Assistant Director, Network and Communication Services

Job Summary

The Assistant Director of Network and Communication Services leads the university's unified network operations and unified communications (UC) function, encompassing campus LAN/WAN infrastructure, wireless networks, voice/video collaboration platforms, emergency communications, and emerging services.

Essential Functions

• Designs and manages campus LAN/WAN infrastructure supporting diverse network environments (classrooms, research labs, administrative offices, outdoor spaces, residence halls) with resilient Wi-Fi coverage, consistent user experience, and high availability.
• Establishes network reliability and security which is aligned with institutional data protection policies (FERPA, research data governance); manages identity-based access control across on-premises and cloud-connected resources.
• Oversees service delivery of network infrastructure through service management functions, ensuring incident, problem, and change management processes maintain network uptime and performance; manage SLAs and first- contact resolution metrics.
• Partners with UA stakeholders in various groups to support construction efforts, projects, and other future-forward initiatives; ensures scalable network availability and bandwidth for emerging use cases while managing privacy and security risks.
• Manages vendor relationships with network equipment providers, managed services partners, and cloud service providers; coordinates multi-vendor environments and negotiate service agreements aligned with institutional objectives.
• Designs and operates enterprise unified communications infrastructure including voice (telephony), video conferencing, messaging, and contact center platforms; manage dial plans, auto attendants, and call routing logic aligned with institutional organizational structure.
• Ensures unified communication service quality through 24/7 operations monitoring, incident escalation, and user support; manages SLAs for call setup time, meeting reliability, and technical resolution; tracks adoption metrics and user satisfaction.
• Manages network and telecommunications staff and projects. Collaborates with other IT groups as needed.
• Manages stakeholder and customer relationships and escalates issues appropriately to IT Leadership. Practices professional communication skills.
• Provides input to enterprise networking and communication architecture and strategies.

Additional Position Information

Education: Requires a relevant Bachelor's degree.

Licenses/Certifications/Requirements

Current network certifications preferred (e.g., CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional), Microsoft Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert). Valid Drivers License.

Experience

• Requires a minimum of 6 years of progressive IT operations experience, including management of enterprise network operations (LAN/WAN design, routing, switching, firewalls, load balancing) and management of enterprise voice/UC platforms (PBX, VoIP, cloud UC products).
• Deep hands-on knowledge of network infrastructure (routers, switches, firewalls, access points, load balancers); experience with hybrid network architectures (on-premises and cloud-connected).
• Enterprise telephony and UC platform expertise: dial plan design, auto attendant configuration, IVR setup, user provisioning, call routing logic; experience with at least one major UCaaS platform (Teams, Zoom, Google Workspace, or on-premises UC).
• Network security fundamentals: firewalls, VPN, access control lists (ACLs), network segmentation; basic understanding of zero-trust principles.
• Experience managing IT incident, problem, and change management processes (ITIL-aligned); comfort with ITSM tools and service delivery platforms.
• Minimum of 4 years managing technical teams in IT operations or infrastructure roles including hiring staff, direct supervision, and evaluation of work and performance. May supervise student employees as assigned.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and track performance metrics; experience building SLAs and ensuring compliance.
• Experience with vendor management, contract negotiation, and multi-vendor environments.
• Stakeholder communication skills; ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences (faculty, administrators, students).

Preferred Qualifications

• Secure IoT connectivity, governance, device onboarding, inventory, segmentation, monitoring, and lifecycle management.
• Hybrid cloud networking across on-premise and public cloud environments.
• Enterprise networking and communication architecture and strategy experience; ability to develop 3-5-year roadmaps aligned with institutional goals.
• Experience in higher education IT or comparable matrix-driven organization managing infrastructure supporting diverse, distributed user populations.
• Familiarity with higher education regulatory landscape (FERPA, accreditation requirements, research data governance).

Additional information

Application Instructions: In order to be considered for this position, please complete the online application and attach your resume.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $ 98,940 to $102,000 annually, commensurate with experience.

Application Deadline: November 29, 2026.

FLSA Status (exempt/nonexempt): United States of America (Exempt)

Union Affiliation (if applicable)

For assistance with your application or attachments, please contact the Human Resources representative listed:

Natasha Kuzmina

Email: Background Check Statement

The University of Akron is committed to providing a safe environment for all students and employees. The University endeavors to protect the health, welfare and safety of all students, employees and visitors on our campus. As such, all offers of employment with The University of Akron are contingent upon verification of credentials, and satisfactory completion of a criminal background check. Some positions may require additional credit investigation and a pre-employment driving record search.

State of Residence Statement

It is the expectation of the University of Akron that all work performed as an employee of the University will be performed in Ohio.