Senior Director of Planning and Management

POSITION SPECIFICS

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 of Planning and Management.

The Senior Director of Planning and Management will lead four integrated functions that enable Penn State's service-optimized IT operating model: the Project Management Office (PMO), Business Operations, Vendor and Contract Management, and Service Standards. Reporting to the Deputy CIO, this role provides the operational backbone — project delivery governance, communications, administrative support, vendor strategy, and the practice standards that define how key IT roles (including Service Owners, Service Managers, and IT Strategic Partners) operate across the institution.

This is an operational leadership position that ensures Penn State IT's service delivery is well-governed, professionally communicated, vendor-optimized, and built on consistent standards.

Critically, the Service Standards function within this role helps to define the frameworks and practice standards for IT Service Management, service owners and managers, and IT Strategic Partners, making this role a foundational standard-setter for the broader IT operating model.

• Lead project and program delivery governance by establishing project management standards, enabling adaptive delivery models, aligning execution with institutional priorities, monitoring delivery performance and risk, and providing actionable portfolio and project insights to support informed decision-making across Penn State IT.
• Lead IT communications strategy by ensuring consistent, professional, and timely messaging; coordinating communications across stakeholders; and providing communication frameworks and resources for Service Owners and IT Strategic Partners.
• Manage business operations and administrative support services by overseeing administrative teams, operational processes, meeting and event logistics, documentation, and workflows that support Penn State IT leadership and organizational effectiveness.
• Lead enterprise vendor and contract management by overseeing strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, vendor performance, compliance, risk mitigation, and lifecycle governance, while providing vendor intelligence and fostering innovation-oriented partnerships that support Penn State IT's strategic priorities.
• Define, maintain, and evolve IT service management and operational practice standards by establishing ITSM frameworks, service delivery processes, performance measures, competency models, and operating expectations that support consistent, high-quality service delivery across the organization.
• Govern and enable standards adoption by providing assessment tools, maturity models, training, guidance, and practitioner-focused resources that support consistent implementation, compliance, and continuous improvement across Penn State IT.
• Build and lead high-performing cross-functional teams by recruiting, mentoring, and developing talent across PMO, Business Operations, Vendor Management, and Service Standards while fostering operational excellence and a service-minded culture.
• Enable the success of Service Owners and IT Strategic Partners by providing delivery support, communications, vendor intelligence, role practice standards, and collaborative governance that promotes alignment, information sharing, and customer-centric service delivery across Penn State IT.

• Progressive leadership experience in IT operations, service management, program/project management, business…