Job Description

Job Description

The Division of Information Technology at Virginia Tech is seeking an experienced, collaborative, and service‑oriented technical leader to serve as Manager of Enterprise Cloud and AI Platforms (ECAP). This position provides operational leadership for the management and delivery of enterprise collaboration platforms, cloud service enablement, and university‑supported AI and emerging technology platforms that enable secure, scalable, and reliable computing for the campus community. This is a manager-level role with enterprise scope, focused on execution rather than setting enterprise strategy. The focus is on operational execution and service delivery, ensuring enterprise platforms are reliable, supportable, and aligned with established standards and policies.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Enterprise Services within Enterprise Solutions and Enabling Technologies (ESET), this role translates Division of IT strategy, enterprise architecture, and security guidance into operational plans, service roadmaps, and consistent execution across assigned service domains. This role oversees a portfolio spanning collaboration platforms, cloud service enablement, and AI platform operations. Responsibilities are balanced across service delivery, operational governance, people leadership, and operational execution.

The manager is accountable for day‑to‑day service health, operational readiness, standards compliance, and continuous improvement. This role focuses on service-ownership, operational leadership, and team leadership rather than hands-on system administration or engineering. Operates as an operational service integrator responsible for coordinating execution across multiple enterprise service areas and partner teams to ensure consistent, reliable execution of established strategies, architecture, and security guidance. The manager is responsible for prioritizing work within the ECAP service portfolio, balancing demand, service health, and operational capacity.

The Manager of Enterprise Cloud and AI Platforms and their team of professional technical staff work in close partnership with peer Division of IT teams, including the IT Security Office (ITSO), Secure Identity Services (SIS), and User Experience and Engagement (UEE), as well as enterprise architecture, governance bodies, and campus stakeholders. Together, these partnerships ensure services are well governed, supportable, and aligned with the teaching, learning, research, and administrative missions of the university. This role will help shape how Virginia Tech delivers secure, scalable collaboration and AI-enabled services on an institutional scale.

This role is a good fit if you …

Enjoy leading technical professionals and shaping service operations
Are experienced translating strategy into execution
Prefer accountability for outcomes over hands-on configuration work
Comfortable making prioritization and tradeoff decisions in a high-demand operational environment.
Good at coordinating across teams and navigating ambiguity to ensure work is completed effectively.
What you will be accountable for …

Service health and reliability across enterprise platforms
Cloud service governance, standards enforcement, and cost oversight
AI platform operations, usage monitoring, and policy alignment
Cross-functional service integration and risk management
Team performance, prioritization, and delivery outcomes
Why this role matters …

Influence cloud and collaboration services used campus-wide at major R1 university (enterprise complexity)
Partner across security, identity, and architecture at enterprise scale
Work Location
This is a hybrid position. The successful candidate will work onsite at the Blacksburg campus approximately 2–3 days per week. As a manager, regular onsite presence is essential to support team leadership, collaboration, planning, and relationship‑building efforts.

Key Responsibilities
Provide operational leadership and day‑to‑day management for enterprise collaboration platforms and productivity services, including Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and other university‑supported collaboration technologies, ensuring reliable, secure, and high‑quality service delivery.
Lead cloud service enablement and operational governance across major cloud platforms, applying approved standards, guardrails, and reference architectures to support scalable, supportable, and well‑governed cloud‑based services.
Oversee operation of university‑supported AI and emerging technology platforms, ensuring production readiness, operational sustainability, and alignment with established usage policies and guardrails. Monitor usage and coordinate escalation of risks or policy concerns in alignment with institutional governance.
Integrate security, risk, and compliance requirements into all phases of the service lifecycle, partnering closely with the IT Security Office (ITSO) and Secure Identity Services (SIS) to ensure appropriate access controls, risk mitigation, and alignment with institutional policies and standards.
Manage service onboarding, application integration readiness, and operational handoff activities to ensure new and enhanced services are well documented, supportable, and aligned with enterprise architecture and operational expectations.
Collaborate with User Experience and Engagement (UEE) to support service design, communications, change management, and adoption strategies that promote positive, consistent, and human‑centered user experiences.
Recruit, develop, coach, and lead a high‑performing team of professional technical staff, establishing clear expectations, supporting career growth, and fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and service excellence.
Operate the Enterprise Cloud and AI Platforms (ECAP) service portfolio using shared IT service management practices, including service definitions, demand intake, prioritization, and operational execution aligned with available capacity.
Partner with campus stakeholders, peer IT teams, and governance bodies to assess service performance, communicate impacts, support adoption, and continuously improve the value and effectiveness of ECAP‑managed services.
Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and progressively responsible experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing professional technical staff, including setting expectations, coaching performance, and supporting career development.
• Experience providing operational leadership for enterprise‑scale IT services in complex enterprise environments.
• Experience overseeing cloud or SaaS‑based services, including service onboarding, lifecycle management, standards enforcement, and operational sustainability.
• Familiarity with IT service management practices, including service health monitoring, incident escalation, change management, documentation, and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of information security, risk management, and compliance requirements as they apply to enterprise IT services.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts to non‑technical audiences and build trust across organizational boundaries.


Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing enterprise collaboration or productivity platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or comparable SaaS services).
• Experience overseeing cloud service enablement or brokerage across one or more major cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, Google Cloud).
• Familiarity with operational considerations for AI‑enabled platforms, including monitoring, access controls, vendor lifecycle management, and cost governance.
• Experience operating IT services within a federated, shared‑services, or highly decentralized organizational model.
• Proven ability to translate enterprise strategy, architecture standards, and security guidance into operational plans, service roadmaps, and measurable service outcomes.
• Demonstrated success coaching senior individual contributors or technical leads.
• Experience partnering closely and routinely with information security, identity, enterprise architecture, or compliance functions in a shared-services or matrixed environment.
• Working knowledge of identity, access management, and enterprise infrastructure concepts sufficient to guide teams, manage risk, and partner effectively with security and architecture stakeholders.
• Experience working in higher education or similarly complex mission‑driven organizations supporting administrative, teaching, learning, and research functions.
• Familiarity with financial management concepts related to IT services, such as cost transparency, optimization, or charge back / show back models.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as an operational generalist, working across multiple technical domains and levels of detail to support service delivery.
• Experience coordinating work across multiple teams in a matrixed environment, including facilitating resolution and escalation of competing priorities.