Chief Technology Officer

Michigan Medicine has exclusively retained Kirby Partners to support its search for a Chief Technology Officer.

Michigan Medicine is one of the largest health care complexes in the world and has been the site of many groundbreaking medical and technological advancements since the opening of the U-M Medical School in 1850. Michigan Medicine comprises over 30,000 employees, with a vision to attract, inspire, and develop outstanding people in medicine, sciences, and healthcare to become one of the world’s most distinguished academic health systems. In some way, great or small, every person at Michigan Medicine helps to advance this world-class institution. Work at Michigan Medicine and become a victor for the greater good.

Michigan Medicine is one of the largest academic health care organizations focusing on clinical care, research, and education including:

• U-M Health – the clinical arm including the Academic Medical Center in Ann Arbor, UH-Sparrow in Lansing, and UH-West in Grand Rapids, along with associated medical staff practice groups.
• University of Michigan Medical School – one of the nation’s largest biomedical and health science research and education facilities
• Michigan Health Corporation — a 501(c)(3) established to respond to the dynamic healthcare landscape through partnerships, affiliations, joint ventures, and other projects that support the tripartite mission.

Michigan Medicine opened a new landmark adult hospital, the D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, that includes 264 private rooms capable of converting to intensive care, state-of-the-art operating rooms, advanced imaging, and high-level, specialty care services. The hospital opened for patient care in November. Further clinical expansion is continuing with U-M Health’s new state-of-the-art specialty center in Oakland County, the Frances & Kenneth Eisenberg Troy Center for Specialty Care, slated to open in the spring 2027.

The University of Michigan has evolved into a leader in innovative research, groundbreaking scientific discoveries, world-class education and training, and the operation of an academic medical center at the forefront of health and patient care. Michigan Medicine’s tripartite mission of health care, research, and education is further strengthened by integration with the University of Michigan and collaborating across its various schools, colleges, centers, and institutes.

Honors and Awards

• Top 25 Universities in the World by Times Higher Education for 2026
• University of Michigan Health named one of the World’s Best Hospitals in 2026, and #12 in the United States, by Newsweek and Statista
• Michigan Medicine recognized as one of America’s Best-in-State Employers for 2025 by Forbes
• University of Michigan was recognized in Crain’s 2025 Best Places to Work in Southeast Michigan
• Michigan Medicine named one of America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2025, among the top 10 Michigan employers evaluated by Forbes and Statista
• U-M Health named to the nation’s Honor Roll of Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, the #1 hospital in Michigan, ranked among the nation’s best in 11 different specialties for 2025
• Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s was recognized as one of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals 2025 by Newsweek and Statista
• University of Michigan Health-Michigan Medicine earned the Top 25 Environmental Excellence award from Practice Greenhealth for 2025 & 2026
• Michigan Medicine named one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in metropolitan Detroit in 2024 by the National Association for Business Resources
• Nationally recognized for work/life effectiveness by WorldatWork

Position Overview

Michigan Medicine is seeking a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to provide executive leadership for the enterprise technology foundation that enables clinical care, research, education, and administrative operations across Michigan Medicine.

Reporting to the Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO), the CTO is accountable for the reliability, scalability, security-by-design, modernization, and resilience of Michigan Medicine’s technology platforms. This role leads enterprise infrastructure, cloud platforms, network operations, automation, digital workplace services, and disaster recovery capabilities—ensuring that the organization operates on a modern, highly available, and patient safety–critical technical backbone.

Michigan Medicine is entering a period of substantial technology modernization, integration, and operational change, with the expectation that work normally completed over a much longer horizon will need to be advanced in the next several years. The CTO will help lead this work while building the operating discipline and leadership capacity needed to sustain progress.

This is a distinctive opportunity for a technology executive who wants to help shape the next era of a complex, mission-driven academic health system. The CTO will have the platform, scope, and urgency to turn strategy into enterprise-level progress across infrastructure, cloud, operations, and digital workplace services.

The successful candidate will be a strategic, operationally grounded technology executive who brings technical credibility, enterprise judgment, curiosity, diplomacy, and a strong orientation toward execution. The CTO must be able to listen deeply, navigate complex stakeholder environments, develop people, manage vendors, improve reliability, and ensure critical work moves forward.

The CTO serves as a core member of the CDIO executive leadership team and partners closely with the Chief Data & AI Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Applications Officer, and Chief Customer Experience Officer to deliver integrated, enterprise-wide outcomes.

Organizational Scope

The CTO provides executive leadership and oversight for the following enterprise functions:

• Enterprise Network Architecture & Operations
• Enterprise Cloud Platform Engineering & Operations
• Enterprise Infrastructure & Operations
• Digital Workplace Services
• Automation & Intelligent Operations
• Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, and Technology Resilience

This portfolio supports mission-critical, 24×7 operations across multiple entities, geographies, and care settings. The CTO will play a central role in harmonizing technology services and service levels across Michigan Medicine’s broader enterprise, including work related to Sparrow, West, and campus environments.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Technology Strategy & Leadership

• Establish and execute a unified enterprise technology infrastructure strategy and roadmap aligned with Michigan Medicine’s clinical, research, academic, and operational priorities.
• Serve as the senior executive accountable for technology architecture standards, platform lifecycle management, and technical debt reduction.
• Drive enterprise modernization initiatives including cloud adoption, infrastructure automation, platform engineering, and DevSecOps practices.
• Ensure technology investments balance innovation, reliability, affordability, security, and sustainability.
• Lead rationalization efforts across technology platforms, tools, infrastructure, and services, reducing duplication and improving enterprise alignment.
• Bring an execution-focused leadership style, ensuring decisions are made, priorities are adjudicated, and work moves forward with discipline and urgency. Infrastructure, Cloud & Platform Operations
• Provide executive oversight for enterprise infrastructure, cloud, and network operations, ensuring high availability, performance, and resilience.
• Lead cloud platform strategy and operations to support scalable workloads across clinical, research, and business environments, with emphasis on governance, cost management, consistency, and effective cloud operations.
• Ensure robust disaster recovery, backup, and business continuity capabilities that meet patient safety, regulatory, and operational requirements.
• Partner with application and security leaders to ensure platforms are optimized for performance, availability, and risk management.
• Lead efforts to reduce data center complexity and strengthen the long-term infrastructure strategy.
• Help shape technology strategy in light of major enterprise initiatives, including One Epic migration, integration and middleware strategy, Community Connect, SaaS ERP implementation, virtualization strategy, and hardware lifecycle planning.

Digital Workplace & Automation

• Lead digital workplace services including endpoint engineering, device management, collaboration platforms, and virtual work environments.
• Advance enterprise automation and intelligent operations to improve reliability, reduce manual effort, and enhance workforce experience.
• Establish automation standards, governance, and platforms in coordination with IT service management and application teams.

Operational Excellence & Enterprise Enablement

• Ensure technology services integrate seamlessly with IT service management, incident response, and customer experience functions.
• Lead enterprise monitoring, operational metrics, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Serve as an executive technology leader during major outages, cybersecurity incidents, or enterprise-critical events.
• Work collaboratively with campus and enterprise stakeholders to address shared technology challenges and harmonize expectations around service delivery.
• Improve consistency, accountability, and business alignment in how technology work is prioritized and delivered.

Financial, Vendor & Workforce Leadership

• Lead strategic vendor and partner relationships related to infrastructure, cloud, and platforms, with a focus on contract accountability, partner performance, cost management, and long-term value.
• Partner with IT Finance and CDIO leadership on capital planning, budget development, and cost transparency.
• Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing technology leaders; foster a culture of accountability, inclusion, and continuous learning.
• Identify opportunities to take cost out of the technology stack while maintaining reliability, resilience, and service quality.
• Anticipate contract renewal cycles, inflationary pressures, and vendor performance issues early enough to preserve leverage and protect enterprise value.
• Strengthen leadership capability at the manager and director levels, including coaching, performance management, delegation, and development.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of progressive IT experience with 10+ years in senior technology leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise infrastructure, cloud platforms, network operations, and large operational teams in complex environments.
• Strong knowledge of modern infrastructure, cloud-native architectures, automation, and reliability engineering.
• Proven success operating within large, matrixed, or federated organizations.
• Exceptional executive communication and stakeholder engagement skills
• Experience leading significant modernization, integration, or transformation efforts.
• Strong financial, vendor, and contract management experience.

Desired Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline.
• Experience in an academic medical center or large integrated health system.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale modernization or cloud transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of healthcare reliability, regulatory, and patient-safety-driven technology requirements.

About Ann Arbor, Michigan

An Urban Oasis

Located 40 miles west of Detroit along the banks of the Huron River in Southeast Michigan, Ann Arbor is a premier college town with 67 walkable blocks. Known for its lush landscape, the area offers year-round opportunities for outdoor activities. From kayaking, canoeing, tubing, and paddle boarding in the summer to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating in the winter, there is plenty to do.

A Great Place for Families

U.S. News & World Report ranks Ann Arbor as one of the top 20 places to live and has ranked four schools among its best high school rankings.

Centrally Located

Ann Arbor is about 45 minutes from the large metropolitan area of Detroit, and within a 4-hour drive of Chicago and Toronto, as well as other major U.S. cities.

Procedure for Candidacy

Final candidates should expect two interviews with Kirby Partners recruiters (including a video conference interview). You may be asked to complete our “Executive Profile” and submit references to be considered for presentation to the search committee.