ABOUT US

Are you ready to transform lives through academic excellence, innovative research, strong community partnerships and economic opportunity? Kennesaw State University is one of the 50 largest public institutions in the country. With growing enrollment and global reach, we continue to expand our institutional influence and prominence beyond the state of Georgia. We offer more than 190 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to empower our 47,000 students to become thought leaders, lifelong learners, and informed global citizens. Our entrepreneurial spirit, high-impact research, and Division I athletics draw students from throughout the region and from more than 100 countries across the globe. Our university’s vibrant culture, career opportunities, rich benefits, and values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability make us an employer of choice. We are part of the University System of Georgia. We are searching for talented people to join Kennesaw State University in our vision. Come Take Flight at KSU!

JOB SUMMARY

The Associate Vice President of IT and Deputy Chief Information Officer (AVP of IT) provides critical leadership in driving the strategic vision, innovation roadmap, and day-to-day operations of the university’s IT organization. Reporting directly to the CIO, this role builds upon the University’s strengths, pursues opportunities for transformation, drives aspirations for a future-ready IT ecosystem, and delivers meaningful results that support teaching, learning, research, and administrative excellence.
The AVP of IT is responsible for advancing strategic initiatives while providing oversight of core operational functions. This includes leadership of emerging capabilities such as the Innovation Incubator, Organizational Change Management, ITIL Policy, and Performance Reporting. These capabilities position the university for digital transformation and long-term institutional resilience. In addition to overseeing core operational teams, the AVP of IT is responsible for building and maturing cross-cutting strategic capabilities such as innovation acceleration, organizational change readiness, performance transparency, and service management maturity that position the university for digital transformation and long-term resilience.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Master’s degree from an accredited institution in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a closely related field.

OTHER REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Current, valid and unrestricted driver’s license

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

Ten (10) years of progressive experience with demonstrated increases in responsibility
Seven (7) years of significant IT leadership, staff management, and strategic decision-making
Extensive background overseeing diverse IT disciplines (e.g., IT strategy, infrastructure planning, enterprise application life cycle, data management, customer support, cloud computing)
Demonstrated experience developing and managing both departmental and large-scale IT budgets

PREFERRED EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Advanced degree from an accredited institution of higher education in Computer Science, Business Administration, Public Administration or other advanced degree in a related field.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

Direct leadership experience in higher education IT environments.
Hands-on oversight of multiple IT domains (e.g., enterprise applications, cloud services, security, IT strategy, data governance).
Experience leading large-scale change initiatives, including vendor negotiation, contract management, and portfolio/project management.

ABILITIES

Dynamic ability utilizing the SOAR framework to empower the IT team to use their strengths and passions to create customer-focused solutions. Promote innovation to keep the University competitive and support its academic and research goals. Strive to enhance the University¿s reputation through advanced technology and high-quality service, and foster a culture of accountability and transparency that supports student success, research excellence and institutional strength.
Ability to lead performance-driven IT operations and develop scalable, high-quality services aligned with strategic goals.
Proven ability to develop and execute institutional digital strategies and translate them into actionable roadmaps with measurable outcomes.
Experience leading complex change initiatives with structured frameworks and inclusive leadership. Skilled at fostering readiness, adoption, and high-performance cultures.
Able to handle multiple tasks or projects at one time meeting assigned deadlines

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge of emerging technologies and their strategic application in higher education. Comfortable building pilot programs and scaling them across the institution.
Demonstrated track record of developing best-practice governance processes and service-level metrics.

SKILLS

Proficient in institutional risk management, regulatory compliance, and mitigation strategies within complex, highly regulated environments.
Skilled in team building, professional development, and effective communication across a broad range of stakeholders from IT staff to institutional leadership.
Track record of forging productive partnerships across academic, research, and administrative domains, using structured intake and feedback mechanisms.
Experience with layered budget oversight, contract negotiation, and vendor performance management.
Excellent interpersonal, initiative, teamwork, problem solving, independent judgment, organization, communication (verbal and written), time management, project management, presentation, management, and decision-making skills
Self-directed and demonstrated personal initiative
Proficient with computer applications and programs associated with the position (i.e., Microsoft Office suite)
Strong attention to detail and follow up skills
Strong customer service skills and phone and e-mail etiquette

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Strategic Planning and Digital Alignment - Design and execute integrated, multi-year digital strategies that shape the university’s academic, research, and administrative future. Partner with executive leadership to identify, sequence, and resource transformational initiatives that align with institutional goals.
2. Innovation, Opportunities and Transformation - Lead the university’s technology innovation function - including oversight of the Innovation Incubator - and guide the development and institutionalization of transformative capabilities such as AI/ML, no-code/low-code services, robotic process automation (RPA), and cloud-native solutions. Foster a culture of experimentation, agility, and scalable innovation that advances academic and operational priorities.
3. Operational Excellence and Capability Enablement - Provide strategic oversight and leadership for key operational focus areas including Project Management, Change Management, Innovation Incubator, ITIL Policy, ITSM, Performance Analytics, Budgeting and Vendor Management - ensuring they are collaborative and supportive of the KSU mission. Use operational maturity to support strategic agility and innovation readiness.
4. Governance and Portfolio Management - Lead strategic portfolio governance to evaluate and prioritize IT investments based on value, risk, and transformation potential. Guide the evolution of the IT portfolio through structured review processes and governance frameworks that promote accountability and institutional alignment.
5. Business Relationship Management and Stakeholder Engagement - Lead a centralized stakeholder engagement function to ensure IT services are responsive, transparent, and aligned with the needs of students, faculty, researchers, and administrators. Facilitate structured intake processes and consistent engagement forums.
6. Change Management and Organizational Readiness - Institutionalize structured change management methodologies to enable technology adoption and organizational resilience. Coordinate cross-functional teams and communicate change effectively to minimize disruption and accelerate impact.
7. Security, Risk and Compliance - Collaborate with the University’s Chief Security Officer and legal teams to maintain a robust institutional security posture. Ensure alignment with relevant regulatory frameworks such as FERPA, HIPAA, and NIST, integrating risk awareness and compliance into governance processes.
8. Financial Stewardship and Vendor Optimization - Manage multi-tiered IT budgets and strategic vendor relationships. Optimize investments across Run, Grow, and Transform portfolios while negotiating favorable contract terms and ensuring vendor accountability.
9. Team Leadership and Communication - Build and develop high-performing IT teams using proven leadership development practices. Clearly communicate organizational vision, performance expectations, and role clarity across IT functions. Engage stakeholders through transparent, accessible, and consistent communication.
10. Acting CIO and Executive Representation - Represent the CIO as needed in executive-level forums and on key institutional committees. Provide executive leadership and decision-making continuity during the CIO’s absence.