As a member of the LEARN Executive Leadership Team, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will lead, mentor, and develop the network services, systems services, and security services teams, responsible for both daily operations and long-term strategic technology planning. This position is responsible for managing the delivery of networking and IT services, developing long-term technology plans and collaborating with member organizations’ technical staff to develop new processes and services. The CTO also works closely with the Board of Directors through committees and groups to ensure the strategic direction of LEARN is in accordance with the organization’s mission vision, goals, and guiding principles.

 ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS 

• Manage over 3,200 miles of advanced fiber optic and IP transport infrastructure for state-wide network in the State of Texas.
• Daily oversight and escalation for Network Operations Center (NOC) providing 24x7x365 support to members and partners.
• Oversee service-provider class technologies for optical and packet networking, data center infrastructure, cybersecurity infrastructure and network management systems. Also responsible for integration of cloud services and peering & caching peers.
• Collaborate closely with LEARN Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and Board Committees to establish LEARN’s technical vision and lead all aspects of LEARN’s technology strategy development and execution. This individual will collaborate as well as serve on the TAG and various Board Committees (Operations and Services, Finance, Executive Committee, and ad hoc committees, as needed).
• Oversee and manage LEARN’s Network Security initiatives, as well as future business transformation efforts, providing strategies to mitigate current and future threats to LEARN’s business and service delivery infrastructure.
• Provide detailed Total Cost of Ownership analysis for technology investments both for state-wide network operation and managed services engagements, ensuring proper Return-of-Investment is met as established by CEO/CFO.
• Track, analyze and monitor technology key performance metrics to ensure services are available, meet performance targets and are under-subscribed.
• Collaborates with the LEARN Executive Leadership Team in the development of LEARN’s short and long-term direction and aligns Technology Services to support LEARN’s mission and goals.
• Provide technical expertise in developing and writing collateral materials for proposal and outreach.
• Act as Sponsor or stakeholder on technical projects executed by LEARN, as needed.
• Develop and recommend new services to provide extended value to LEARN members while generating revenue for sustainability. This includes professional services engagement, managed services, and enhanced connectivity services.
• Oversee the development and execution of LEARN’s technology-focused workshops.

 OTHER DUTIES  

• Maintain current knowledge of technology landscape, opportunities, and threats to the industry.
• Act as a good steward for LEARN’s resources and all technology investments.
• Draft proposals and communicate technology strategy to LEARN staff and the Board of Directors.
• Build relationships with members, partners, and vendors that exhibit respect, honesty and effectively communicate objectives.
• Provide Board briefings and presentations as well as manage appropriate committee meetings as needed.
• Represent LEARN externally and foster collaborations among members and regional/national partners.

SUPERVISORY DUTIES 

• Provide training, leadership, and development of LEARN’s technical services team.
• Conduct staff assessment, provide feedback and recommend improvement opportunities.
• Responsible for recommending hiring, firing, advancement, promotion, or other changes in assigned employee(s) status.
• Recruit, hire, lead, coach, develop, and retain high-performance staff. Responsible for training new employees in policies and procedures.
• Oversee activities of technical services team, to ensure responsibilities are completed accurately and on time.
• Establish and ensure adherence to proper policies and procedures.
• Set and facilitate the achievement of organization-wide objectives related to network infrastructure and technical needs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• Position Location: Strong preference is for this position to be based in the Dallas, Texas Metropolitan area or willing to relocate to Texas and operate from a home office in a virtual office environment.  Work outside of an established schedule and working hours, including weekends and holidays, may be required.
• Travel Requirements: Frequent travel (up to 25% per year) is expected for this role. Travel includes visiting existing and future member venues and LEARN sites throughout Texas as well as Regional & National meetings and conferences in North America. Some overnight travel (up to 15% per year) is expected.
• Position requires access to a reliable vehicle, a valid driver’s license and ability to travel by car or air.
• This role requires prolonged sitting and working on a computer in a home office setting.   Regularly required to stand, walk, sit, use hands; and reach with hands and arms.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

This job description is not designated to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.

• Bachelor's degree + 10 years’ experience OR Advanced degree + 8 years’ experience required.
• 8+ years of experience leading technology teams required (non-profit organizations preferred).
• Experience interpreting financials related to technology and understanding business drivers related to technology solutions. Development and management of capital and expense budgets, including profit/loss responsibilities, is strongly preferred. 
• Relevant industry certifications.

 KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES 

• Proven ability to coordinate with staff and management to maintain timelines.
• LAN/WAN infrastructure experience with networking hardware and protocols.
• Familiarity with carrier-grade routing, peering, BGP, and redundancy/resiliency architectures.
• Knowledge of managed service delivery models, SLAs, and compliance obligations.
• Knowledge of strategic technology trends (e.g., AI, SD-WAN, SASE)
• Project management experience with large network infrastructure projects.
• Ability to solve complex problems in critical and creative ways.
• Strategic thinker focused on customer service and sustainability.
• Integrating governance frameworks (e.g., incident, change, vulnerability, standards, service catalog) into the daily work of the technology services team.
• Setting long-term technology direction while ensuring tactical execution of current projects.
• Demonstrated leadership and mentorship skills.
• Driving cultural adoption of process discipline without stifling innovation.
• Translating technical complexity for executives, board members, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Excellent public speaking and presentation skills.

About LEARN

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