Director, Solutions Management & Customization

Enrollment Management Strategic Initiatives (EMSI) Director of Solutions Management & Customization position provides strategic leadership for EMSI, overseeing a team of solution architects, solution developers, and related technical professionals who design, configure, integrate, and optimize technology solutions that support enrollment strategy and operations. This team focuses their efforts on delivering solutions that are scalable and repeatable.

This position serves as a critical bridge between Enrollment Management strategy, business operations, technology, and institutional partners. The Director leads the translation of complex enrollment needs into scalable, sustainable, and user-centered solutions that improve the student experience, strengthen operational effectiveness, and advance institutional enrollment goals.

The Director is responsible for establishing the team's strategic direction, managing priorities and resources, developing technical talent, and ensuring that solutions are aligned with institutional architecture, security, data, integration, and technology standards. The position partners closely with EMSI leaders, functional subject-matter experts, IT, data and analytics teams, vendors, and other campus stakeholders to identify opportunities and deliver solutions that address current and emerging student needs.

This position reports to the Executive Director of EMSI, and would be part of his leadership team including 2 other Assistant Directors who overseeing two other teams; Relationship & Project Management team and the Systems Production team.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative problem-solver who combines strong technical skills with an understanding of higher education enrollment operations and a commitment to student success. They are capable of having difficult conversations with middle- and upper-management while also finding ways to build relationships. This position needs to be able to advocate on behalf of EMSI and recognize with the Executive Director needs to be made aware of or brought into conversations.

Candidates working anywhere in the U.S. may be considered for a remote assignment.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

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Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute a strategic vision for solutions management and customization within Enrollment Management.
• Establish team priorities, operating practices, standards, and service models that support institutional enrollment strategies.
• Evaluate business needs and emerging technologies to identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, integration, and enhanced student engagement.
• Translate enrollment strategy and business requirements into technology and solution roadmaps.
• Ensure that solutions are scalable, maintainable, secure, accessible, and aligned with institutional technology standards.
• Provide leadership on solution architecture, technical direction, system configuration, customization, and integrations across the enrollment technology ecosystem.
• Establish appropriate governance for customization, technical debt, integrations, releases, and solution lifecycle management.

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team that may include solution architects, solution developers, and other technical or functional specialists.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, performance expectations, and professional development plans.
• Build a culture of collaboration, innovation, accountability, continuous improvement, and customer service; a growth mindset is a must.
• Recruit, retain, and develop highly skilled technical professionals with expertise relevant to Enrollment Management.
• Balance team capacity, project priorities, operational support, and strategic initiatives.
• Foster knowledge sharing, documentation, cross-training, and succession planning within the team.

Solution Architecture & Development

• Oversee the design and delivery of customized solutions supporting recruitment, admissions, financial aid, student onboarding, enrollment operations, communications, and related functions.
• Provide architectural oversight for integrations among enrollment systems, institutional systems, third-party platforms, data sources, and digital services.
• Review proposed solutions and technical designs to ensure alignment with business requirements and institutional standards.
• Establish development and implementation practices that promote quality, security, maintainability, testing, documentation, and appropriate change management.
• Guide decisions regarding configuration versus customization and evaluate the long-term implications of technical solutions.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of APIs, integrations, workflows, automations, applications, reports, and other technology solutions as appropriate to the institution's environment.
• Ensure appropriate documentation of system architecture, integrations, customizations, dependencies, and technical processes.

Business Partnership & Consultation

• Serve as a trusted technology advisor to Enrollment Management leadership and functional stakeholders.
• Collaborate with enrollment leaders to understand business challenges, identify opportunities, and define solution strategies.
• Facilitate conversations among business, technical, and institutional stakeholders to establish shared requirements and priorities.
• Translate technical concepts into clear business implications for nontechnical audiences and translate business needs into actionable technical requirements for development teams.
• Partner with IT and other campus technology teams to ensure appropriate alignment, governance, security, and support.
• Work with vendors and implementation partners to evaluate capabilities, manage technical relationships, and ensure successful delivery of contracted solutions.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Identify opportunities to simplify processes, eliminate redundant work, automate routine activities, and improve the student and staff experience.
• Encourage responsible experimentation and adoption of emerging technologies where they provide meaningful institutional value.
• Assess the impact of artificial intelligence, automation, analytics, integrations, and other emerging capabilities on Enrollment Management operations.
• Establish practices for measuring solution effectiveness, user adoption, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement informed by data, stakeholder feedback, and evolving enrollment needs.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and complex projects in a collaborative environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and relationship-management skills.
• Familiarity with data governance, information security, accessibility, privacy, and technology governance within higher education.

This job posting reflects the general nature and level of work expected of the selected candidate(s). It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The institution reserves the right to amend or update this description as organizational priorities and institutional needs evolve.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent advanced learning attained through professional level experience required.
• Minimum of 7 years of related work experience, including 3 years of managerial experience, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

• Master's degree in a relevant discipline.
  
• Experience in higher education, particularly Enrollment Management, admissions, financial aid, student services, or student information systems.
  
• Experience with enterprise enrollment platforms, CRM systems, student information systems, marketing automation, or related technologies.
  
• Experience leading modernization, digital transformation, automation, or large-scale systems implementation initiatives.
  
• Experience evaluating and responsibly implementing emerging technologies.
  
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams and managing complex technology initiatives.
  
• Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions and communicating effectively with both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
  
• Experience with enterprise applications, integrations, APIs, workflow automation, databases, or software development.
  

The Rate of Pay Field represents the University of Arizona's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting. The University considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, and internal equity.

The Grade Range represent a full range of career compensation growth over time. The university offers compensation growth opportunities within its career architecture. To learn more about compensation, please review our Applicant Compensation Guide and our Total Rewards Calculator.

The grade range for this position is $99,901 - $159,847. Each unit typically sets starting pay between the minimum and midpoint upon hire as reflected in the Rate of Pay field above.