Director, Network and Voice Engineering

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Director Network and Voice Engineering at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier public urban research university located in the heart of Detroit Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence collaboration integrity diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

Job Purpose

The Director of Network Engineering provides strategic leadership technical direction and operational oversight for Wayne State Universitys enterprise network infrastructure. This role manages all aspects of plant infrastructure wired and wireless networks access control systems video surveillance core network services voice technologies and both border and data center firewall services. The Director ensures the reliability security scalability and performance of the universitys network environment while supporting academic research administrative and public safety needs across campus. The Director leads a multidisciplinary engineering team collaborates with campus partners and drives modernization initiatives that align with institutional priorities and digital transformation goals. This position reports to the Senior Director Infrastructure & Operations.

Essential Functions
(Essential functions are the primary duties/major job responsibilities that an employee must be able to perform with or without reasonable accommodation. The essential functions are listed in order of importance.)

Strategic Leadership & Planning: Develop and execute longterm strategies for campus network infrastructure including wired wireless voice firewall access control and video surveillance systems. Lead modernization initiatives such as network switch refresh cycles core network upgrades wireless augmentation firewall lifecycle management and voice migration to Microsoft Teams. Establish technology roadmaps that support institutional growth research demands and emerging digital needs. Ensure alignment with university governance security standards and operational excellence frameworks.

Network and Voice Infrastructure Management:Oversee the design implementation and lifecycle management of all network systems including: Plant infrastructure (fiber copper pathways outside plant) Wired network (edge switching distribution routing) Wireless network (campus Wi Fi density planning performance optimization) Core network services (routing switching firewalls load balancing DNS/DHCP/IPAM) Voice services (Teams Voice VoIP legacy migrations call routing) Access control systems (card access door controllers integrations) Video surveillance systems (IP cameras storage monitoring platforms) Firewall services (border firewalls data center firewalls segmentation policy management threat mitigation)

Operational Oversight:Ensure high availability reliability and performance of all network and firewall services through proactive monitoring capacity planning and incident response. Develop and enforce standards documentation and best practices for network and security architecture. Oversee vendor relationships contracts RFP processes and procurement for network firewall and physical security technologies. Manage budgets forecasting and resource allocation for network engineering initiatives.

Team Leadership & Development:Lead mentor and develop a team of network engineers firewall/security engineers technicians and specialists across multiple technology domains. Foster a culture of collaboration innovation accountability and continuous improvement. Promote cross training professional development and knowledge sharing to strengthen team capability and resilience.

Campus Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:Serve as a primary liaison to Facilities Planning & Management Public Safety construction teams academic units and administrative divisions. Provide technical guidance during construction and renovation projects to ensure IT infrastructure is integrated early and implemented to university standards. Communicate project timelines impacts and service changes to stakeholders with clarity and transparency.

Security Compliance & Risk Management:Partner with Information Security to ensure network and firewall systems meet security compliance and riskmanagement requirements. Implement controls monitoring and remediation strategies to protect university assets and data. Support business continuity and disaster recovery planning for network and voice services.

Perform other related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:Bachelors degree
-Bachelors Degree from an accredited college or university in Information Technology Computer Engineering or related field.
-Masters degree in a related field preferred.
-Professional certifications (e.g. CCNP/CCIE CWNP Aruba Juniper PMP) preferred

Experience:Expert (established subject matter expert 7 years experience)
-Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in network engineering infrastructure management or related domains.
-Minimum of 3 years of leadership or management experience overseeing technical teams.
-Experience in higher education or large-scale campus environments preferred.
-Familiarity with construction processes building codes and low voltage infrastructure standards preferred.
-Expertise in enterprise networking technologies (routing switching wireless firewalls load balancing).
-Experience with voice systems (VoIP SIP Teams Voice) and physical security systems (access control video surveillance).
-Strong understanding of data center networking virtualization and cloud integrated architectures.
-Demonstrated ability to lead complex multiyear infrastructure projects.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES
-Strategic and analytical thinking
-Strong communication and stakeholder engagement
-Leadership and team development
-Project and vendor management
-Problem solving and decision making
-Commitment to service excellence and continuous improvement

WORKING CONDITIONS
-Normal office environment.

Generic Division

H2565

• Regular Employee
• Job type: Full Time
• Job category: Staff/Administrative

• Compensation type: Annual Salary
• Hourly rate:
• Salary minimum:
• Salary hire maximum:

• Number of openings: 1
• Reposted position: No
• Reposted reason: None (New Requisition)
• Prior posting/requisition number:

University policy requires certain persons who are offered employment to undergo a background check including a criminal history check before starting work. If you are offered employment the university will inform you if a background check is required.

Required Experience:

Director