Assistant Director, Technology and Data Services

The Assistant Director of Technology and Data Services is responsible for providing operational leadership for the Technology and Data Services Department by supervising personnel, overseeing daily departmental operations, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality technology services to Washtenaw ISD and its constituent districts. The Assistant Director works collaboratively with the Chief Information Officer to implement departmental priorities, support strategic initiatives, develop staff capacity, and promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. This position builds strong relationships with local district technology leaders, provides operational leadership for the Washtenaw Fiber Consortium network serving constituent districts, provides leadership in technology strategies that advance organizational goals, and ensures technology services remain responsive to the evolving needs of the organization., * Demonstrates a strong commitment to equity, social justice, and inclusion in all practices and position responsibilities.

• Demonstrates the ability to examine how their position (directly or indirectly) impacts educational inequities in student achievement outcomes.
• Engages in reflection and ongoing learning and development on critical concepts and terms identified in the Washtenaw ISD Educational Equity Policy including concepts such as cultural proficiency, racial equity, and systemic and structural inequities.
• Demonstrates a strong commitment to inclusive technology practices.
• Promotes and supports organizational culture by reinforcing Board of Education goals, policies and procedures and the organization’s vision, mission, and continuous improvement plan.
• Cultivates a collaborative, accountable, and inclusive work environment that promotes trust, innovation, continuous improvement, and high-quality customer service.
• Provides leadership, supervision, coaching, performance management, and professional development to Technology personnel.
• Oversees the daily operations of the network and desktop teams, ensuring effective coordination of work, timely service delivery, and consistent customer support.
• Works closely with the Chief Information Officer to establish departmental priorities, implement strategic initiatives, and align operational activities with organizational goals.
• Leads projects and cross-functional initiatives by coordinating staff, managing resources, monitoring progress, and ensuring successful outcomes.
• Evaluates emerging technologies and industry trends to inform departmental planning and strategic decision-making.
• Oversees maintenance of WISD firewalls, DMZs, and VPNs, and provides leadership for technology programs, including WANs, LANs, servers, workstations, operating systems, end user support, filters, and other county wide projects.
• Manages network security, fiber WAN, and all related installations.
• Develops and maintains partnerships with local school districts, community agencies, and internal departments to strengthen collaboration and support organizational goals.
• Maintains a visible and engaged presence with constituent districts through regular communication and travel to district locations to strengthen partnerships, support collaboration, and improve service delivery.
• Leads personnel functions including hiring, onboarding, coaching, establishing performance expectations, conducting performance evaluations, employee development, corrective action, succession planning, and fostering accountability for achieving organizational goals and service standards.
• Promotes employee engagement through ongoing communication, professional learning opportunities, mentoring, and recognition of staff contributions.
• Coordinates departmental staffing, workload distribution, and resource allocation to ensure operational continuity and responsive customer service.
• Develops, implements, and monitors departmental procedures that improve operational effectiveness, consistency, and quality of service.
• Supports the development and implementation of technology services and operational improvements that align with organizational priorities.
• Facilitates departmental meetings and communicates organizational priorities, initiatives, and expectations to staff.
• Supports budget planning, purchasing, and resource management in collaboration with the Chief Information Officer.
• Develops and maintains productive relationships with vendors and external partners to support departmental operations.
• Builds organizational capacity through succession planning, knowledge sharing, continuous improvement initiatives, and leadership development across the department.
• Serves as a resource to departments and constituent districts by providing guidance and consultation regarding technology services.
• Demonstrates the ability to manage change effectively while maintaining positive relationships and supporting employees through organizational transitions.
• Coordinates backup staffing and ensures continuity of departmental operations.
• Manages departmental operations in the absence of the Chief Information Officer, as assigned.
• On-call availability to respond to critical operational issues outside normal business hours is required.
• Performs other related duties as assigned., * Supervises staff assigned to the infrastructure (network and servers) and desktop sections of the department.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations shall be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions., * Possesses a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Public Administration, Educational Leadership, or related field.

• Possesses a minimum of five (5) years of experience in technology leadership or technology management.
• Demonstrated experience supervising staff, managing performance, and developing teams.
• Experience leading organizational change and technology initiatives.
• Experience managing operational budgets, projects, and vendor relationships.
• Experience supporting technology services in educational or public-sector environments.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

• Demonstrates ability to read, analyze, and interpret periodicals, operating instructions, procedure manuals, and professional journals.
• Demonstrates ability to write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals.
• Possesses strong technical, analytical, communication and documentation skills.
• Demonstrates ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of educators, customers, and the general public.
• Demonstrates ability to facilitate effective group process.
• Demonstrates ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.
• Demonstrates ability to express self clearly, both orally and in writing.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• Possesses strong technology skills.
• Demonstrates high-level network and server technical knowledge to effectively supervise technical staff, evaluate recommendations, and support informed decision-making.
• Demonstrates the ability to lead technology initiatives through planning, collaboration, communication, and organizational change.
• Understands current and emerging technology trends affecting educational organizations and technology service delivery.
• Demonstrates the ability to evaluate operational needs and work collaboratively with technical experts to develop effective solutions.
• Demonstrates proficiency using technology to improve organizational effectiveness, communication, and workflow.
• Demonstrates ability to interpret complex technical documents.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

• Demonstrates ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Demonstrates ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

REASONING ABILITY:

• Demonstrates ability to understand and synthesize governmental guidelines and regulations.
• Demonstrates ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Exhibits ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Exhibits a high level of professionalism with the ability to handle confidential information, use good judgment, plan, and handle complex projects, and maintain a flexible attitude.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:

• Exhibits excellent customer service and communication skills with a client-centered focus.
• Demonstrates ability to build rapport with others and to serve diverse publics.
• Demonstrates ability to take initiative; work well with others as a collaborative team member and exhibit good communication skills., While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel crouch or crawl; and to talk or hear. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 30 pounds such as files and training material. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus. The ability to travel to other buildings is required. The position requires the individual to sometimes work irregular or extended work hours and meet multiple demands from several people., This position description has been prepared to define the general duties of the position, provide examples of work and to detail the required knowledge, skills, and ability as well as the acceptable experience and training for the position. The description is not intended to limit or modify the right of any supervisor to assign, direct and control the duties of employees under supervision. The WISD retains and reserves any and all rights to change, modify, amend, add to or delete from any portion of this description in its sole judgment. This position description is not a contract for employment.

The WISD’s Mission is to educate, serve, and advocate with students, families, schools and the community. We disrupt racial inequities, build just educational systems, and expand access for all learners. We value human potential while striving to support current and future generations of Washtenaw County to enrich as many lives as we possibly can.

The WISD’s Vision is to be a leader in empowering, facilitating, and delivering high-quality, boundary spanning, educational system that educates all children through an equitable, inclusive, and holistic approach., The WISD is an equal opportunity employer, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The District will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.