Executive Director, Business School Information Technology

Position Summary

Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) and Columbia Business School (CBS) seek a senior technology leader to serve CBS. Reporting jointly to CUIT’s Chief Information Officer & CBS’s Chief Operating Officer, the Executive Director will be a key member of both the CUIT and CBS administrative leadership teams.

The Executive Director will ensure that technological capabilities support academic excellence, research innovation, and operational effectiveness across CBS. The role is responsible for ensuring reliable frontline IT services, aligning procurement and vendor management practices with University standards while optimizing efficiency, strengthening project and innovation delivery capabilities, and ensuring effective use of University enterprise infrastructure and platforms.

At its core, this role requires a technologist with strong interpersonal and leadership skills who can engage faculty, administrators, and technical teams to drive solutions that meet the needs of the CBS’s constituents while leveraging the broader capabilities of the University. The successful candidate will bring strong technical credibility, operational discipline, and the ability to lead in a complex shared governance environment while partnering closely with faculty, administrators, and central technology teams.

For over a century, Columbia Business School has helped develop leaders and builders of enterprises who drive value for their stakeholders and society at large through our MBA, MS, PhD, and Executive Education programs. CBS is equally committed to cultivating new scholars and teachers, and to creating and disseminating pathbreaking knowledge, concepts, and tools which advance the understanding and practice of management through our faculty research and PhD programs. Our vision is simple: to develop ideas and leaders that transform the world - from the very center of business. Our ever-evolving curriculum, featuring pioneering courses, STEM certification, and immersive experiential learning, prepares students to excel in key areas such as digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and innovation, twenty-first century finance, the intersection of business and society, and climate and sustainability.

Columbia University Information Technology (CUIT) provides the technological framework for one of the world's leading research institutions, providing the essential infrastructure and innovative solutions that empower students, faculty, and staff to excel. Committed to delivering a robust, secure, and agile environment that supports the University’s mission of teaching, research, and patient care, CUIT manages a comprehensive portfolio ranging from high-performance computing and global networking to enterprise-scale applications and cybersecurity. As the University's central IT partner, CUIT prioritizes the integration of emerging technologies—including artificial intelligence, advanced data analytics, and cloud-based collaboration—to streamline operations and provide seamless, transformative services that act as a catalyst for academic and administrative excellence. Through strategic alignment and a culture of service excellence, CUIT effectively bridges the gap between complex technical requirements and the human-centered goals of the Columbia community, ensuring the University is equipped to solve the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Responsibilities

Technology Strategy and Leadership

• Develops and executes a multi-year technology strategy aligned with School priorities and University direction. Define and communicate a clear technology roadmap with measurable outcomes.
• Serves as a trusted advisor to the University CIO, CBS COO, and faculty leadership.
• Recruits, develops, and retains high performing technology talent, strategy, institutional platforms, and emerging capabilities.
• Leads and coordinates technology resources supporting CBS, ensuring the right balance between local expertise and University provided services. Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and service orientation. Strengthen management capability within client services and technical teams.
• Ensures alignment between School initiatives and University enterprise platforms. Maximizes effective partnerships around centrally provided services, helping CBS take full advantage of institutional capabilities while meeting its specific operational and shared services. Represents CBS’s academic needs.
• Ensures compliance with University security, privacy, and risk management standards.

Innovation and Application Development

• Enables application development and integration capabilities that support rapid implementation of solutions aligned with School priorities.
• Supports the delivery of high impact tools across the student lifecycle and administrative domains. Ensures deep technical expertise while ensuring integration with University systems.
• Promotes sound engineering practices, integration architecture, and data governance.
• Partners with faculty and academic leadership to support digital innovation initiatives while balancing speed with institutional security, privacy, and compliance requirements.

Client Services and Operations

• Strengthens and professionalizes client service operations supporting the CBS.
• Drives standard operating practices that improve consistency, transparency, and scalability of service delivery.
• Coordinates with CUIT service teams to ensure reliable support structures, clear communication channels, and appropriate use of enterprise services.
• Drives service delivery using agreed-upon service metrics and accountability standards.
• Rationalizes the School’s core technology stack in partnership with University IT.
• Partners with the School’s Financial Planning Office, CUIT’s Vendor Management Office, and Central Procurement to ensure reporting needs are met and that technology purchasing and usage align with School and University financial practices.
• Maintains a clear catalog of approved hardware and software solutions and supports the rationalization of CBS’s core technology stack in partnership with University IT.

Research Computing Support & Strategy

• Oversees research computing resources and strategy supporting CBS’s faculty and research initiatives.
• Evaluates the sustainability of local computing infrastructure, including hardware lifecycle management and capital investment considerations.
• Develops cloud strategy in partnership with CUIT, including workload placement, credit management, and vendor relationships.
• Ensures appropriate support for regulated research environments, including infrastructure capable of supporting HIPAA and other compliance requirements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Minimum of 8+ years of information technology experience.
• Significant senior leadership experience in information technology within higher education or similarly complex institutions.
• Demonstrated success operating in environments that include both centralized and decentralized technology capabilities.
• Deep technical understanding of enterprise systems, application development, cloud infrastructure, and data governance.
• Proven ability to strengthen service operations and implement scalable processes.
• Experience balancing innovation with institutional compliance, security, and risk management requirements.
• Strong executive presence and ability to engage effectively with faculty and senior administrators.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of of progressively responsible related experience, including senior leadership experience.
• Experience in a professional school environment.
• Familiarity with research computing environments and regulated data domains.
• Track record of building digital innovation capacity.
• Experience operating within a matrixed or dual reporting structure.