Director of Technology
Employment Type : Full-Time
Overview: Ascend Learning seeks to hire a Director of Technology to lead an innovative technology agenda that will continue to accelerate Ascend’s mission to advance educational equity.
Why extraordinary professionals choose Ascend
Ascend is a network of K-12 public charter schools serving 5,700 students across 15 schools in Central Brooklyn. Our mission is to lead our students on a great intellectual journey, providing them with an exceptional education and placing them firmly on the path to success in college and beyond.
We guide our students to think critically and independently and to enjoy education as an end in itself. We teach a rich and rigorous liberal arts curriculum that nurtures students’ natural curiosity about the world. We foster a positive, non-punitive school culture where students feel connected, empowered, and safe to take academic risks. Even our school buildings are designed to reflect our high aspirations for teaching and learning and the notable accomplishments that occur within our walls.
To create this kind of vibrant learning community, we invest heavily in our team members by providing ongoing, best-of-class professional training and support. We encourage them to collaborate closely and push one another to achieve great outcomes.
You can learn more about the Ascend approach by visiting our website.Responsibilities: The Director of Technology work closely with the Managing Director of Technology to:- Establish a shared technology vision that advances Ascend Charter Schools’ mission
- Develop and implement a technology roadmap that rationalizes the existing technology ecosystem; and specifies the foundational architecture and technology solutions that are needed and the scope and sequence of required technology developments, enhancements and/or decommissioning of existing solutions
- Lead and manage a high performing technology organization with requisite skills and capacity, and enabled by scalable development and operations processes
- Partner across the organization to drive technology-enabled innovations within the classroom, the school and the network.
Reporting structure
The director of technology reports to the managing director of technology.Qualifications: The Director of Technology should have depth and breadth across each of the following areas:- Is a strategic thinker with a history of designing longer-term strategy, mapping current gaps;
- Effectively leads and manages people, and has experience in leading diverse teams using both agile and traditional project management methodologies;
- Has experience and expertise in gathering stakeholder requirements; architecting, developing and maintaining scalable education technology platforms; integrating packaged solutions; and vendor management;
- Has advanced knowledge of Meraki cloud and software-defined networking, switching, routing, firewalling, and load balancing
- Has advanced knowledge of wireless networking (Wi-Fi 6 and cloud managed infrastructures)
- Connectivity - fiber, microwave, ELANs, WAN, LAN
- Performance management; staff, network, infrastructure, and applications
- Experience in designing and implementing all technology infrastructures required to build/renovate buildings to be used as schools
- Purchasing efficient and cost-effective technologies - hardware and applications
- VoIP technologies and implementations, including HPBX systems/applications
- Public and private cloud infrastructures including Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud
- Microsoft’s technology stack (Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Windows Server, DNS, DHCP, Hyper-V, Azure)
- Threat detection/response/mediation and intrusion detection and prevention, and security operations center experience
- Is knowledgeable of Ascend’s current stack of technologies and applications, including: Citrix ShareFile, GoGuardian, Schoolytics, RingCentral, Mimecast, ManageEngine, AssetPanda, PolicyPak, Lenovo Thinkpads
- Effectively communicates with, and translates between technical and non-technical stakeholders;
- Demonstrated ability to quickly diagnose issues, identify root causes, and design effective and scalable solutions
- Stays apace of technology trends and the landscape of education technologies and tools, and strategically considers how they can be leveraged to advance the organization
- Seeks to work at a fast-paced, entrepreneurial organization deeply committed to education equity and access in Brooklyn.
Diversity at Ascend
Ascend is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.
Compensation
Ascend offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. Please visit www.ascendschools.org/careers to learn more about the benefits of working at Ascend.