Executive Director, Network & Telecommunications

The Executive Director of Networks & Telecommunications will lead the design, modernization, and operations of a mission-critical connectivity ecosystem spanning an integrated academic health system and research university.

This role sits at the intersection of clinical care delivery, advanced biomedical research, and academic and student experiences. The Executive Director is accountable for delivering secure, resilient, always-on connectivity across hospitals, ambulatory sites, research labs, and academic campuses-where network performance directly impacts student experience, patient safety, clinical outcomes, and research continuity. Reporting to the Chief Technology Officer, this leader will serve as a strategic architect of next-generation connectivity and a hands-on technical expert capable of leading through complexity and critical incidents.

Core Responsibilities:

• Define and execute the enterprise networking and telecommunications strategy in alignment with organizational objectives and advances in the industry.
• Develop a forward-looking strategy for adopting emerging technologies in ways that advance and enable enterprise priorities.
• Partner with executive leadership to ensure networking and voice/data services support business continuity, growth, and digital transformation.
• Oversee design, implementation, optimization and management of high-performing, large-scale enterprise networks (LAN, WAN, WLAN, Cellular, VoIP, CCaaS).
• Ensure robust network security through firewalls, intrusion prevention, segmentation, and NAC (Network Access Control).
• Lead initiatives to further key objectives for operating a high-performing and secure environment.
• Direct enterprise voice and data infrastructure, including VoIP, SIP trunking, PBX systems, and collaboration platforms.
• Ensure high availability and quality of service for voice and video communications across the organization.
• Oversee telecommunications planning, engineering, and lifecycle management of infrastructure.
• Lead design, deployment, and optimization of DAS to ensure reliable cellular and wireless coverage across facilities.
• Work closely with mobile carriers to expand and optimize mobile network coverage at UM campuses
• Oversee enterprise wireless infrastructure, ensuring secure, scalable, and high-performance connectivity.
• Develop and execute on wireless technology roadmap that enhances and strengthens performance, security and stability across the enterprise.
• Establish and enforce operational policies, standards, and best practices for networking and telecommunications.
• Drive automation and monitoring to improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and enhance incident response.
• Manage vendor relationships, contracts, and procurement for networking and telecom services.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of network engineers, telecom specialists, and security professionals.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

Department Specific Functions:

The Executive Director will lead a large-scale organization responsible for enterprise networking, telecommunications, wireless, and cellular infrastructure across a distributed, high-availability environment.

1. Enterprise Connectivity Strategy (Health System + Academic)

• Define and execute a multi-year connectivity strategy supporting Clinical systems and patient care environments, Research computing and data-intensive workloads, and Academic and campus digital experiences
• Lead architectural evolution toward Cloud-integrated and hybrid networking models, Zero-trust security frameworks, and Software-defined and automated infrastructure

2. Technical Authority & Architecture Leadership (Non-Delegable)

Serve as the final technical authority across all network domains, with the ability to personally engage in complex design and troubleshooting scenarios.

Required areas of depth include:

• Enterprise networking:

• LAN, WAN, WLAN, and campus-scale infrastructure
• SD-WAN and hybrid/cloud connectivity

• Network security:

• Segmentation, NAC (e.g., Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass)
• Firewalls, intrusion prevention, and zero-trust architectures

• Real-time communications:

• VoIP, SIP, PBX, unified communications, CCaaS

• Wireless and mobility:

• Enterprise WLAN and large-scale wireless deployments
• Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) for healthcare facilities

3. Clinical & Research Reliability (Mission-Critical Operations)

• Ensure continuous availability and performance of connectivity services supporting:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
• Clinical devices and bedside systems
• Telemedicine and patient engagement platforms
• Research labs and high-performance computing environments

• Lead incident command during major outages, ensuring rapid resolution and communication
• Establish and enforce:

• High-availability architectures
• Failover and redundancy strategies
• Performance and resilience standards aligned to healthcare needs

4. Operational Excellence at Scale

• Lead a multi-disciplinary organization of ~70-80 engineers, architects, and operations professionals
• Drive:

• Automation and observability across network operations
• Reduced mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR)
• Proactive performance monitoring

• Implement clear:

• SLAs tied to clinical and research service expectations
• Operational KPIs and accountability frameworks

5. Network Security in a Regulated Environment

• Align network architecture with healthcare regulatory requirements and security frameworks
• Partner with cybersecurity leadership to implement:

• Zero-trust network access
• Segmentation for clinical and research environments
• Secure remote and cloud connectivity

• Ensure continuous improvement of network security posture and risk mitigation

6. Telecommunications, Mobility & Campus Connectivity

• Lead enterprise voice, video, and collaboration platforms across health system and university
• Oversee DAS and carrier partnerships to ensure reliable cellular coverage in clinical environments
• Deliver seamless, secure wireless experiences for:

• Clinicians and staff
• Students and faculty
• Patients and visitors

7. Transformation & Modernization

• Own delivery of critical initiatives, including:

• Network modernization and technical debt reduction
• Migration to software-defined and cloud-integrated architectures
• Adoption of automation and AI-driven operations

• Translate emerging technologies into practical, enterprise-ready capabilities

8. Financial & Vendor Leadership

• Manage a significant portfolio of infrastructure investments
• Lead vendor strategy across networking, telecom, and carrier services
• Ensure:

• Contract optimization
• Performance accountability
• Alignment to enterprise cost and value objectives

9. Talent & Organizational Leadership

• Build and sustain a high-performance engineering and operations organization
• Develop:

• Deep technical capability across the team
• Future leaders within the organization

• Foster a culture of:

• Accountability
• Technical excellence
• Continuous improvement and innovation

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field; Master's preferred.
• Certifications such as CCNP/CCIE, CISSP, Aruba ASE, or ITIL strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership in enterprise networking and telecommunications
• Experience leading large-scale, high-availability environments, ideally in healthcare, higher education, or similarly complex enterprises
• Deep knowledge of enterprise networking (Cisco, Aruba, Juniper, Palo Alto, or equivalent)
• Expertise in network security, NAC solutions (e.g., Cisco ISE, Aruba ClearPass), and segmentation strategies.
• Strong background in voice/data technologies (VoIP, SIP, PBX systems) and unified communications platforms.
• Experience with DAS design, deployment, and optimization.
• Familiarity with wireless infrastructure, cloud networking, SD-WAN, and hybrid environments.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to validate architecture decisions
• Ability to translate technical concepts into business outcomes for executive audiences.
• Ability to challenge designs, guide engineers, and lead resolution of critical incidents firsthand.

Any appropriate combination of relevant education, experience and/or certifications may be considered.

The University of Miami offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, tuition remission and more.

UHealth-University of Miami Health System, South Florida's only university-based health system, provides leading-edge patient care powered by the ground breaking research and medical education at the Miller School of Medicine. As an academic medical center, we are proud to serve South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Our physicians represent more than 100 specialties and sub-specialties, and have more than one million patient encounters each year. Our tradition of excellence has earned worldwide recognition for outstanding teaching, research and patient care. We're the challenge you've been looking for.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law.

Job Status: Full time

Employee Type: Staff