Chief Technical Officer (CTO)

Chief Technical Officer (CTO)

Virginia Western Community College is a two-year public institution of higher education operating under the Virginia Community College System, a statewide system of community colleges. The College operates under the policies established by the State Board for Community Colleges and the Virginia Western Community College Local Advisory Board. Virginia Western is located on a 70-acre campus in southwest Roanoke, VA. The service region of the College includes Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County, Craig County, Franklin County, and southern Botetourt County. The College was established in 1966 and has grown from an initial enrollment of 1,352 to its current annual enrollment of over 9,000 students in credit courses and more than 1,400 enrollments in fast-track workforce and continuing education courses.

Virginia Western is seeking an Information Technology Specialist III– Chief Technical Officer (CTO) to serve as the college's primary technical lead for IT infrastructure. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), the CTO provides strategic direction and technical leadership across on-premises and cloud environments. This role is a critical balance of strategic systems engineering and personnel management, responsible for the performance, security, and stability of the college's enterprise data, voice, and video networks. The CTO serves as a member of the IT leadership team. Collaborates with the CIO and other IT leaders to shape the strategic direction of information technology at the college. Directs the design, configuration, and maintenance of complex infrastructure, including virtualization, SAN storage, Microsoft Azure, and LAN/WAN networks. Manages projects and oversees teams responsible for Tier 2 and Tier 3 technical support for college systems. Directs the Systems Support Group, overseeing work schedules, professional development, and performance evaluations for engineers, administrators, and technicians who support administrative and academic computing. Serves as the Information Security Liaison, managing audit responses, vulnerability scanning, and the implementation of advanced security controls, including firewalls, network access control, and endpoint protection. Manages IT procurement in accordance with state best practices, prepares equipment and cost projections for budgets, and oversees large-scale projects from research through installation.

Special Assignments - May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor.

KSA's/Required Qualifications - Expert-level proficiency in VMware server and desktop virtualization. Expert-level proficiency in NetApp SAN administration, including NFS, LUNs, and CIFS protocols. Expert-level proficiency in Active Directory and Microsoft cloud environment management, including Azure AD, Entra ID, Exchange, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Experience administering Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Expert-level proficiency in managing internal and external certificate services. Experience in firewall management, threat detection and prevention, network defense, incident response, and disaster recovery planning. Experience in IT systems support and network infrastructure management, with demonstrated knowledge of common IP communication protocols and methods. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. Exceptional ability to translate complex technical initiatives into strategic options for non-technical academic stakeholders and executive leadership, while also producing clear best-practice documentation. Demonstrated experience leading, mentoring, and evaluating technical staff, including IT engineers and analysts, while fostering accountability, collaboration, and knowledge transfer. Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer training/certification and/or equivalent on-the-job experience. Extensive education and/or equivalent experience in information technology systems support within an enterprise environment.

Additional Considerations - Demonstrated knowledge of routing and switching, as well as fiber and copper physical infrastructure, preferred. Enterprise experience administering VoIP systems, preferred. Experience with video distribution and surveillance systems, preferred. Experience applying artificial intelligence to improve operational efficiency and business processes, preferred. Experience with procurement, management, research, planning, configuration, and installation of hardware and software required to support enterprise desktop, server, mobile device, and virtual environments, preferred. Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of formal training and on-the-job experience, preferred. Formal supervisory or management training, preferred. Formal project management training, preferred.