Director, Integration & Process Innovation

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Reporting to the AVP of Enterprise Data & Solutions, the Director of Integration and Process Innovation is the strategic technology leader responsible for driving transformative solutions in data integration, process efficiency, and cutting-edge AI applications. To align with the College's strategic initiatives and business needs, the Director establishes critical partnerships across academic and business units, including TechMedia, Campus Life, Enrollment, Academic Affairs, Alumni Operations, Finance, and Human Resources.

The role owns the full solution lifecycle - from technical assessment and business requirement gathering to project proposal generation, solution development, and deployment - ensuring results that drive efficiency and create a transformative user experience. Success is defined by building strong customer relationships, enforcing cross-departmental collaboration, and proactively identifying technology gaps to create strategic business opportunities. Exceptional communication, strategic thinking, and advanced technical skills in web service API, AI, data analytics, and business analysis are essential for this role.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

Strategic Leadership & Planning Lead the IT enterprise system development planning and execution, guaranteeing that the infrastructure and solution support business growth, enhance user experience, and align with critical college initiatives.

Prepare for and transform the team to implement emerging technologies to deliver innovative solutions, optimize business operations through automation, and expand strategic opportunities.

Elevate team expertise in emerging technologies (e.g., API, AI/ML) and direct campus-wide adoption programs, including training and ongoing support.

Lead the development and deployment of AI-assisted applications and chatbots across core platforms (Workday, Google, Snowflake, NotebookLM, etc.).

Lead the development of technical and business proposals (SOWs, execution plans like the AI Development Plan) to define project objectives, deliverables, execution priorities, and required platforms (e.g., Vertex AI, Snowflake Cortex, software & tools) for enterprise systems strategic initiatives.

Enterprise Platform & Integration Management Oversee the performance, operation, and maintenance of all core enterprise development and integration platforms (e.g., Workday, Banner, Snaplogic, Salesforce CRM, BPLogix, Heroku, Oracle, GIT, and Tomcat Oracle Linux).

Serve as the technical lead on Workday projects, including Workday Student implementation and support existing HR and Finance integrations, ensuring successful execution of integration development and end-to-end lifecycle testing.

Organize and support semi-annual Workday release tests and adoption related to integration and support of business functional tests. Participate in Workday Support Committee meetings on regular bases, contributing to meeting agenda and follow-through action items.

Guarantee continuous operation and performance across all platforms, ensuring timely resolution of data integrity and application performance issues, including conducting semester-based Banner course registration load testing and providing oversight of specific operational checks.

Drive the cross-functional collaboration with Institutional Research/Business Intelligence (IR/BI), Security, and User Services to ensure the rapid resolution of all critical platform, user account, and technical incidents.

Lead the architecture and development of all core integrations (including API web services, Workday Studio, and Extend) to ensure reliable, high-volume data exchange between Workday, Snowflake, and 3rd-party campus systems.

Govern platform resiliency and business continuity by enforcing Salesforce Backup and Restore, managing regular sandbox refresh/validation, and partnering with Infrastructure to rigorously test the IT Disaster Recovery plan.

Develop and maintain the strategy for documenting IT software and process inventory, clarifying supporting responsibilities, and orchestrating cross-training to ensure team knowledge overlap.

Drive rapid, AI-assisted development (e.g., vibe coding) and system design to solve key business problems, ensuring all solutions meet enterprise security and code review standards while promoting fast, iterative prototyping.

Data Management & Governance Follow the Data Governance process in partnering with Security and IR/BI, implementing a secure data sharing and access practice in Snowflake and in Google Drive.

Govern team compliance with the IT Change Management Protocol.

Project & Team Delivery Partner with Project Management Office (PMO) and business stakeholders to define, plan, and deploy IT strategic projects, ensuring high-quality deliverables that meet the business objectives and adhere to the project management framework.

Direct team-managed projects, ensuring adherence to the PMO standards, and proactively manage resource allocation to mitigate project dependency and capacity risks.

Drive process re-engineering and automation initiatives by leading product research (AI partnership or solution provider), documenting technical specifications, business cases, and negotiating cost/resource planning for business cases.

Collaborate with Business System Analysts and PMO to identify functional gaps and clear business objectives and requirements for data integration, AI innovation, and digital form projects.

Operational Support & Performance Cultivate a high-performing, collaborative team culture, including setting, managing, and conducting performance reviews to ensure accountability and the achievement of team and individual goals.

Oversee, prioritize, and monitor all production support tickets and daily team activities, guaranteeing fast issues resolution, application, user account, and data issues to minimize business interruption.

Direct incident response efforts, involving appropriate Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to drive resolution and taking ownership of the final incident report delivery.

Define and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure team performance, assess business support maturity, and conduct post-implementation business value analysis.

Set and manage team and individual performance goals, monitoring process through frequent reviews and motivation to ensure goals are achieved.

Perform other duties as assigned to meet evolving departmental and institutional needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

Qualifications are deemed required or preferred and represent what is needed to effectively perform the job.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, or related technical/business fields, combined with work experiences and education required.
• Master's Degree in IT or a business-related field preferred.
• 10 years of progressive experience in enterprise systems, application development, data integration, and technical team leadership required.
• 5+ years of experience leading a technical team required.
• 10+ years of experience in application development, data integration, and enterprise system support required.
• 3+ years of experience developing AI customer applications, such as developing Bots, RAG, Agentic AI, and Machine Learning required.
• Experience working with a major Student Information System (e.g., Workday, Banner, or Salesforce) preferred.
• Prior experience as a Business Analyst, Project Manager, or in a formal Data Analyst function preferred.
• Specific expertise in Workday (HCM, Finance, Student, or Banner) preferred.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Technical Expertise (Required)

• Deep, hands-on expertise in enterprise integration and data technologies, including:
• Integration/API: RESTful API, JSON, XML, Tomcat, GIT, and modern API web services and end-point integrations.
• AI/ML: Deep understanding and demonstrable experience in applying Generative AI technologies (e.g., LLMs conversational AI) and advanced patterns like Retrieval-Argumented Generation (RAG), vibe coding, and Agentic Systems to develop and deploy strategic business solutions.
• Data/Platform: Oracle, PL/SQL, Snowflake, ETL, and knowledge of the Workday object model and reporting/integration capabilities.
• Cloud Architecture: Substantial experience with Cloud, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) delivery models.
• Strong knowledge of IT security best practices and Change Management protocols to ensure production stability.
• Functional & Analytics Skills (Required)
• Advanced technical design, data mapping, and data analytical skills.
• Experienced in the full business analysis lifecycle, including documenting business processes, collection functional requirements, and creating clear process design specification and workflow diagram.
• Proven ability to manage large-scale, complex projects and advocate for project management processes and methodologies across the team and with business stakeholders.
• Strong business acumen across academic and administrative functions (e.g., student records, advising, finance, and human resources).
• Leadership & Behavioral Competencies (Required)
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to clearly express complex technical concepts, proposals, and conclusions to both technical and non-technical audiences, including presenting to all levels of the organization.
• Strategic thinking and a results-driven mindset, demonstrating a high level of poise, focus, and creativity to solve technical and business problems in high-stress situations.
• Self-starter with strong organizational skills, capable of working independently, managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, and paying close attention to details.
• Ability to learn and adaptability, demonstrating a quick ability to learn and adopt new technologies and skills rapidly.

PHYSICAL ABILITIES

Activities commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job. The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Requires ability to lift and move objects that are light.
• Requires ability to move materials occasionally.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Usual Office Conditions

This position is primarily a hybrid role with mandatory days in the office as needed. Must reside within a reasonable commuting distance of the Boston campus to ensure operational effectiveness.

COMPENSATION

• $116,950.00 - $146,250.00 annually, commensurate with experience.
• Grade of Position: 23-13
• Scheduled Weekly Hours: 36.25
• Division: Division of Physical & Digital Infrastructure

In addition to a competitive salary, Emerson College is committed to the health and well-being of our employees and family members. We offer a generous benefits package to regular staff scheduled to work 20+ hours per week.

Benefits include:

• Outstanding health plans with limited out-of-pocket expenses
• Dental plans
• Generous time-off programs
• 403(b) retirement benefit with a 9% employer contribution once eligible
• Additional benefits such as life and disability coverage and commuter offerings are available.

Please refer to our benefits website for a full list of benefits and eligibility requirements.