VP Unified Communications

About the position

If you are motivated and believe in the credit union philosophy of \"People Helping People,\" join our team! Position Overview: The Vice President of Unified Communications is a leadership role responsible for overseeing the design, deployment, integration, and performance of voice, video, messaging, and conference services across the enterprise. The role will lead the development of UC strategy to ensure seamless, secure, and scalable communications experiences. This role will work closely with other leaders in the organization to drive strategic initiatives, ensure operational excellence, and maintain the highest levels of performance, security, and scalability for all UC systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical background in UC engineering, exceptional leadership skills, and experience with on-premises and cloud enterprise-scale UC architectures.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and mentor a team of UC engineers and a UC operations manager, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement while developing and executing the strategy for the organization’s UC infrastructure. This will be achieved by working closely with other leaders to understand business needs and align them to technology objectives.
  • Develop and execute the enterprise UC strategy aligned with business objectives, IT modernization initiatives, and user experience objectives. Oversee the design, deployment, and optimization of high-performance, scalable, and secure enterprise voice and video infrastructure including SIP trunking, SBCs, PBX systems (on-premises and cloud-based), and contact centers (CCaaS).
  • Partner with other IT functions (e.g., Desktop, Enterprise Apps, AppDev, etc.) to ensure alignment of UC strategy with overall IT and business goals. Act as the primary point of escalation for complex UC issues, providing executive-level support and guidance as needed.
  • Engage in cross-functional R&D initiatives to explore new tools, integrations, and delivery channels that could improve end user experience. Develop and manage the budget for the UC department, ensuring optimal allocation of resources and adherence to financial constraints. Manage vendor relationships and contracts.
  • Stay ahead of industry trends, emerging technologies, and market developments to inform the organization’s strategic UC investments. Drive innovation in UC engineering practices, focusing on automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud-first approaches (CCaaS, CPaaS, UCaaS, etc.).
  • Collaborate with the risk and security teams to ensure compliance in a regulated environment. Ensure high availability and disaster recovery planning for all critical UC functions.

Requirements

  • Bachelors in computer science, Management Information Systems, Business, or related field. Education to Min 7 years direct experience+ 2 years in supervisory leadership role
  • Proven experience managing enterprise UC platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, Zoom, etc..
  • Deep knowledge of SIP, VoIP, PBX (cloud and on-premises), UCaaS, and collaboration tools.
  • Strong leadership, team-building, and mentoring skills with a proven ability to inspire and lead cross-functional teams.
  • Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to convey complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
  • High-level problem-solving and decision-making abilities with strong collaboration skills and an ability to drive consensus across diverse teams.

Nice-to-haves

  • Bachelors in computer science, Management Information Systems, Business, or related field.
  • CCNA/CCNP collaboration, Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Admin preferred.
  • Solid understanding of network protocols, security standards, and enterprise architectures.
  • Familiarity with ITIL or similar frameworks for IT service management.
  • Budget management experience and a track record of managing large departmental budgets effectively.
  • 8 years of network and people management.
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