Director of Digital Solutions and UX

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 370,000 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. Five core principles are embedded within these commitments - high quality, rigorous instruction, talented and empowered educators, safety and support, financial stability and collective impact.

The Director of Digital Solutions and UX (User Experience) is a leadership role within the CPS Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Digital Learning (CIDL). This position will leverage experience and expertise in the areas of PreK-12 education, digital systems management, technical design/development and video production to support the implementation and operationalization of Skyline, the district's new digital, PK-12 standards-aligned and culturally responsive curriculum. The Director of Digital Solutions and UX will report to the Executive Director of the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Digital Learning.

The Director of Digital Solutions and UX will be held accountable for the following responsibilities :

• Continuously improve the CPS Technical Ecosystem in support of Skyline, including:
  • Identification and leveraging of interoperability standards for systems integrations.
  • Management of procurement solicitations and resulting contracts related to the maintenance and expansion of the technical ecosystem.
  • Adding real-time integrations that enable and expand user-driven functionality and removing lesser integrations while prioritizing the needs of Skyline users.
  • Identification and dismantling of blockages, disconnects and information silos that inhibit system performance and adversely impact the end user experience.
  • Leveraging inputs from multiple sources to develop, maintain and fulfill the ecosystem roadmap that will drive ongoing development and process improvement.
  • Ensuring the ecosystem is designed to scale and flex to accommodate the evolving demands of the district and target end users.
  • Oversight of the team members/project managers supporting areas such as:
    • Accounts and Provisioning
    • Updates, replacement, and maintenance (Hardware/Software)
    • Training
    • Testing
    • TCC Uploading and Testing
• Serve as CIDL liaison and technical expert to Skyline stakeholders - internal (ITS, Procurement, academic teams, etc.) and external (contractual partners, other districts, technical associations, etc.) on issues/opportunities related to the technical ecosystem.
• Oversee the CEI User Experience, including:
  • Use Case Development
  • Complex workflow and interface design for desktop and mobile products
• Video/Webinar Management
  • Liaison to Board Office, Comms, and other CPS departments
  • Streaming (Multicast, Unicast, H.323, HTML)
  • Classroom Facilitation End-points

• Provide leadership, vision and direction to the Digital Solutions and UX Team.
• Lead the process of implementing and scaling our design methodologies and systems.
• Develop a deep understanding of users' unique needs and serve as a champion for user experience.
• Expand and continuously improve a complex technical ecosystem of integrated systems.
• Other duties as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Director of Digital Solutions and UX must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university is required. Focus in IT or a similar discipline preferred.
• Master's degree and/or Certifications in multimedia platforms, online learning, & video (streaming, multicasting, unicasting, videoconferencing, and web conferencing) preferred.
• Safari Montage technical certification strongly preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of 7 years of professional experience in information technology, educational technology or digital media, including the following, is required:
  • Extensive hands-on experience with enterprise networks and installations
  • Back-end experience with systems installations
  • Experience in the administration of multiprotocol devices, multilayer switches, network management systems and enterprise software processes - design through stabilization
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a manager-level position leading a team of direct reports in the completion of similar technology-related work is required.
• Experience in a large urban school district is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Highly-effective, flexible innovator, well versed in advanced engineering.
• Deep knowledge of effective communication skills and problem-solving strategies.
• Evidenced success in collaborating with culturally and educationally-diverse teams.
• Knowledge of and commitment to decentralized decision-making and accountability for results.
• Ability to lead and effectively communicate with teams to focus resources (both human and financial) toward the achievement of expected results.
• Ability to facilitate group processes in consensus building, conflict resolution, planning, and decision-making.

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.
• Be Fully Vaccinated or Submit to Weekly COVID-19 Testing -Employees are required to be fully vaccinated within 30 days of their hire date. Full vaccination is defined as at least two weeks after your second shot of a two-shot vaccination course, or at least two weeks after a one-shot vaccination course. Unvaccinated staff must submit to weekly testing.