem identification and resolutions. It may be necessary to escalate and work with systems vendors to troubleshoot issues.

* Interacting with customers, technicians, analysts, and specialists to implement and deploy new server systems, assist in integrations, and troubleshoot problems related to the use of single and/or multiple information systems.

* Liaising with vendors, UNCSA IT team, other UNCSA employees, University of North Carolina Systems Office ( UNCSO), and other external mobile device management ( MDM) systems administrators to assist in resolving problems with the MDMs.

* Providing conflict resolution if necessary to resolve differences.

Infrastructure Maintenance and Cybersecurity
The Director of Client Services assists the System Administrator with his duties and serves as a backup System Administrator.

The Director of Client Services is responsible for:

* Maintaining Windows Server infrastructure and Active Directory for the university and departmental subdomains including account setup and maintenance.

* Installing, configuring, maintaining, monitoring, and testing of server hardware and software from specifications for new and modified systems.

* Installing, configuring, maintaining, monitoring, testing, and administering campus enterprise applications as assigned.

* Administering Azure, Office 365, and Exchange Online.

* Creating backups and safeguarding enterprise system data.

* Implementing, maintaining and monitoring systems according to established Information Technology security standards.

* Coordinating with the Networking group to provide DHCP and DNS services to the campus users and applications.

* Analyzing usage, analyzing systems load issues, and optimizing performance.

The Director of Client Services administers and maintains the mobile device management ( MDM) systems as well as using the MDMs for the deployment of configurations, software, and updates to client devices. The MDM used by UNCSA for the PC platform is currently Microsoft inTune. The MDM used by UNCSA for the Apple platform is currently Jamf Pro. The Director of Client Services should demonstrate technical understanding of the hardware, software, and processes involved in endpoint administration and maintenance, as well as training in those systems.

The Director of Client Services is responsible for:

* Thoroughly testing MDM processes; notifying IT team of maintenance, downtime, bugs, new features, and application failures; reporting potential issues and/or concerns, investigating those issues and/or concerns, explaining their impacts, and taking corrective action on issues and/or concerns when necessary; and reporting any failures with the processes, investigating the causes of those failures, and explaining the causes of those failures.

* Assisting in device enrollment as necessary and verifying that devices are enrolled correctly.

* Deploying software and configuration changes to endpoints via MDMs for the purpose of installing software, upgrading software, applying patches, applying configuration changes, remediating security vulnerabilities, and other purposes; all within the defined schedule of deployments as applicable. This position will implement requests regarding configuration deployment and/or software deployment from the Security Analyst(s) and will take directions on these responsibilities from the CIO.

* Thoroughly testing the deployment of configurations and software to devices using the MDMs; notifying CIO and Security Analyst(s) of software deployment progress and software deployment failures; reporting potential issues and/or concerns, investigating those issues and/or concerns, explaining their impacts, and taking corrective action on issues and/or concerns when necessary; and reporting any failures with deployment, investigating the causes of those failures, and explaining the causes of those failures.

* Developing scripts to enhance the processes of the MDMs.

The Director of Client Services coordinates with other members of IT leadership to develop strategies for supporting technology and plan for the adoption of new technologies, procedures, and policies.

The Director of Client Services is responsible for:

* Planning for the release of new operating system versions, new MDM versions, and other new technologies on the platforms; collaborating with the team to anticipate upcoming technology changes in the supported platforms; researching new technology; and communicating such with members of the IT department.

* Setting schedules for all direct reports to include both onsite and remote work.

* Providing oversight and managing technical projects including timeline, resources, and personnel.

* Developing and applying new procedures and technologies to team activities.

* Identifying operational best practices for all direct reports.

* Hiring team members; mentoring them; training them to improve their techniques, practices, and expertise; and providing opportunities for their professional development.

* Providing clear work plans for all direct reports relating to job duties, performance, and expectations.

* Assisting in developing clear policies for the IT department.

* Developing and maintaining clear procedures for staff to utilize in the execution of their work.

* Planning server hardware, software, and enterprise applications from specifications for new and modified systems.

* Generating reports from the MDMs and the endpoint protection application (CrowdStrike); developing metrics from the MDMs and CrowdStrike to track the success of the MDMs; and using that data to analyze issues with devices and their remote management through the MDMs.

* Documenting processes, systems, and technical issues.

Mid-career with Masters and 1-2 yrs experience; or Bachelors and 2-4 yrs experience

If no applicants apply who meet the required competency level and training & experience requirements for all SHRA positions, then management may consider other applicants. Salary would be determined based on competencies, equity, budget, and market considerations.

Education
* Mid-career with Masters and 1-2 yrs experience or
* Bachelors and 2-4 yrs experience

Preferred Qualifications
* MCSE or other related certification preferred.
* Experience with Microsoft inTune and/or Jamf Pro
* Scripting experience.

* Proficiency with core infrastructure elements and understanding of their interrelation to provide a cohesive computing environment.

* Demonstrates functional understanding and administrative experience of system platforms including but not limited to Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016; as well as Active Directory, Office 365, and Exchange. Familiarity with HP Servers/Storage, Microsoft Intune, Jamf Pro, and VMWare preferred.

* Knowledge of standards and procedures for system operations, security, storage management, and system recovery.

* Ability to collect usage and runtime data from performance tools and history reports. Ability to analyze, report on, and make recommendations for system performance.

* Experience and knowledge of automation tools and basic scripting techniques applicable to the administered systems preferred. (PowerShell preferred.)

* Ability to resolve problems through systems analysis and troubleshooting procedures independently.

* Ability to interact professionally and effectively with clients, technicians, analysts, specialists, and vendors. Troubleshoots with team members on problems related to the use of single and/or multiple information systems. Participate in formal or informal group problem-solving for immediate issues. Consults staff and management on moderately complex server-based applications and services in assessment and fulfillment of client needs.

* Ability to reorganize work assignments and adapt workload to unanticipated changes.

* Ability to determine operational schedule and provide input into plans for updates and enhancements that will not interrupt system usage. Must be capable of executing project plans of limited complexity, scheduling work, and requesting assistance as needed to complete the project. Capability to work as a member of a collaborative team to develop, operate and maintain shared systems, applications, and services.

* Ability to develop projects such as systems or software upgrades and incorporate appropriate IT and user staff. Ability to solicit input from non-technical clients and from technical staff to translate those inputs into a realistic action plan including tasks, required resources, milestones, and reporting mechanisms. This includes the effective planning and time management of tasks, contribution to a team effort, and/or may involve occasional project management for projects of moderate scope, or for components of a larger scale/multifaceted project led by others.

* Ability to assess risk and apply risk mitigation strategies as appropriate.

* Ability to assess the impact of new technologies on current systems.

* Ability to formulate verbal or written reports describing the reported problems or issues, their resolution and the impact, if any, of the resolution to the reporting agencies. Ability to develop policies and documentation to comply with auditor requirements.

This is an Exempt Professional Staff ( EPS) position. PLEASE NOTE: A criminal background check will be conducted on candidate finalist prior to the offer of employment. Resumes WILL NOT be accepted in lieu of completing an electronic application. The application must be completed in full detail (including work history) for your qualifications to be considered. Failure to complete the application process as required by state regulations WILL result in your application being rejected for the vacancy and you will not be considered for the position. Other materials may be requested at a later time. Applications will be treated confidentially until the final stages of the search process. Salary will be commensurate with experience.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants are welcome to apply without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, National Guard, or veteran status.

EEO Contact Information
Applicants needing assistance with the application process are asked to contact: suttonar@uncsa.edu