IT Director, Emerging Technologies

This role is designed for someone who is excited about what’s next in technology, while equally interested in determining what’s actually useful, sustainable, and ready to scale. You’ll keep a pulse on rapidly evolving technologies, identify opportunities worth exploring, and turn promising ideas into structured pilots with clear goals and measures of success. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a significant part of the work, but the role is ultimately about building an institutional approach to emerging technology that encourages experimentation while considering scalability, reliability, risk, cost, user needs, and long-term value.

About the role

As Director, you will lead a small team focused on emerging technology and work closely with faculty, researchers, administrative leaders, IT professionals, and university leadership. You’ll seek out innovative work already happening across campus, connect people tackling similar challenges, and help turn isolated experimentation into shared learning and broader opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Advance and help influence the University’s roadmap for AI and emerging technologies.
• Identify promising technologies and use cases, and then lead structured pilots to evaluate their potential.
• Establish success measures and use evidence to recommend whether initiatives should scale, evolve, or stop.
• Translate fast-moving technology trends into practical recommendations and strategic guidance for University leadership.
• Partner across academic, research, administrative, and IT units to understand needs, share learning, and reduce duplicative effort.
• Lead and develop a team focused on emerging technology while building partnerships with peers in higher education, industry, and other related fields.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to the position, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience.
• Experience (typically 7 years or more) leading technology-driven projects, including strategic planning and aligning projects/initiatives with organizational priorities.
• Experience successfully managing a team, including a demonstrated ability to mentor and guide team members toward achieving collective and individual goals.
• Experience with organizational change management and experience in rapidly changing environments; the ability to communicate and pivot direction with the change.
• Knowledge of a variety of artificial intelligence tools used for different purposes, and the ability to discern which of those tools and technologies are best suited for different specific use cases.
• Experience with data analysis and metrics tracking, with an ability to identify and report project outcomes.
• Experience and a deep understanding of stakeholder engagement and relationship building, with the ability to integrate a wide variety of perspectives and priorities into a cohesive direction.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, as well as interpersonal skills.
• Keen interest in leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance educational and operational outcomes.
• Commitment to fostering a welcoming and respectful work environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience evaluating, piloting, or implementing emerging technologies, including AI, in a complex organization.
• Experience assessing new technologies for scalability, risk, sustainability, cost, and/or organizational value, and making recommendations regarding broader adoption.
• Experience developing or contributing to an organizational strategy, roadmap, governance model, or framework for AI or other emerging technology.
• Experience working in higher education, research, or other highly complex, decentralized organization.

Benefits

• Exceptional health coverage, university-paid life insurance, and robust retirement plans.
• Generous leave policies.
• 24/7 support services and well-being resources.
• Access to UI Health Care specialists.
• Professional growth opportunities, including advanced training, leadership development, and tuition assistance.

Schedule

• Full-time.
• Eligible for on-site or hybrid work arrangements within the state of Iowa.

This position is not eligible for University sponsorship for employment authorization.