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Director, Customer Experience & Support

Posting Number:

20223311S

Position Title:

Position Type:

Staff

Location:

Villanova, PA

Recruitment Type:

Internal/External Applicants

Work Schedule:

full-time/12-months

Avg Hours Week

Department:

715-UNIT - Technology Support Services

Position Summary:

Does the thought of being part of a team at the crux of digital transformation in a world-renowned higher education institute excite you? How about the idea of collaborating with technical and functional personnel to design, support, and enhance services that could help influence positive change in the campus community? Does the idea of leading teams focused on collaboration and continual improvement sound like an exciting opportunity?

If so, the University Information Technology (UNIT) team at Villanova University has a leadership

opportunity that you may be a great fit for.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief Information Officer, the Director for Customer Experience & Support provides strategic and operational leadership for multiple teams providing customer-centered support services for Villanova’s campus community. This position is responsible for the leadership and mentorship of personnel in the campus Service Desk, endpoint engineering and lifecycle support, distributed customer support (Law School and College of Engineering), and customer outreach/success teams. This role will be a strategic and tactical collaborator, both internal and external to the central University Information Technologies (UNIT) team, helping provide proactive engagement opportunities, empathy-led support, and transparent communications. The Director will be expected to foster strong partnerships within campus, with key vendors, and across higher education institutions.

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:

Leadership and Administrative Responsibilities

Lead teams responsible for enterprise customer support (on-premises and remote); including setting priorities, resolving conflicts, performance evaluations, and performance coaching.
Ensure high-quality customer engagement across walk-up, web, chat, email, text, and telephony support mechanisms that values empathy and positive experiences.
Collaborate with functional teams on diverse, complex issues and projects both internal and external to UNIT.
Facilitate knowledge transfer between teams inside and outside of UNIT.
Generate quotes, purchase requests, and justification for procurement of equipment and services; includes developing business case documentation for leadership and/or board review.
Partner with the Deputy CIO and UNIT leadership to develop budgets, predictable refresh schedules, and contract/price negotiations where applicable.
Participate in meetings relevant to this position and team across campus.
Create and facilitate change requests for approval on all production systems.
Work across UNIT to develop and document system policies and procedures.
Assist UNIT leadership in the development and enforcement of forward-leaning IT guidelines, standards, procedures, and policies.
Lead planning activities for establishing future directions for systems based on support metrics, customer experience, and their contribution to the mission of Villanova.

Operational Oversight and Project Management

Contribute to efforts surrounding the development and ongoing maintenance of Communication Strategies and Support Protocols for Villanova University’s information technology systems.
Provide transparency into the status, health, utilization, and performance of enterprise services through use of monitoring and outreach tools.
Maintain a complex portfolio of operational projects surrounding enterprise endpoint lifecycle management and service delivery lifecycle, involving prioritization of operational work and resource allocation, proactive involvement of UNIT teams impacted by work, and scheduling communications on maintenance and upgrades.
Collaborate with leadership and peers to develop project plans, including work breakdowns, timelines, milestones, resources needed, and cost of service analyses.
Coordinate with Project Management Office to create project teams, assign responsibilities, track progress and resource constraints, update documentation and reporting, and communicate project status to supervisors.

Outreach and Campus Engagement

Lead UNIT’s outreach and customer relations efforts, working proactively across the organization to assure that customer needs are met.
Work with clients and units both inside and outside UNIT to assure satisfactory delivery of services in an efficient manner.
Provide technical support and consulting to colleagues both internal and external to UNIT to ensure systems and services are more secure, sustainable, and scalable.
Cultivate and maintain strong partnerships with key internal and external campus colleagues. Engage proactively to build strong relationships with strategic vendors.

Research, Development, and Service Delivery Assessment

Dedicate time researching and developing new, innovative technologies for next-generation services for campus.
Explore options for addressing current issues or service gaps by reaching out to other universities, discussing methods, technologies, and processes they have used to knowledge-share and collaborate on solutions. Maintain a knowledge base for reference.
Engage in the Continual Service Improvement process with colleagues to assess services and processes, identifying opportunities for enhancements or replacements.
Assess technologies that could be utilized in our environment to augment current services to better achieve the goals as outlined in the Strategic Plan for campus IT.
Develop and maintain frameworks to guide innovation and improvement cycles, with a focus on proactive solutions and process improvements that will enhance the customer experience.

Perform other duties and assist with projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Formal Education

Bachelor’s degree

Work Experience

10 years’ work experience in a customer service/support role
7 years’ hands-on, progressively responsible leadership of cross functional teams
5 years’ work experience in the IT field (regardless of sector)

Work Skills (e.g., written and verbal communication skills)

Possess a growth mindset with an eagerness to learn
Curious by nature, with a willingness to ask difficult questions
Ability to apply empathy-based communications and actions to support customers
Ability to translate needs/issues with both functional and technical audiences
Ability to foster a team culture with a continual growth mindset
Passion for customer service and generating positive experiences
Talent for identifying opportunities for improvements and advocating for change
Talent for building effective relationships and working in a team
Excellent time management and planning skills
Ability to document the work of oneself and others
Strong analytical skills in identifying trends and making business/technical decisions
Possess IT Leadership skills necessary to lead a successful IT organization:
- IT Governance, Partner Management, Metrics and Reporting, Service Management, and Operational Planning and Management

Specific Job Knowledge (e.g., knowledge of principles and procedures related to field and area)

Experience leading an enterprise Service Desk
Experience running ITSM tools (Specifically Incident/Problem, Change, Asset Management)
Experience creating and leading a recurring enterprise hardware refresh lifecycle project
Experience developing and managing budgets (capital and project-based)
Experience leading, mentoring, and investing in the development of diverse teams

Preferred Qualifications:

Formal Education

Master’s degree
Certifications in IT Service Delivery, Project Management, or Business Process Analysis

Work Experience

5 years’ experience working in customer support role (regardless of sector)
3 years’ experience working in a higher education setting
3 years’ experience with Project Management and/or Business Process Analysis

Work Skills (e.g., written and verbal communication skills)

Ability to articulate business cases and execute action plans, with a commitment to quality
Strong vendor management skills
Possess IT Leadership skills necessary to lead a successful IT organization:
- Strategic Planning, Organizational Effectiveness, Compliance Management, and Portfolio Management

Specific Job Knowledge (e.g., knowledge of principles and procedures related to field and area)

Experience using data analysis and reporting tools to generate dashboards
Experience in developing or leading IT governance structures in an academic environment
Strong familiarity with information security guidelines, principles, and requirements
Experience running enterprise systems and applications at scale is desirable

Physical Requirements and/or Unusual Work Hours:

Tools, machinery and equipment used: None

Environmental conditions: (any unusual/adverse conditions such as exposure to chemicals, noise, illumination, air quality, weather exposure etc.). N/A

Physical requirements: (items such as lifting, pushing, pulling, standing or sitting for extended periods of time, manual dexterity, walking etc.) None

Special Message to Applicants:

Posting Date:

09/02/2022

Closing Date (11:59pm ET):

Salary Posting Information:

Commensurate with experience.

Salary Band:

Job Classification:

exempt

References Needed

Minimum Number of References Needed

Maximum Number of References Needed

By Villanova University

Villanova University is a Catholic Augustinian community of higher education, committed to excellence and distinction in the discovery, dissemination and application of knowledge. Inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the University i...

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INDUSTRY

Colleges & Universities

TEAM SIZE

1001-5000

LOCATION

Hybrid, based in Villanova, PA

DATE POSTED

July 26, 2023