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Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Hybrid
Director of Networks & Systems:
Brandeis University is seeking an experienced technology leader to serve as Director of Networks & Systems and help shape the infrastructure that keeps our university connected, secure, and running reliably.
This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for the strategy, architecture, reliability, and long-term evolution of Brandeis’s core technology infrastructure. The Director oversees a broad environment spanning enterprise networking, servers, storage, virtualization, backups and disaster recovery, hybrid on-premises and offsite data centers, and infrastructure-adjacent systems.
The infrastructure supported by this team is foundational to the university, from teaching and research to administrative operations and public safety. The Director will have the opportunity to influence how that infrastructure evolves, balancing reliability and security with emerging technologies, cloud-aligned solutions, and the changing needs of the university.
As a member of the IT leadership team, the Director works across technology functions and university stakeholders, partnering closely with Security, Identity & Access Management, Integrations, application platform teams, Public Safety, and other campus partners. The Director also manages key vendor and consortium relationships and plays a significant role in infrastructure architecture, capacity planning, lifecycle management, and multi-year capital planning.
Most importantly, this role is about building a resilient, forward-looking infrastructure environment while developing the people and partnerships needed to support it.
The salary range for the position is $153,800-$172,800. This is a hybrid position and will require coming into our campus in Waltham, MA.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead Infrastructure Strategy & Architecture Oversight
Provide strategic and operational leadership for Brandeis’s core infrastructure, including networking, hybrid on-premises and offsite data center environments, server platforms, storage, virtualization, and backup/disaster recovery systems.
Develop and maintain multi-year lifecycle, capacity, and infrastructure investment plans.
Guide architecture and technology decisions to align infrastructure with university priorities, security standards, operational requirements, and evolving technology trends.
Oversee major infrastructure procurements, vendor relationships, and consortium partnerships.
Coordinate data center facilities requirements, including power, cooling, and physical environment, across campus and offsite locations.
Operational Excellence and Platform Reliability
Ensure the availability, performance, monitoring, and ongoing improvement of core infrastructure platforms.
Oversee environments including Linux and Windows servers, enterprise storage, virtualization, wired and wireless networks, routing, switching, DNS/DHCP/IPAM, load balancing, VPN, and cloud-adjacent hosting.
Lead disaster recovery readiness, including backup, restore, replication, and alignment with business continuity requirements.
Establish engineering standards, automation practices, operational runbooks, and effective change management processes.
Governance, Standards, and Cross-Team Collaboration
Partner with ITS Security to ensure infrastructure and related applications meet security, audit, and compliance requirements.
Collaborate with Identity & Access Management, Integrations, Public Safety, application platform teams, and other technology partners to deliver secure and reliable services across the technology environment.
Contribute to university-wide planning around disaster recovery, business continuity, cloud strategy, and technical governance.
Participate in RFPs, vendor evaluations, contract reviews, and architectural assessments.
Leadership & Professional Development
Provide leadership and direction to network engineers, systems engineers, and other technical staff.
Set priorities, establish clear expectations, and create an environment focused on reliability, service, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Coach and develop staff through training, mentoring, and opportunities for professional growth.
Support hiring, performance management, succession planning, and effective workload management.
Establish a culture of thoughtful planning, clear communication, and continuous improvement.
What We're Looking For
The ideal candidate will bring:
A bachelor's degree in a relevant field; a master's degree is preferred.
At least 8 years of relevant experience, including 3–5 years of supervisory or management experience.
Demonstrated experience leading network and systems engineering teams and managing complex infrastructure environments.
Experience developing infrastructure architecture, lifecycle, capacity, and disaster recovery strategies.
Strong understanding of enterprise networking, server and storage environments, virtualization, backups, and hybrid/cloud-aligned infrastructure.
Experience managing technology vendors, contracts, procurements, and strategic partnerships.
The ability to make thoughtful technology decisions while balancing security, reliability, cost, and institutional priorities.
Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across technical teams, university leadership, and diverse campus stakeholders.
A commitment to developing people, improving processes, and building reliable and sustainable technology services.
This position requires the ability to drive and the ability to lift up to 50 pounds.
Why This Role Matters
The Director of Networks & Systems will help define the technology foundation on which Brandeis’s academic, research, administrative, and public safety operations depend. It is an opportunity for an experienced infrastructure leader to make a visible, lasting impact by strengthening today's environment while helping shape what comes next.
The University's pay ranges represent a good faith estimate of what Brandeis reasonably expects to pay for a position at the time of posting. The pay offered to a selected candidate during hiring will be based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate's work experience and education/training, internal peer equity, and applicable legal requirements.
Brandeis University is an equal opportunity employer which does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religious creed, gender identity and expression, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, genetic information, disability, caste, military or veteran status or any other category protected by law (also known as membership in a "protected class").
