Director of Information Technology (IT)

Description

Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit delivers an outstanding general and Jewish education to Jewish children from early childhood through eighth grade. At Hillel, we inspire a passion for learning, responsibility to self and community, and devotion to Jewish living in a warm, innovative, and engaging environment.

The Director of Information Technology (IT) is Hillel Day School's strategic and operational leader for information technology, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer. The Director ensures that Hillel's infrastructure, hardware, networks, systems, and cybersecurity are secure, reliable, and effective, while building a forward-looking vision for how technology, cybersecurity, and digital innovation can strengthen teaching and learning, improve organizational effectiveness, and enhance the experience of students, faculty, staff, and families.

The successful candidate is a proactive technology leader who can anticipate emerging needs and translate rapidly changing technology trends into thoughtful, practical strategies for an early childhood through 8th grade school. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines strategic technology planning with direct operational responsibility. The successful candidate must be comfortable developing long-term technology strategy and personally leading or participating in day-to-day technology initiatives when needed.

Principal Responsibilities

Technology Vision and Strategic Planning

• Develop and lead a multi-year technology strategy that aligns investments with Hillel's mission and strategic priorities.
• Assess the current technology environment and recommend what to adopt, upgrade, consolidate, or discontinue in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.
• Balance innovation, security, reliability, and cost when setting technology priorities.
• Stay current on emerging technology trends and translate them into practical recommendations for Hillel in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.

Cybersecurity, Privacy, Disaster Recovery and Institutional Risk

• Lead Hillel's cybersecurity and technology risk strategy, in partnership with school leadership and outside experts when necessary.
• Assess emerging threats and vulnerabilities and recommend safeguards, policies, and practices, including a culture of security awareness through ongoing staff training.
• Maintain and test disaster recovery and business continuity plans, and lead incident response when needed.
• Protect student, family, employee, financial, enrollment, and advancement data, and vet the security and privacy implications of new platforms before adoption.

Enterprise Technology Ecosystem and Systems Integration

• Oversee Hillel's technology ecosystem across academic, administrative, financial, enrollment, advancement, and security systems, ensuring they are secure, efficient, and well-integrated.
• Work with department leaders to reduce duplication, streamline workflows, and improve the user experience.
• Evaluate new platforms for scalability, security, cost, and long-term sustainability.

Strategic Partnership and Leadership

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Head of School and Leadership Team on technology, cybersecurity, AI, and digital innovation in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.
• Directly supervise internal IT personnel and manage relationships with outsourced technology service providers
• Translate technical issues and opportunities into clear recommendations for nontechnical leaders in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.
• Build strong relationships across the school as an accessible, trusted resource for faculty and staff.

Technology Project and Change Management

• Lead major schoolwide technology initiatives from needs assessment through implementation and evaluation.
• Develop project plans, timelines, budgets, and communication strategies, and coordinate vendors and consultants.
• Lead change management for new systems, since successful adoption depends on people as much as technology.

Customer Service and Technology Experience

• Build a proactive, responsive, customer-centered technology culture for students, faculty, staff, and families.
• Use support trends and user feedback to fix systemic issues, not just individual tickets.
• Position the technology team as a strategic partner to the school, not just a troubleshooting resource.

Professional Development and Technology Capacity-Building

• Partner with the Head of School and Leadership Team to identify technology-related professional learning needs in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.
• Develop and coordinate training that helps faculty and staff use technology effectively and confidently.
• Stay current on educational technology best practices in collaboration with the Educational Technology Coordinator.

Infrastructure & Security Management 

• Oversee the uptime and maintenance of all hardware, servers, 1:1 student devices, backups, web/database platforms, and network operations. Maintain equipment inventory and network security, including firewalls, content filtering, intrusion detection, access controls, and administrative platforms such as Blackbaud's Education Edge and Raiser's Edge.

Strategic Planning & Vendor Management 

• Design long-term technology solutions, manage IT budgets, oversee external vendors and contractors, handle procurement, and coordinate system deployments.

Requirements

Education & Qualifications Education: A bachelor's degree in information systems, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, or Educational Technology

Technical & Security Proficiency Hands-on expertise with network security best practices, equipment tracking, Active Directory, Google Admin Console, database architecture, network protocols (LAN/WAN/VLAN), and emerging educational software.

Problem Solving & Execution Proven ability to diagnose network issues, mitigate cyber threats, maintain accurate equipment logs, prioritize urgent support needs, manage competing deadlines, and maintain detail-oriented accuracy.

Communication & Collaboration Excellent written and verbal communication skills to interface effectively with leadership, faculty, students, and third-party security partners.

Physical Demands Ability to navigate tight spaces (e.g., under desks) and climb ladders to run cabling, install hardware, inventory equipment, and service physical security infrastructure.

Certifications: Industry certifications (such as CompTIA Security+, Network+, CISSP, CEH, Microsoft Certified Administrator, or Google Certified Admin) are highly valued and demonstrate foundational technical and security expertise.

Experience: Minimum 7-10+ years of professional IT experience, including hands-on experience in network security, equipment inventory management, system administration, and infrastructure oversight—preferably in an academic setting.

Starting salary $95k+ (slightly higher) benefits, vacation and retirement 403(b) plan available.