Director, Networks & Systems

Director of Networks & Systems

Brandeis University is looking to hire a Director of Networks & Systems in the IT Department. The Director provides strategic and operational leadership for the university’s core technology infrastructure, including networking, hybrid on-prem and offsite data center environments, server platforms, storage, virtualization, backups, disaster-recovery readiness, and infrastructure-adjacent applications. This role ensures the reliability, performance, and lifecycle planning of foundational IT services that support academic, administrative, public safety, and research activities.

The Director oversees engineering staff, manages key vendor and consortium relationships, and guides infrastructure architecture, capacity planning, and multi-year capital planning. The position also coordinates data center facilities such as power, cooling, and physical environment in partnership with offsite data center providers and campus units. The Director collaborates closely with ITS Security, Identity & Access Management, Integrations, and application platform teams to ensure secure, scalable, cloud-aligned, and well-integrated infrastructure services.

The salary range for the position is $153,800-$172,800.

Provides strategic leadership for the university’s core on-prem and cloud-aligned infrastructure, including networking, hybrid on-prem/offsite data center environments, server platforms, storage, virtualization, and backup/DR systems. Develops and maintains multi-year lifecycle and capacity plans for compute, storage, network, and data center facilities. Guides infrastructure architecture decisions to ensure alignment with institutional strategy, security standards, and operational requirements. Oversees vendor relationships, consortium partnerships, and major infrastructure procurements.

Coordinates power, cooling, and physical environment requirements across both campus and offsite data center locations.

Ensures reliable operation, monitoring, and performance of core infrastructure platforms including virtualization, Linux and Windows server environments, enterprise storage, cloud-adjacent hosting, wired and wireless networking, routing, switching, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing, and VPN. Oversees infrastructure-adjacent operational systems such as campus surveillance platforms and physical access control systems. Oversees disaster recovery readiness, including backups, restores, replication, and alignment with business continuity needs. Establishes and enforces engineering standards, automation practices, and operational runbooks.

Supports non-production environments in collaboration with application owners following best-practice development and testing principles.

Works closely with ITS Security to ensure infrastructure and applications meet security, audit, and compliance requirements. Partners with Identity & Access Management, Integrations, Public Safety, and application platform teams to support reliable, secure service delivery across the technology stack. Contributes to institutional planning for DR, business continuity, cloud strategy, and technical governance. Participates in RFPs, vendor evaluations, contract reviews, and architectural assessments to ensure solutions align with Brandeis and industry standards.

Provides leadership and direction to network engineers, systems engineers, and associated technical staff. Sets priorities, defines expectations, and fosters a culture focused on reliability, service, and continuous improvement. Supports staff development through coaching, training opportunities, and succession planning. Ensures effective workload management, structured change planning, and clear communication within and across teams.

Bachelor's degree required. Master's degree preferred. 8+ years of experience required with 3-5 years of supervisory experience Responsible…