Director, It Business Partnership

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is one of the largest school districts in the United States, serving over 330,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.
The Office of Information and Technology Services (ITS) works to build the capacity of schools to use information and technology, maintain network infrastructure, security standards, and support other departments to meet district goals. ITS provides innovative technology solutions that improve the quality of education for students, reduce the administrative burden on educators, facilitate parent interaction, increase community engagement, and support CPS' mission of transparency by focusing on the ease and equity of access to information.
Job Summary:
Reporting to the Executive Director of IT Business Partnership & Innovation, the Director, IT Business Partnership will be responsible for shaping technology strategy and demand, serving as a key IT liaison to the District's business units and relationship management across all of CPS. This position will serve as the business relationship link by servicing mid-management to senior leaders of business units district-wide, providing transformational leadership, tactical execution support, strategic direction, and end-to-end guidance through key ITS initiatives. The Director of IT Business Partnership will lead a team of Managers of IT Business Partnership, Senior Business Analysts, and Business Analysts responsible for collaborating with ITS functional services to oversee and partner with Business Owners and strategic IT vendors on delivering CPS business priorities from intake, plan, design, develop, test, and deployment and/or an agile iterative approach in the plan, build, test, and release of CPS business solutions.
The Director, IT Business Partnership will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Direct supervision of three Managers of IT Business Partnership who manage the IT Business Analysts; Oversee Managers of IT Business Partnership in supporting the IT business analysts with defining clear, measurable objectives, ensuring the solution options meet the project goals, and aligning with the District-wide Strategic Initiatives.
• Provide direction to Managers of IT Business Partnership by defining clear and measurable objectives, ensuring the solution options meet the project goals, and aligning with the District-wide Strategic Initiatives.
• Proactively share knowledge of technology, risks and opportunities to build district-wide digital capabilities, support student learning and engagement, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business units.
• Act as a key liaison across CPS business units and functional departments within those business unit(s) to develop business requirements and roadmaps for Information Systems and Technology in alignment with CPS and Business unit strategy, priorities, and goals.
• Communicate priorities, relevant project information, and decisions to appropriate levels of staff regarding requests, projects, and initiatives.
• Partner with business leadership in collaboration with the ITS leadership team to identify and prioritize initiatives based on predefined criteria (ie: 5-year CPS Strategic Plan, 3-year CPS Blueprint, operational excellence, productivity, compliance, etc.).
• As a senior technology advisor, provide support for business units across the CPS portfolio (including direct reports to the Chief Executive Office, Chief Education Office, and Chief Operating Office), and act as a champion for identifying, leading, and driving information technology transformation.
• Lead team members and business leaders within the assigned ITS areas to define business strategy and IT strategy, evaluate proposals, build and determine investments, plan new joint initiatives, and determine how they fit into business capability roadmaps and CPS 5-Year strategic priorities.
• Drive continuous improvement efforts within assigned teams in areas such as value optimization, IT performance, and business processes where applicable, proactively identifying business capability and IT service gaps, initiating and/or contributing to improvement efforts.
• Recruit, onboard, and lead staff to ensure robust learning and career development consistent with the CPS values and mission.
• Oversee operational planning efforts surrounding the delivery of new technology solutions and capabilities in accordance with the enterprise CPS portfolio roadmap and ensure that they meet established objectives and expectations of business partners.
• Develop and maintain value-added Business Relationship Management (BRM) professional maturity, individually and for the entire team.
• Support Managers of IT Business Partnership in consulting with business units and reviewing IT portfolio, usage, services, technology, and department-specific projects in order to identify, forecast and develop IT needs. Coordinate the use and delivery of IT services throughout the Business Unit.
• Communicate the vision for the system by extracting, analyzing, and prioritizing business requirements, use cases, and user stories from business objectives, documenting those requirements, and user stories, and refining them into technical action items.
• Prepare and submit operational and capital budget cost estimates for proposed projects to the Executive Director of IT Business Partnership & Innovation.
• Other duties and workstreams as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Director, IT Business Partnership must possess the following qualifications:
Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field from an accredited college or university.
• Relevant professional certifications/designations such as PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®, Disciplined Agile® Scrum Master (DASM) Certification, and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

Experience Required:

• Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional leadership experience in IT Business Relationship Management and IT Business Consulting, including the following, is required:
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience leading/managing one or more of the above functions, including experience designing, developing and leading a large (ex: 15 or more) team of employees spanning multiple levels, including contractors, and management-level roles.
• Experience in Senior-level IT business management, business account management, and business functional experience at a large, public or private sector institution similar in size and complexity to Chicago Public Schools, preferred.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of the experience above, strongly preferred.

Other Requirements:

• Local and Domestic travel (E.g., traveling to different CPS locations, attending conferences with School Educators, Academic Directors, and ITS Managers, etc.) required up to 10%.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Continuous learner of emerging technologies such as Generative AI, EDTech solutions, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Digital 4.0 business capabilities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to facilitate presentations to technical and non-technical audiences.
• High levels of IT expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions.
• Ability to work in collaboration with the ITS leadership team to understand and adhere to CPS ITS strategies, standards, and policies.
• Ability to develop deep knowledge of the District's business units and functions, building both horizontal and vertical relationships with business departments and IT leaders that deliver business impact.
• Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success.
• Expertise in leadership development; ability to coach managers and individual contributors toward excellence and build the capacity of technical teams.
• Ability to contribute to the people priorities and objectives regarding people leader effectiveness, employee engagement, and enabling others to perform.
• Ability to articulate a vision, set high standards, and effectively guide teams and stakeholders in the realization of expectations set.
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment.
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management, and organizational development.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support organizational success.
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps.
• Capable of following Company policies and practices while representing CPS in an ethical and professional manner in all interactions with employees, governmental agencies, vendors, contractors, suppliers, students, and the Chicago community.
• Skilled in the use of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Google Workspace.

Conditions of Employment:
As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.