The Office of Business & Entrepreneurship (OBE) helps extend the reach and impact of the Universities of Wisconsin by connecting businesses, employers, communities, and economic development partners with university resources, expertise, and opportunities. Through longstanding statewide programs, strategic partnerships, data assets, and emerging workforce and technology initiatives, OBE helps address evolving business and community needs while strengthening economic opportunities across Wisconsin. 

As OBE enters its next phase of growth, technology systems and data assets play an increasingly important role in supporting partnerships, measuring organizational impact, and delivering services efficiently and effectively. The Business Systems Manager provides operational leadership for OBE's business systems ecosystem, including customer relationship management tools, business intelligence resources, reporting environments, and proprietary data assets. Working alongside the Business Affairs Director, technical specialists, vendors, and subject-matter experts, this position helps ensure critical systems remain reliable, scalable, secure, and responsive to evolving needs while balancing stewardship of existing assets with a continuous focus on improvement. 

We seek a curious, resourceful professional who enjoys solving problems, building expertise, and helping others understand what is possible through data and technology. The successful candidate will research unfamiliar issues, evaluate options, and make informed recommendations while collaborating with technical experts, business users, Universities of Wisconsin stakeholders, economic development organizations, and vendors. OBE has a strong track record of developing leaders from within and values individuals who take ownership, contribute new ideas, and strengthen organizational capabilities. If you enjoy seeing how technology, data, partnerships, and strategy come together to create measurable economic impact for businesses and communities across Wisconsin, this role offers opportunities that traditional business systems positions rarely provide. 

Business Systems Leadership, Governance & Operational Continuity

Ensures OBE's technology systems, reporting capabilities, and business processes remain reliable, secure, and responsive while supporting continuous improvement and effective service delivery. 

• Provides operational leadership for OBE's business systems ecosystem, including customer relationship management, business intelligence, reporting, and related technology platforms supporting organizational operations and external partnerships. 
• Oversees the administration, governance, security, documentation, and continuous improvement of OBE's CRM and related technology systems, including hands-on configuration and troubleshooting when appropriate; ensures reliable service delivery, privacy compliance, records management, and effective user adoption. 
• Aligns technology systems with organizational priorities, service expectations, customer needs, and business objectives; defines service standards and translates stakeholder requirements into practical systems, workflow, reporting, and automation solutions. 
• Prioritizes and communicates strategies, approaches, and timelines for technology implementation, system enhancements, testing, upgrades, release management, and lifecycle planning; evaluates proposed solutions and oversees implementation activities. 
• Establishes reporting standards, performance measures, and decision-support requirements; works with technical staff to guide dashboards, analytics, and reporting resources while monitoring service levels, risks, and key performance indicators. 
• Serves as an internal advisor and stakeholder liaison, identifying opportunities to improve customer service, program effectiveness, operational efficiency, and business intelligence through technology and data. 
• Evaluates emerging technologies and recommends automation, corrective actions, or new approaches that strengthen customer experience, organizational effectiveness, operational continuity, and long-term sustainability. 
• Manages relationships with software vendors, developers, consultants, and technology partners, including deliverables, performance, budgets, and contractual expectations. 

Data Assets, Service Delivery & Stewardship

Ensures OBE's internal and external data assets remain trusted, secure, accessible, and effectively used to support operations, decisions, partnerships, and customer-facing services. 

• Oversees OBE's internal information assets, including CRM, programmatic, operational, budget, reporting, compliance, and outcome data used to manage activities and demonstrate results to state and federal funding stakeholders.  
• Establishes data quality, validation, documentation, access, retention, privacy, security, and records management standards appropriate to OBE's internal and customer-facing data environments.  
• Coordinates across program teams, data stewardship, analytics, business operations, and organizational stakeholders to ensure OBE's CRM, programmatic, budget, compliance, and outcome data are accurately maintained, analyzed, and translated into reporting and decision-support resources. 
• Oversees the operational continuity, policies, licensing structure, service delivery, and fulfillment processes supporting the proprietary YourEconomy time-series database and related products.  
• Coordinates the flow of YourEconomy opportunities from customer and partner requirements through licensing, account administration, invoicing and payment coordination, product fulfillment, and delivery of research data, dashboards, and other analytical products that meet established service standards. 
• Guides and supports data stewardship and technical execution, ensuring clear priorities, sufficient capacity, appropriate controls, trusted data, and timely product readiness. 
• Monitors demand, workload, delivery risks, data quality, customer experience, and partnership opportunities; recommends improvements that increase the value, sustainability, credibility, and responsible use of OBE's internal and external data assets. 

Talent Development & Organizational Enablement

Builds the expertise, leadership capacity, and shared knowledge needed to maximize the value of OBE's systems, data assets, and business intelligence resources. 

• Supervises professional staff and exercises supervisory authority consistent with Universities of Wisconsin policy, including hiring, work assignment, coaching, performance management, recognition, corrective action, and approval of work activities. 
• Establishes priorities, performance expectations, and development goals aligned with organizational objectives and service standards. 
• Develops talent through mentoring, cross-training, knowledge transfer, professional development, and opportunities to deepen subject-matter expertise and leadership capability. 
• Ensures written procedures, technical documentation, training resources, and stakeholder education support service continuity, successful job performance, user adoption, and effective use of OBE's systems and data resources. 
• Promotes a collaborative, customer-focused culture centered on accountability, curiosity, innovation, continuous improvement, and practical problem-solving. 

The Office of Business & Entrepreneurship (OBE) helps entrepreneurs, businesses, and economic development professionals across the state to achieve their goals through expert consulting, educational resources and training, technical assistance, economic reports, and a dynamic statewide network.

Through our four distinct program units, OBE helps Wisconsin businesses perform at their highest levels. We help ideas and innovators succeed. We’re Wisconsin’s hub for specialized resources — many at no cost — to help business owners grow.

The Business Systems Manager (official title: IT Manager) is a full-time salaried academic staff position.

Well-qualified candidates can expect a starting annual salary within a range of $90,000 - $100,000 commensurate with the candidate’s education, related experience, and qualifications.

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, Information Systems, Data Analytics, Computer Science, Public Administration, Economics, or related fields. 

• Two to four years of progressively responsible experience supporting technology systems, business systems, customer relationship management platforms, data management, reporting environments, or related technology-enabled operations. 

• Experience leading technology implementation, business systems enhancement, process improvement, or operational improvement initiatives. 

• Experience supervising, mentoring, training, coordinating, or informally leading staff, teams, or projects. 

• Experience working collaboratively with internal stakeholders, external partners, vendors, customers, or service providers. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience administering, supporting, or enhancing Zoho One, Zoho CRM, or a comparable enterprise CRM platform. 

• Experience supporting data governance, information management, enterprise reporting, or records management initiatives. 

• Experience managing vendor relationships, software implementations, technology enhancement projects, or external developers and consultants. 

• Experience supporting customer-facing data products, licensing agreements, subscription services, research products, or information services. 

• Experience with business process automation, workflow development, application configuration, systems integration, APIs, or related technical solutions. 

• Experience supporting sales pipelines, customer relationship functions, product fulfillment, or service delivery operations. 

• Experience in higher education, economic development, entrepreneurship support, workforce initiatives, nonprofit organizations, or public sector environments. 

• Experience working with customer relationship management platforms, enterprise applications, reporting environments, business systems, or complex data systems that support organizational operations and decision-making.

•  Experience using business systems, reports, dashboards, data resources, or customer information to improve service delivery, operational effectiveness, or organizational decision-making. 

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Ability to analyze information, identify issues, evaluate options, and make informed recommendations. 

• Ability to learn new systems, technologies, and business processes and apply that knowledge to improve outcomes. 

• Strong organizational, communication, and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines

The office location is located at 780 Regent Street in Madison, WI. An in-office requirement is expected three days per week with the option to work the remaining two days off-site/remote. Telecommuting agreements are subject to change at any time.

Applicant screening will begin immediately and be ongoing through October 7, 2026. However, applications may be accepted until the position has been filled. To receive full consideration, applicants are required to apply online and provide in PDF format a Resume and Cover letter addressing your experience and education as it applies to all minimum and preferred qualifications.

Questions may be addressed to Kristina Williston, HR Generalist at [email protected].