ERP Technical Lead

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Ellucian Colleague Operations & Production Stability (25%)
  • Provide technical leadership for day-to-day operations and stability of Ellucian Colleague ERP
  • Ensure system uptime, performance, batch processing integrity, and data reliability
  • Serve as senior technical lead for resolution of high-impact ERP incidents and recurring system failures
  • Support disciplined operational controls, standards, and change management practices
  • Analyze system behavior and operational trends to improve platform reliability and resiliency
• ERP Technical Leadership & Solution Analysis (20%)
  • Intake, evaluate, and analyze ERP enhancement and production support requests
  • Perform deep technical and functional analysis of Colleague-related issues
  • Develop implementation approaches, technical impact analysis, and effort estimates
  • Provide technical guidance and coordination for development activities performed internally or through contracted resources
  • Support prioritization efforts through technical analysis and operational impact assessment
  • Document solution approaches, technical dependencies, and operational considerations
• ERP Upgrades, Releases & Controlled Change Execution (15–20%)
  • Provide technical leadership for planning and execution of Colleague upgrades, patches, and maintenance releases
  • Cover technical testing, validation, and controlled production deployments
  • Support disciplined change management practices across technical and functional teams
  • Mitigate operational risk during production changes and maintenance activities
  • Ensure upgrades and releases do not destabilize highly customized ERP configurations
  • Validate compatibility of customizations, integrations, and batch processes during upgrade cycles
• ERP Customization Rationalization & Modernization Readiness (15–20%)
  • Perform and coordinate structured technical analysis of 18,000+ Colleague customizations and extensions
  • Identify, classify, and document customizations by function, risk, operational dependency, and business value
  • Partner with stakeholders to evaluate whether customizations should be retained, redesigned, retired, or replaced
  • Support targeted data cleanup initiatives
  • Document system dependencies, integration points, and technical debt exposure
  • Support ERP modernization readiness activities and SaaS migration preparation efforts
  • Produce accurate current-state inventory and dependency mapping for institutional planning and decision-making
• Production Support & Escalation Management (10%)
  • Serve as senior technical escalation resource for ERP production issues and critical incidents
  • Ensure timely troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and long-term corrective actions
  • Partner with support teams to facilitate ERP-related issue resolution and operational continuity
  • Support mission-critical institutional operations dependent on ERP system availability and reliability
• Vendor & Technical Coordination (5%)
  • Serve as primary technical liaison with Ellucian support and product teams
  • Coordinate technical evaluation of patches, fixes, upgrades, and vendor recommendations
  • Absorb vendor guidance against local customization complexity and operational constraints
  • Interpret vendor releases and technical advisories within the context of a highly modified ERP environment
• ERP Lifecycle & Technical Planning Support (5%)
  • Provide technical input into ERP lifecycle planning and modernization readiness activities
  • Support technical estimation and operational impact analysis related to upgrades, maintenance, and technical debt remediation
  • Afford assistance with planning considerations related to ERP sustainability and future-state transition readiness
• Governance & Institutional Engagement (10%)
  • Participate in ERP governance and enterprise application decision forums
  • Provide technical input into prioritization, sequencing, operational risk, and dependency decisions
  • Collaborate with academic and administrative stakeholders regarding ERP constraints, capabilities, and operational impacts
  • Support alignment between ERP operations and institutional continuity requirements
• Professional Depth & System Mastery (5%)
  • Maintain deep, hands-on expertise in Ellucian Colleague ERP (required and non-substitutable)
  • Stay current on Colleague architecture, administrative modules, batch processing, and legacy operational support patterns
  • Develop advanced understanding of ERP technical debt, modernization constraints, and SaaS transition considerations
  • Serve as institutional subject matter expert for complex Colleague operational and technical issues

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related technical field required
• Experience: Minimum 5+ years direct hands-on experience supporting Ellucian Colleague ERP (REQUIRED)
• Experience: Must include production support and system administration responsibilities in Colleague environments
• Experience: Demonstrated experience serving as a senior technical lead or subject matter expert within ERP support environments
• Experience: Demonstrated experience supporting highly customized Colleague environments at scale
• Experience: Direct experience with ERP upgrades, patching cycles, and production release management
• Knowledge: Higher education ERP environment experience strongly preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Operational expertise: Deep operational expertise in Ellucian Colleague ERP architecture and behavior under customization load
• Technical skills: Proven ability to troubleshoot and stabilize complex production ERP environments with minimal vendor dependency
• Problem-solving: Strong ability to analyze system dependencies across modules, integrations, and batch processes
• Communication: Excellent communication skills across technical, functional, and executive stakeholders
• Decision-making: Demonstrated discipline in change control, operational risk management, and production support practices

Technical Requirements

• Ellucian Colleague experience required (hands-on, not advisory or peripheral)
• Familiarity: Deep familiarity with Colleague administrative modules, integrations, and batch processing architecture
• Experience: Experience troubleshooting ERP production environments and resolving complex operational issues
• Experience: Experience working with legacy database structures and data extraction/cleanup activities
• ITSM and ticketing system experience required
• Experience: Scripting, automation, or systems integration experience strongly preferred
• Experience: Analyzing ERP dependencies and customization impacts preferred