Assistant Director, Texas Education Exchange

Classification: Administrative/Professional

Exemption Status/Test: Exempt

Job Grade: 6

Department: Texas Education Exchange

Reports To: Department Director

Job Goal:

The Assistant Director, Texas Education Exchange will coordinate, manage, and direct a team of technical staff while leading the development, sharing the vision, and strategy for the technical and non-technical audiences. This role assists the Department Director in managing cross-functional teams, coordinating platform operations, driving user adoption, and strengthening relationships with Local Education Agencies (LEAs), Education Service Centers (ESCs), vendors, and state partners. The Assistant Director plays a key role in ensuring technical execution, user satisfaction, operational reliability, and project alignment with statewide interoperability goals

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, engineering, education technology, business administration, or related field

Experience

• Three years of related work experience in the area of technology software operations
• Three years of experience with education technology software products, preferred
• Two years of experience managing teams and operations
• Industry experience in public, private or hybrid cloud platforms, such as AWS, Azure, Bedrock, and Google Cloud Platform
• Experience in designing and understanding complex technical architecture involving the integration of multiple data sources
• Experience in the use of APIs and working knowledge of ED-FI or data interoperability initiatives
• Experience in the development and management of user support plans Experience in cybersecurity and issues of data privacy
• Experience in product development, operations, and platform management

Special Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of the Texas K-12 education landscape Knowledge of data science and data governance
• A strong technical background in technical services utilizing the Ed-Fi data standard, preferred
• Ability to organize and manage multiple projects, priorities, and meet deadlines with attention to detail
• Strategic orientation and solid analytical skills
• Ability to document complex business and technical processes
• Ability to collaborate with development teams, business partners, software engineers, and other stakeholders to enhance and improve product offerings
• Background in SQL and Json is a plus
• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, preferred

Major Responsibilities:

• Manage and direct a team of technical staff while leading the development, vision, and strategy for the technical services team. Note that some members of the technical services team will be employees, but initially, this effort will focus on collaborating with and managing contracted vendors
• Ensure targeted service and performance standards are achieved or exceeded in partnership with operations and customer success teams
• Develop and manage technical training for new or existing products and applications in collaboration with customer success and product teams
• Assist with project management by creating assignments, tracking progress, and resolving issues both internally and with business partners and vendors
• Design and evolve organizational structure to support strategic and business goals of the Exchange
• Partner with customer success and marketing teams to package and price service offerings
• Coordinate and strategically plan with the Exchange Director to meet the goals and objectives of the grant requirements for Region 4, Texas Education Agency, and our philanthropic partners
• Coordinate with the Exchange Director in developing agenda, presentations, and documentation for senior management and the Board (Travel is required)
• Conduct vendor business development, contract, and relationship management
• Contribute as part of a team that envisions and manages a superior user experience
• Serve as the Exchange's technical lead in interacting with the technical leads at TEA, other ESCs, our partner vendors and the like.
• Oversee the Exchange's use support plan, cybersecurity plan, privacy policy, and standard service level agreements with participating LEAs
• Provide technical assistance, services, documentation, and reporting as specified by any applicable state grant that funds this position

Supervision/Personnel Management

Assist the Exchange Director with the supervision and evaluation of assigned staff

Physical Demands/Environmental Factors/ Mental Demands:

Frequent use of standard office equipment; prolonged sitting; occasional bending/stooping, pushing/pulling, and twisting; repetitive hand motions (keyboarding and use of mouse); occasional light lifting and carrying (less than 15 pounds); may work prolonged and irregular hours; work with frequent interruptions; maintain emotional control under pressure.