Senior Director, Shared Platform Service Delivery

Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location.

For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

As part of the Penn State IT's Optimized Service Team project, IT is implementing a new operating model designed to enhance service delivery, operational efficiency and collaboration across the university.

Penn State is seeking an experienced, strategic, and collaborative leader to serve as the Senior Director, Shared Platform Service Delivery.

The Senior Director, Shared Platform Service Delivery provides executive leadership for the operational delivery of enterprise IT services across the Shared Platform portfolio. This role is accountable for leading Service Managers, driving operational excellence, enhancing customer experience, and ensuring the consistent delivery of reliable, secure, and high-quality IT services that enable the University's mission.

The position partners closely with the Service Management Office (SMO) to implement and continuously improve enterprise service management practices, standards, metrics, and operational processes. The role also works closely with Service Owners to support service roadmaps, service performance objectives, and new service capabilities, ensuring consistent adoption and execution across the Shared Platform portfolio. In collaboration with the Senior Director, Capability Teams, this leader aligns talent and resource planning with service needs and establishes priorities, operational focus, and near‑term delivery objectives across the portfolio.

The successful candidate will be a customer-focused leader who can balance operational excellence with strategic execution while fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and service-oriented delivery.

• Lead service delivery operations across the Platform portfolio by providing strategic direction and oversight to Service Managers, ensuring reliable, efficient, and high-quality delivery of enterprise technology services.
• Drive cross-functional service coordination and operational excellence by establishing consistent service management practices, fostering accountability, and ensuring seamless delivery across organizational boundaries.
• Oversee service workforce planning and resource alignment by defining service team requirements and partnering with capability leaders to ensure services are appropriately staffed to meet operational and strategic objectives.
• Lead the implementation and advancement of enterprise service management practices by partnering with the Service Management Office to establish, govern, and continuously improve service management standards, processes, and operational frameworks across the Platform portfolio.
• Ensure consistent adoption and execution of IT service management processes by driving operational discipline, governance, and lifecycle management practices across service delivery teams, including Incident, Problem, Change, Release, Major Incident, Request, Knowledge, and Service Transition Management.
• Lead customer experience, service adoption, and value realization efforts by leveraging stakeholder insights to improve engagement, increase service utilization, enhance customer satisfaction, and ensure platform services deliver measurable business value.
• Oversee service communications and serve as the executive escalation point for critical platform service issues ensuring effective stakeholder communication, coordinated issue resolution, and operational accountability across the Platform portfolio.

Qualified candidates will demonstrate strength across several of the following areas:

• Progressive leadership experience in information technology, service delivery, IT operations, or related functions.
• Demonstrated experience leading large, complex teams (20+ employees), including managers and cross-functional teams, with accountability for organizational performance, talent development, and operational outcomes in a complex, preferably higher education or similarly decentralized environment.
• Experience overseeing enterprise platforms or shared technology services, with responsibility for service delivery, operational management, resource planning, and continuous service improvement.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale IT service delivery, operations, or service management functions.
• Experience implementing and advancing IT service management (ITSM) practices, processes, and governance.
• Proven ability to collaborate with senior leaders, business stakeholders, and technical teams to achieve organizational objectives.
• Experience establishing performance metrics, managing service performance, and driving continuous improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through organizational change, influence across organizational boundaries, and build strong stakeholder relationships.
• Excellent communication, strategic planning, and problem-solving skills.