IT Business Manager; Hybrid; WashU IT

Strategic Operations Manager

This position is responsible for strategic oversight and coordination of WashU IT business operations, including finance, HR, supply chain, process improvement, and general administrative functions. The role partners closely with WashU IT leadership and central university offices to ensure timely, accurate, and consistent execution of budget, accurate forecasting and reporting, procurement, workforce, policy, and operational processes. It plays a key leadership role in aligning resources, improving administrative workflows, supporting strategic initiatives, and using analysis to guide data-informed decisions in a complex clinical, academic, and research environment.

Primary

Duties & Responsibilities:

Overall Business Administration

• Own core business-administration operations for WashU IT — the quarterly IT Balanced Scorecard, operational calendars, training/compliance tracking, and recurring leadership reporting and communications.

• Standardize and document recurring administrative workflows (travel, expenses, procurement, hiring approvals) via SOPs, and partner with central resources to improve related Service Now and Workday workflows; manage the finance and HR approval process with the COO and CFO, routing spend and personnel actions through the appropriate sign-off chain.

• Lead process-improvement efforts — mapping current/future-state workflows and tracking cycle times, error rates, and improvement metrics — and support the Chief of Staff in benchmarking IT business operations against peer institutions and frameworks (Gartner, AAMC, EDUCAUSE).

• Manage IT's equipment/software asset inventory and work-location data (partnering with Enterprise Physical Operations on space needs), and coordinate logistics for major meetings, engagement events, leadership forums, and disaster recovery/business continuity exercises.

• Directly manage the administrative assistant team (workload, scheduling, performance) and coordinate contractor/consultant agreements; maintain internal policies (travel/tuition reimbursement, stipends, overtime) and communication channels, and serve as the escalation point for administrative issues.

Working with Central Supply Chain Management

• Manage IT's contract inventory and renewal calendar, flagging upcoming renewals and notice deadlines to Central Supply Chain in time to act.

• Partner with ITSS to track vendor performance against SLAs and contract terms (escalating to Legal as needed), and provide IT-specific input — data ownership, security/HIPAA requirements, audit rights — for Supply Chain and Legal to incorporate into contracts.

• Coordinate software license compliance and true-ups (e.g., Microsoft, Oracle) with Supply Chain's vendor management processes, and track vendor commitments (credits, training, professional services hours) to ensure they're used before expiration.

• Provide usage data, benchmarking, and business requirements to support Supply Chain-led renewal and new-contract negotiations, representing IT's interests throughout.

• Flag opportunities for consolidation or reduced vendor sprawl for Supply Chain to pursue, and help ensure IT spending and procurement complies with university and financial policy.

Working with Central Finance

• Serve as the primary IT liaison to Central Finance for finance structure, cost center setup, and cross-charging/chargeback allocation models for shared IT services.

• Coordinate with the Office of the COO to manage the annual and multi-year IT capital and operating budget submission process, translating technical initiatives into finance's budget categories (including RR).

• Manage the relationship with Central Finance on capitalization rules for software/hardware purchases, given the added nuance of capex vs. opex distinctions in IT.

• Oversee financial system access and authorizations (e.g., Workday, payroll, grants)

WashU Medicine Only

• Directs all financial functions of WashU IT as it relates to WashU Medicine, including: business planning, budget development, analysis and implementation, coordination with CFU central accounting/financial planning, general accounting, financial reporting, variance analysis, revenue modeling, cost…