Academic Technology Director – Lyle (HR Title: Academic Tech Svc Director III)

Requisition Number: INF00000201

Salary Range:

Salary commensurate with
experience and qualifications

About SMU

SMU’s more than 12,000 diverse, high-achieving students come from
all 50 states and over 80 countries to take advantage of the University’s small classes, meaningful research opportunities, leadership
development, community service, international study and innovative programs.

SMU serves approximately 7,000 undergraduates and 5,000
graduate students through eight degree-granting schools: Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Cox School of Business, Lyle School of
Engineering, Meadows School of the Arts, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Dedman School of Law, Perkins School of Theology
and Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.

SMU is data driven, and its powerful supercomputing ecosystem – paired with
entrepreneurial drive – creates an unrivaled environment for the University to deliver research excellence.

Now in its second
century of achievement, SMU is recognized for the ways it supports students, faculty and alumni as they become ethical, enterprising leaders
in their professions and communities. SMU’s relationship with Dallas – the dynamic center of one of the nation’s fastest-growing regions –
offers unique learning, research, social and career opportunities that provide a launch pad for global impact.

SMU is nonsectarian
in its teaching and committed to academic freedom and open inquiry.

About the Position:

This role is an
on-campus, in-person position.

As the Academic Technology Services Director for the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, this
position is the embedded, hands-on academic technology partner for one of SMU’s most technically demanding schools, serving faculty and
students across all Lyle departments. Reporting to OIT Academic Technology Services with a close relationship to the Lyle Dean’s office, it
designs, deploys, administers, and supports the instructional and research technology that powers Lyle’s classrooms, computing labs, shared
Linux computing environments, Lyle online course delivery, and faculty research. Distinct from other ATSD roles, this is a deeply technical,
execution-focused position requiring strong Linux and systems-administration expertise and fluency with the scientific and engineering
software and HPC environments on which Lyle depends.

Essential Functions:

• Academic Technology
  Support & School-Level Coordination: Embedded day-to-day academic technology contact for Lyle. Coordinates with OIT Academic Technology
  Services, the Lyle Dean’s office, department chairs, and centers; triages faculty and departmental technology needs; contributes to school
  technology planning; and provides some leadership while focusing on hands-on coordination and delivery.

• AI Tools, Literacy &
  Hands-On Enablement: Configures, pilots, & supports approved AI & generative AI tools for Lyle faculty, students, and staff. Builds AI
  literacy resources, prompt libraries, & just-in-time training for engineering teaching & research, including responsible-use practices &
  discipline-specific applications. Partners with SMU AI governance to keep Lyle aligned to SMU standards.

  
  
  

• Support for Online
  & Synchronous Learning Tech.: Provides hands-on technical delivery & support for Lyle’s online and synchronous instruction, including online
  course delivery. Helps coordinate lecture capture, live streaming, web-conferencing, & remote-access tools, integrates them with Canvas, &
  troubleshoots live sessions, working with OIT Online Production Services and other program partners.

• LMS (Canvas) Support:
  Performs hands-on support of Canvas for Lyle courses, including course setup, enrollments, gradebook and SIS troubleshooting, and
  integrations. Implements engineering-specific tools, programming and notebook environments, and assessment solutions resolves issues and
  escalates to OIT teams as necessary.

  
  
  

• Research Computing, HPC & Scientific Software Support: Supports Lyle faculty, students,
  and research teams using SMU’s research and high-performance computing environment, including ManeFrame III and the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD,
  with OIT Research Technology Services. Assists with HPC scheduling (SLURM), modules (Lmod), allocations (ColdFront), scientific software,
  GPU and parallel computing, and large data movement.

• Specialized Engineering Software & Linux Computing Support: Installs,
  licenses, and maintains discipline-specific engineering and scientific software on Linux servers (MATLAB, ANSYS, COMSOL, EDA tools)
  requiring elevated admin access. Administers the shared, general-access Linux environments used for coursework and research. Windows and
  macOS installs and instrument-connected workstations are handled by client systems and lab managers.

  
  
  

• Linux Server
  Administration & Systems Support: Administers Lyle’s Linux servers and virtual machines for instruction and research, including
  installation, configuration, patching, monitoring, backup, and scripting and automation (bash), applying security baselines within OIT
  enterprise standards. For Windows and macOS, advises users, engages client systems for remote installs, or refers to desktop support rather
  than hands-on administration.

• Classroom & Event Technology Support: Maintains working familiarity with Lyle classroom,
  learning-space, and event technology and helps faculty and presenters get started when systems are working normally. Provides brief
  first-line help for in-person and online sessions. Audiovisual systems are owned and configured by OIT Classroom Support; this role refers
  configuration changes, locked-cabinet access, and anything not quickly resolved.

  
  
  

• Accessibility, Compliance & Research-Data
  Stewardship: Helps support digital accessibility of Lyle’s instructional materials and platforms per university standards and law (ADA Title
  II, WCAG) and guides faculty in remediation of content. Helps the school observe research-data security, data governance, and export-control
  considerations (ITAR, EAR) common in engineering research, escalating to the appropriate offices.

• Professional Development,
  Documentation & Service: Ma intains current expertise in academic, research, and engineering technologies through ongoing professional
  development and certification. Develops documentation, knowledge-base articles, and standard operating procedures for the school’s
  technology environment, and participates in OIT, ATS, and school committees that advance Lyle’s mission.

  
  
  

• Occasional support
  for evening graduate classes, online synchronous sessions, scheduled maintenance windows, and school events is required.

• Occasional travel across campus and to professional development events, training sessions, or conferences.

  
  

• This position
  may require work in data center and server room environments, subject to applicable safety requirements. Periodic on-call or maintenance
  window availability may also be required.

Skills:

Education and Experience:

A
Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in academic, research, or instructional technology, systems
administration, or technical support in a higher-education, research, or engineering setting is required.

OR

A Master’s
degree and a minimum of three (3) years of relevant experience in academic, research, or instructional technology, systems administration,
or technical support in a higher-education, research, or engineering setting is required.

Degree in CS, engineering, IT, or related
technical field is desired.

Required:

• Experience with Linux and Unix administration

• Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) support

  
  

• Experience supporting scientific and engineering software and research
  computing Linux

• Experience with Canvas or comparable leaning management system (LMS)

  
  

• Experience providing
  direct technical support to faculty and student

Experience with STEM, engineering, or research-intensive work is
preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Candidate must demonstrate strong interpersonal and verbal
communication skills, with the ability to communicate broadly across the University and develop and maintain effective relationships with a
wide range of constituencies. Must also demonstrate strong written communication skills. A strong customer service orientation is
essential.

Candidate must possess strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify and analyze problems, as well as devise
solutions. Must also have strong organizational, planning and time management skills. Strong project management skills and a strong focus on
attention to detail are essential.

Required:

• Experience with research and HPC concepts
  (scheduling, modules, batch and parallel workloads)

• Canvas or comparable LMS administration and installation

  
  

• Ability to advise on Windows and macOS

• Strong knowledge of productivity and collaboration suites (Microsoft
  365)

  
  

• Strong knowledge of web-conferencing and lecture-capture tools

• Scripting (bash)

  
  

Preferred:

• GPU/CUDA, containers (Docker, K8s), Git, and cloud platforms

  
  

• Relevant Linux,
  cloud, or HPC certifications

• MATLAB, Python, and R

  
  

• Engineering and simulation software (ANSYS, COMSOL,
  SolidWorks, CAD/CAE, EDA tools)

• Containerization and HPC tooling (K8s, Singularity, Docker)

  
  

• Cloud consoles
  (AWS, Azure, GCP)

• Configuration-management tools

  
  

Physical and Environmental Demands:

• 
  

  Bend

• 
  

  Crawl

• Reach above shoulders

  
  

• Carry/lift 25 lbs.

• Sit for long
  periods of time

  
  
• 
  

  Climb

• Handle objects (dexterity)

  
  
• 
  

  Kneel

• 
  

  Stand

• Walk for long distances

• Exposure to dust, fumes, gases, radiation, microwave

Deadline to
Apply:

The position is open until filled.

EEO Statement

SMU is an equal opportunity
employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex,
age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.

Benefits:

SMU offers staff a broad, competitive array of health and related benefits. In addition to traditional
benefits such as health, dental, and vision plans, SMU offers a wide range of wellness programs to help attract, support, and retain our
employees whose work continues to make SMU an outstanding education and research institution.

SMU is committed to providing an array
of retirement programs that benefit and protect you and your family throughout your working years at SMU and, if you meet SMU’s retirement
eligibility criteria, during your retirement years after you leave SMU.

The value of learning at SMU isn’t just about preparing our
students for the future. Employees have access to a wide variety of professional and personal development opportunities, including tuition
benefits.

Tagged as: CSS