Associate Chief Information Officer for Digital Infrastructure Technologies

The Associate Chief Information Officer for Digital Infrastructure Technologies serves as a senior technology leader within the Maricopa County Community College District's (MCCCD) Information Technology Services (ITS) division. This executive role will advance the districts mission of academic excellence, innovation, and community impact through secure, modern, resilient, and reliable digital infrastructure services. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Associate CIO is responsible for leading the strategic planning, delivery, and continuous improvement of the districts enterprise infrastructure technologies, ensuring technology services align with institutional priorities and supporting teaching, learning, and administrative excellence. A central responsibility of this role is to strengthen technical service reliability, clarify enterprise service ownership in a decentralized environment, while reducing technical complexity and building confidence in shared technology services across MCCCD.

As a key member of the District Office Senior IT leadership team, the Associate CIO partners with the CIO to develop and execute the districts digital infrastructure strategy, driving enterprise modernization initiatives across networking, cloud platforms, data centers, identity services, collaboration technologies, and infrastructure operations. This leader is responsible for evaluating emerging technologies, recommending strategic investments, and implementing scalable, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure solutions that enhance service delivery and position MCCCD for future growth. The Associate CIO will translate strategy into multiyear infrastructure roadmaps that they will have responsibility for operationalizing with measurable service outcomes.

Essential Functions

Enterprise Infrastructure Strategy & Operations (25%)

• Provides executive leadership for the planning, implementation, operation, and continuous improvement of the Districts enterprise digital infrastructure, including network, data center, cloud, server, storage, identity, collaboration, and virtualization services.
• Develops and executes infrastructure modernization roadmaps that align technology investments with institutional priorities and deliver measurable improvements in scalability, resiliency, performance, service quality, cybersecurity, and operational efficiency.
• Leads the development of enterprise infrastructure architecture, standards, service models, and technology roadmaps through MCCCD's shared governance processes, while maintaining accountability for the reliability, performance, lifecycle management, and operational integrity of infrastructure services managed by District ITS.
• Directs the adoption of IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices and automation to improve service delivery, operational maturity, and customer satisfaction.

Technology Leadership & Project Delivery (20%)

• Provides leadership, direction, and performance management for infrastructure technology leaders and teams, establishing clear accountability while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous professional growth.
• Partners with the Project Management Office (PMO), college technology leaders, and business stakeholders to prioritize, govern, and successfully deliver enterprise infrastructure initiatives.
• Provides executive oversight for major infrastructure initiatives, ensuring appropriate scope, resources, risk management, organizational change, communication, and stakeholder engagement throughout planning and implementation.
• Managerial operational responsibility for a team of X with Y managers.
• Ensures infrastructure projects are completed on schedule, within budget, and aligned with district strategic objectives.

Enterprise Collaboration & Governance (20%)

• Serves as the primary strategic partner to College CIOs and technology leaders, working through shared governance to strengthen alignment, reduce unnecessary duplication, and expand the value and effective use of enterprise infrastructure services across the district.
• Builds trusted relationships with academic and administrative leaders to understand business needs and translate those requirements into sustainable technology solutions.
• Leads collaborative evaluation of shared infrastructure services and service models, clearly communicating their capabilities, costs, performance, and benefits to support informed decision-making and broader adoption where enterprise scale provides institutional value.
• Represents Digital Infrastructure Technologies within district governance committees, providing technical guidance, strategic recommendations, and enterprise standards that promote consistency and operational excellence.

Cybersecurity, Risk Management & Business Continuity (20%)

• Partners with the CISO to implement cybersecurity policies, risk requirements to ensure infrastructure technologies comply with cybersecurity policies, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.
• Directs infrastructure resiliency initiatives, including disaster recovery, backup strategies, business continuity planning, and operational readiness.
• Ensures infrastructure vulnerabilities, configuration risks, technical debt, and end-of-life technologies are identified, prioritized, remediated, or formally accepted through established risk management and governance processes.
• Leads continuous improvement to reduce operational risk through infrastructure standardization, vulnerability remediation, compliance monitoring, and continuous improvement of enterprise technology services.

Financial, Vendor & Resource Management (15%)

• Partners with the CIO to develop, administer, and monitor operational and capital budgets supporting enterprise infrastructure technologies, aligning investments with the district strategies, service performance risk, technology lifecycle needs, and available resources.
• Develops multiyear financial and investment plans that identify infrastructure lifecycle needs, technical debt, major contractual commitments, and opportunities to reduce cost, duplication, and operational complexity.
• Partners with the VC and CIO to oversee vendor relationships, contract performance, licensing, and service agreements to maximize value, ensure service level compliance, and support long-term technology investments.
• Evaluates emerging technologies and infrastructure solutions, providing recommendations that balance innovation, risk, and total cost of ownership (TCO).