Senior Director, Technology Operations & Service Excellence

Senior Director, Technology Operations & Service Excellence

The Senior Director, Technology Operations & Service Excellence leads the strategy and continuous improvement of enterprise technology support and infrastructure services, ensuring reliable and scalable solutions that enable productivity across ASU Enterprise Partners and its affiliates. This role builds trusted relationships across the organization, including with executive and senior leaders, by understanding challenges and delivering practical, high-impact solutions, while leading a high-performing, service-oriented team grounded in exemplary customer service. The position is accountable for modernizing service delivery and advancing platform reliability to support long-term technology enablement.

What you'll do

• Lead the ASUEP Service Center, delivering high-quality, high-response technology support for a global workforce of 400+ employees with a strong focus on customer experience, responsiveness, and resolution quality
• Lead a multi-functional technology operations organization spanning Platform Support, Cloud Operations, and Data Engineering
• Define and execute a unified service strategy that integrates platform support, infrastructure, and engineering into a cohesive, scalable operating model
• Establish and monitor service performance metrics, including SLA attainment, response and resolution times, customer satisfaction, and continuous service improvement
• Serve as the executive escalation point for critical incidents, ensuring rapid response, clear communication, and root cause resolution
• Oversee enterprise infrastructure, networking, and cloud environments, including Microsoft Fabric and Google Cloud Platform, ensuring reliability and scalability
• Work in close partnership with Director, Cybersecurity and Risk to ensure platforms and environments are secure and monitored
• Lead engineering and cloud operations teams responsible for system performance, availability, and modernization of core platforms
• Drive cloud optimization strategies, including cost management, performance tuning, and scalable architecture design
• Lead data engineering capabilities that support secure, governed, and scalable data ingestion into enterprise platforms
• Establish trust with executive and senior leaders by demonstrating a deep understanding of their challenges, adopting a customer-first mindset, and delivering practical, effective solutions that meet real business needs
• Demonstrate exceptional customer service and relationship-building capabilities, with the ability to connect across all levels of the organization, understand pain points, and drive solutions that improve outcomes and user experience
• Partner with Data Analytics & Insights leadership to ensure alignment between infrastructure, data pipelines, and analytics needs
• Advance service delivery through automation, self-service, and AI-enabled capabilities to improve efficiency and user experience
• Establish a roadmap for enterprise service management (ESM), including knowledge management, ticket management strategies, and workflow automation
• Develop workforce planning, capacity management, and skills-based team structures to support growing service demand
• Lead and mentor support analysts and technical leads, fostering a culture centered on customer excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Partner with cross-functional leaders to align technology services with business priorities, operational needs, and growth strategies; serve as a leader of the Data, Technology, & Operations Leadership Team
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on service performance, infrastructure health, and investment priorities
• Manage budgets, vendor relationships, and external service providers, ensuring cost efficiency, service quality, and contract performance

What you'll need

• Strong leadership capability with experience building and scaling high-performing, customer-oriented teams

• Proven ability to build trusted relationships, including executive leaders, by deeply understanding their challenges, demonstrating credibility, and delivering practical, high-impact solutions that align to business needs

• Exceptional customer service and relationship-building capabilities, with the ability to connect across all levels of the organization, anticipate needs, and drive effective, user-centered solutions that improve outcomes and experience

• Experience leading mixed teams of managers, technical individual contributors, and student employees

• Deep expertise in service management frameworks (e.g., ITIL, enterprise service management practices)

• Experience designing and running high-volume, high-availability service desk operations

• Experience with infrastructure, networking, and cloud architecture concepts

• Working knowledge of modern data platforms and data engineering pipelines

• Ability to define and track service performance metrics, including SLAs, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts into clear business outcomes

• Strong problem-solving and incident management capabilities, including root cause analysis and continuous improvement

• Experience implementing automation, self-service, and AI-enabled support capabilities to improve service delivery

• Strong financial acumen, including budget management, cost optimization, and vendor management

• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams by setting clear expectations, providing ongoing coaching, and fostering a culture of accountability, growth, and customer excellence

Relevant qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in technology operations, infrastructure, engineering, or enterprise support services

• 5+ years leading large-scale, customer-focused service organizations (e.g., service desk, shared services, or enterprise support functions), including supporting distributed or hybrid workforces

• Demonstrated experience managing complex infrastructure environments, including cloud platforms (e.g., Microsoft Fabric, Google Cloud, Azure, AWS)

• Experience leading multi-functional teams across service desk, infrastructure, and engineering domains

• Proven track record of driving operational transformation, service consolidation, or modernization initiatives

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, or related field

• OR any equivalent combination of experience and/or education from which comparable knowledge, skills, and abilities have been achieved

Preferred education and experience

• Master's degree in information systems, business administration, or related field

• Experience in higher education, nonprofit, or mission-driven organizations

• Experience implementing or supporting Microsoft Fabric or similar modern analytics platforms

• Experience operating in a multi-cloud environment (e.g., GCP, Azure, AWS)

• Experience leading global or distributed service operations

Preferred skills and abilities

• Familiarity with DevOps, SRE, or modern engineering practices

• Experience with platform engineering and infrastructure-as-code approaches

• Understanding of cybersecurity principles and their impact on infrastructure and service delivery

• Experience integrating service management with data, analytics, or AI capabilities

Benefits

• Hybrid work schedule. We work from home two days a week!

• Comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) plan with matching employer contribution

• 22 days of vacation time

• 11 holidays, including your birthday

• Parental leave

• Significant tuition reductions

• Professional development is highly valued at ASU Enterprise Partners, where employees are encouraged to look across the organization and nurture new areas of interest

• $30 bi-weekly cell phone reimbursement

About ASU Enterprise Partners

ASU Enterprise Partners is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide an ecosystem of services to create solutions and generate resources to extend Arizona State University's reach and advance its charter. ASU Enterprise Partners supports ASU and several affiliates, including the ASU Foundation for a New American University, ASU Outreach Hub, ASURE, NEWSWELL, Skysong Innovations and University Realty.

ASU Enterprise Partners is home to several Centers of Excellence whose purpose is to provide professional services to its affiliates. The Centers of Excellence include Finance, General Counsel, Investments, Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Human Resources, Facilities and Operations, Data Analytics and Insights Planning, Budgeting and Strategy, and Technology and Solutions.

At ASU Enterprise Partners

We serve

ASU and one another with integrity, trust and compassion

We engage

step up, own it, collaborate

We innovate.

continuously, fearlessly, make decisions and take risks

We care

that everyone feels respected and valued for who they are

ASU Enterprise Partners is an Equal Opportunity Employer