1280 Technology Lead

Posting # 1280 Technology Lead

Posting date: August 13 2026

Closing date:  August 19, 2026

Starting date:  August 31, 2026

Location: Sioux City

Overview

Iowa's Area Education Agencies are educational partners embedded in Iowa schools. We exist to create a thriving educational landscape where all learners and educators have access to high-quality, evidence-based and strategic supports and services, collaboratively provided within districts, to help all learners achieve their full potential.

About the Agency

Northwest AEA provides special education and school improvement services to 35 public school districts and 33 accredited, non-public schools. The agency serves 45,000 students and more than 5000 educators in a 10-county area of Northwest Iowa (Lyon, Osceola, Sioux, O'Brien, Plymouth, Cherokee, Woodbury, Ida, Monona, and Crawford). 

Our headquarters is located at 5800 Discovery Blvd., Sioux City, with regional offices in Cherokee, Denison, Le Mars, Onawa, and Sioux Center.

Why Northwest AEA?

Our vision, mission, and anchors guide our actions. Staff at Northwest AEA believe that what they do inspires learning and leads to changed lives for the students, staff, and families we serve. Our work is anchored in building positive, professional relationships with stakeholders and with one another. We embrace responsiveness in how we serve so that students, staff, and families can see improved results.

Job Summary

Serve as the lead technology specialist providing operational leadership and guidance across hardware, software, networks, data infrastructure, and cloud systems for client school districts. Coordinate district support operations by guiding technology specialists, while partnering directly with district administration to advise on strategic technology planning, policy, purchasing, and implementation.

Qualifications

• Education:
  • Four-year degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent technical certifications/training)
• Qualifications:
  • Four years of progressive work experience in technology support and project leadership.

Essential Functions

1. Lead the implementation and operational execution of technology plans for contracted school districts.
2. Serve as the lead specialist overseeing technology support operations, providing daily operational guidance, technical coaching, and escalation support for Technology Specialists in client districts.
3. Partner directly with client school district administrative teams to advise on strategic technology decisions, including technology policy development, purchasing, budgeting, and system implementations.
4. Research, evaluate, and architect technical solutions, providing strategic recommendations to the Director of Information Technology and client administrators.
5. Oversee and guide the development, deployment, and management of custom applications and system integrations to meet district needs.
6. Collaborate with school leadership to analyze complex data processing requirements and design scalable systems to streamline workflows.
7. Provide high-level escalation support and advanced troubleshooting for complex network, software, and hardware issues across partner school districts..
8. Monitor system performance, uptime, and security to proactively address potential infrastructure or software vulnerabilities.
9. Oversee the deployment lifecycle, inventory management, and configuration standards for all school-supported hardware, mobile devices, and audio/visual systems.
10. Manage server, cloud, and enterprise user account configurations, security permissions, and system upgrades.
11. Lead technology rollouts, software deployments, and system migrations across partner school districts.
12. Design, coordinate, and deliver advanced technology training programs for district educators, personnel, and technology team members.
13. Maintain comprehensive technical documentation and system architecture guides for all applications and infrastructure used within supported schools.

Additional Responsibilities

1. Assist in coordinating work distribution, service ticket quality, and workload prioritization for Technology Specialists to ensure high-quality outsourced IT delivery.
2. Model and uphold excellent customer service standards for school personnel through effective communication, resourcefulness, and leadership.

Skills and Abilities

1. Advanced proficiency in Mac iOS, Windows, and Google Workspace environments
2. Scripting, automation, and API integration capabilities.
3. Extensive knowledge of enterprise computing devices, network architecture (wired and wireless), security protocols, routers, firewalls, and system administration.
4. Demonstrated leadership, project management, and advisory skills.
5. Coaching and mentoring skills to support technology support staff
6. Collaboration skills to support partner-district administrative leadership

It is the policy of Northwest Area Education Agency not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status in its educational programs and its employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Jerome Schaefer, Equity Coordinator, 5800 Discovery Blvd., Sioux City, Iowa, 51111, 712-222-6114.