Director of Network Infrastructure and Services

Job Description Virginia’s community colleges have a 50-year track record of educational excellence and innovation to serve the needs of our citizens and strengthen the Commonwealth’s economy. When Virginia’s General Assembly established the Virginia Community College System in 1966, the need for a comprehensive system was well known. Over the two decades after the end of World War II, leaders in government, business, professional sectors, and academia had called for a new approach to providing educational opportunity. A key concern was Virginia’s ability to develop a skilled and knowledgeable workforce to expand the state’s economy. Today our community colleges give every Virginian the opportunity to gain a quality education. With 23 colleges on 40 campuses located throughout the state, Virginia’s Community Colleges are committed to serving Virginia families, helping them acquire the knowledge and skills to seize the opportunities of today and tomorrow.The chief objective of the Director is to provide day-to-day leadership, administration, and support for all activities associated with maintaining and operating the system-wide shared VCCS Information Technology Infrastructure. The activities managed by this position include, but are not limited to, the following:1. Administer and support the ITS network infrastructure, specifically the local area network, backbone, and network servers required to provide connectivity and access to all VCCS IT resources.2. Leads planning, communication, and coordination for the execution of all infrastructure initiatives and activities across the organization.3. Develops the scope of work and the related plans for all major network infrastructure projects.4. Provides technical subject matter expertise as needed.5. Oversees skills transfer and personnel development for all support personnel.6. Ensures enterprise services meet or exceed the SLA’s.7. Works with business unit managers and forms alliances on projects, operational decisions, scheduling requirements/conflicts, and vendor contract clarification. While this position is not a forward-facing role, it is responsible for the core infrastructure on which the entire VCCS depends for all operations across the organization as a whole. It is therefore expected that the employee will be able to work on a fully remote basis, planning time appropriately and going where needed throughout the VCCS in order to ensure the successful operation of the System Office and all colleges and satellite locations in Virginia. The employee will attend all required meetings, either in person or remotely as dictated by current circumstances. The employee will be generally available during normal work hours but will be fully prepared to routinely work as needed outside of those hours in order to maintain the 24×7 service required by the VCCS. Special Assignments May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor. KSA's/Required Qualifications Significant understanding and management capability related to the effective planning, implementation, and maintenance of a highly technical and complex information technology network infrastructure. Must be detail-oriented and have strong leadership, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, in addition to the following.Comprehensive knowledge of:● Juniper and Cisco Routers● Cisco ACI and Juniper Networks● BGP and OSPF routing protocols● QoS● PRTG Network Monitor● Routing and Switching● VLANs● Network Cabling● Sub-netting, NIC-bonding● TCP/IP, IPv4, 1Pv6● Juniper and Cisco switches● BlueCat DNS and DHCP ● WLAN ● Wireshark● Palo Alto Firewalls/Panorama● Aruba ClearPass RADIUS and TACACS Considerable knowledge of:● Current trends and advancements in the telecommunications and Internet industries, hyper-converged platforms, including server, storage, and networking technologies● Documentation including white papers, models, guidelines, user guides, procedures, test plans, implementation plans, etc.● ITIL principles, service lifecycle (strategy, design, transition, operation, and continual improvement), and governance standards.● Incident, problem, change, and configuration management processes, including SLA and KPI management.● F5 BigIP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)● F5 BigIP Application Security Manager (ASM)● F5 BigIP iRules● SSL Certificates● CIS standards and implementations● Microsoft Sentinel SEIM ● Palo Alto Global Protect VPN ● NTP ServicesSkills:Comprehensive oral and written communication skills.Considerable:● Change Management skills● Incident Management skills● Request Management skills● Asset and Configuration Management skillsWorking skill in:● IP Routing using BGP and OSPF ● Layer 2 switching● Firewall Management● VPN technology● Project Task ManagementAbility:● To analyze service performance data, identify trends, and implement corrective actions to improve efficiency.● To learn new things and to apply them when and where appropriate.● To work on multiple tasks simultaneously.● To apply general work experience to a task.● To work independently or as part of a team.● To work in stressful situations.● To use logic to resolve complex problems.● To communicate and work well with everyone from the highest levels of technical Management to staff level.● To understand the technical environment and plan accordingly.● To find creative solutions to problems.● To analyze user needs and solve problems.● To be a self-starter and work independently.● To coordinate the work of a team.● To coordinate multiple projects and priorities.● To learn new methodologies and their appropriate application.● To coordinate multiple projects and their related priorities.● To provide supervision at the project level.● To prioritize and work under the pressure of multiple demands while meeting/exceeding deadlines.● To communicate and work well with all levels of VCCS Management and external sources.● To provide direct supervision for highly skilled staff personnel or external consultants.● To assimilate and simplify complicated issues.● To interface with all levels of management.● To develop staff and motivate behavior that positions the ITS function specifically and the VCCS generally as a world-class provider of services to its students, staff, faculty, and administration.● To plan and execute complex tasks.● To work effectively as a part of a management team.● To anticipate customers’ technology needs and initiate the appropriate actions.● To manage customer expectations.● To listen effectively to internal and external constituents.Education: ● Substantial knowledge of cited functions and a combination of education and experience in IT Leadership and Information Systems (specifically in networking) providing the knowledge and skills to successfully perform the functions of the Director of Network Infrastructure and Services.000Experience:● Extremely high level of expertise and experience in all levels of information technology, application development, server technologies, database technologies, telecommunications, and information systems.● Proven track record motivating highly skilled technical staff to work together as a team and accomplish significantly complicated tasks.● Superb customer service can be documented using at least five diverse sources from internal and external stakeholders.● Experience in Architecture and IT application development is required, with a high degree of competency in the latest technologies.● Working knowledge and experience of a System Development Life Cycle Process● People & project management experience● Experience with Operating Systems, Performance Mgt. & Capacity Planning is preferred● Experience with API’s, Integration, Messaging, SOAP, Software, and Interoperability Techniques/Standards● DBMS and Data Warehousing, Enterprise Data Bus, BI and Analysis.● Knowledge of Development Methodologies/Development Tools● Web & Server Technologies are preferred. E-Business or B2B Enabling Technologies, Knowledge of ERP (especially PeopleSoft), and Security Additional Considerations Professional certifications in one or more of the following areas:●Juniper Networks: JNCIA-Junos, JNCIS-ENT, or JNCIP-ENT ●Cisco ACI: Cisco Certified Specialist – ACI Implementation, CCNP Data Center, or CCIE Data Center●Palo Alto Networks: PCCSA, PCNSA, or PCNSE ●F5 Technologies: F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA), F5 Certified Technology Specialist (F5-CTS), or F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE) Operation of a State Vehicle Yes Supervises Employees Yes Required Travel Travel as required to colleges throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, as well as the System Office and the Shared Services Center. Travel is also required for meetings, training and professional development.