The USF Advancement division is leading a modern, relationship driven approach to fundraising, alumni engagement, and donor impact, focused on strengthening lifelong connections and driving meaningful results for the university. The Technology Innovation and Strategic Solutions team leads the design and delivery of the division's digital ecosystem, bringing together data, platforms, and AI enabled capabilities to support how work gets done across Advancement.
Through our core pillars, Data Intelligence & Trust, Innovation & Digital Experience, and Enterprise Digital Platforms & Engineering, we ensure data is trusted, solutions are adopted, and systems are built to scale.
Our North Star is Human Connections, multiplied by intelligence. We use trusted data and ethical AI to enhance decision making, strengthen engagement, and enable our teams to focus on what matters most: relationships and impact.
The Platform Engineer designs, secures, automates, and operates Advancement's Microsoft platform ecosystem. This role provides the technical foundation that enables modern business applications, integrations, CRM capabilities, analytics, automation, and AI services across the division.
As Advancement modernizes its technology landscape, the Platform Engineer leads the evolution of on-premises and infrastructure-centric environments toward cloud-native, platform-first services built on Azure, Dataverse, Microsoft Fabric, Power Platform, and related Microsoft technologies.
Success in this role is measured by delivering secure, reusable, and scalable platform capabilities that accelerate innovation, improve operational efficiency, and support Advancement's digital transformation goals.
Cloud and Platform Engineering
•Design, implement, and operate Advancement's Azure platform ecosystem, including identity, storage, compute, monitoring, integration, and platform services.
•Lead the modernization of workloads from traditional infrastructure models toward cloud-native, PaaS, serverless, and managed service architectures.
•Establish reusable platform patterns supporting applications, integrations, data platforms, AI services, backup, disaster recovery, and operational support.
Platform Enablement and Integration
•Enable secure and scalable access to data, APIs, integrations, and platform services for developers, analysts, and low-code makers.
•Support Dataverse environments, APIs, security models, and integration services that power business applications, CRM capabilities, and Power Platform solutions.
•Build reusable connectors, integration patterns, and shared services that accelerate solution delivery and reduce duplication.
•Enable low-code and pro-code solutions through standardized backend services, governance practices, and platform capabilities.
CRM Modernization and Platform Readiness
•Support Advancement's CRM modernization strategy through secure platform, integration, identity, and data management capabilities.
•Design scalable Dataverse, API, and integration services that connect CRM, fundraising, engagement, and data platforms.
•Develop reusable platform services, integration patterns, Dataverse standards, lifecycle management practices, and governance controls that accelerate CRM implementation and long-term sustainability.
•Ensure platform decisions support a connected digital ecosystem rather than isolated applications.
Platform Automation, DevOps, and Application Lifecycle Management
•Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code using Bicep, ARM templates, Terraform, or similar technologies.
•Create and manage CI/CD pipelines supporting Azure services, Dataverse solutions, APIs, Power Platform applications, and integration services.
•Establish and govern application lifecycle management (ALM) practices including source control, deployment automation, environment promotion, release management, and version control.
•Define environment promotion governance, deployment standards, connection references, environment strategies, and platform dependencies that support reliable delivery across development, test, training, and production environments.
•Automate provisioning, monitoring, and operational processes through scripting and reusable deployment practices.
Security, Governance, and Compliance
•Implement and maintain security controls across Azure, Dataverse, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and related platform services using Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Policy, •Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Purview, and related technologies.
Define and enforce platform governance standards, including identity management, role-based access controls, environment management, data loss prevention policies, and compliance requirements.
•Establish secure, repeatable platform patterns that enable innovation while minimizing operational, security, and compliance risk
•Partner with the Data Trust and Cybersecurity Manager, Central IT, and Information Security teams to support security reviews, audits, vulnerability remediation, and governance initiatives.
•Ensure platform services align with Advancement data protection, cybersecurity, responsible intelligence, and regulatory requirements.
AI & Data Platform Enablement
•Support Microsoft Fabric, OneLake, Azure AI Foundry, Dataverse, Power Platform, Copilot capabilities, and related Microsoft platform services.
•Establish platform standards and shared services that enable automated, augmented, and anticipatory intelligence across Advancement.
•Ensure secure access to data, APIs, AI services, intelligent applications, and approved SaaS intelligence capabilities while maintaining governance and security standards.
•Partner with Data Intelligence & Trust to support AI readiness, platform reliability, and responsible adoption of intelligent technologies.
Observability, Reliability, and FinOps
•Implement monitoring, logging, alerting, and operational dashboards across cloud, data, and AI platforms.
•Optimize platform performance, reliability, availability, and cloud spending across Azure services.
•Develop operational documentation and support continuous improvement, incident response, and root cause analysis.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS or other field involving software and analytical training, or a Bachelor's degree with no specific required field and one year of IT related work experience, OR a combination of 5 years of IT related work experience and validated training. Preparation for a relevant IT certification, validated through certification requirements and documentation of completion, is considered to be related training.
Degree Equivalency Clause: Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree.
• Senate Bill 1310- The Florida Senate (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1310) is conditional upon meeting all employment eligibility requirements in the U.S.
• SB 1310: Substitution of Work Experience for Postsecondary Education Requirements
• A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of years of direct experience required, not to exceed:
• (a) Two years of direct experience for an associate degree;
• (b) Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree;
• (c) Six years of direct experience for a master’s degree;
• (d) Seven years of direct experience for a professional degree; or
• (e) Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree
• Related work experience may not substitute for any required licensure, certification, or registration required for the position of employment as established by the public employer and indicated in the advertised description of the position of employment.
• Minimum Qualifications that require a high school diploma are exempt from SB 1310.
Preferred Qualifications:
•Experience administering and engineering Microsoft Azure environments, including infrastructure, platform services, automation, and cloud governance.
•Experience supporting cloud migrations, infrastructure modernization, and platform transformation initiatives.
•Experience with Infrastructure as Code technologies such as Bicep, ARM templates, Terraform, or similar platforms.
•Experience with scripting and automation using modern tools.
•Experience implementing security, governance, identity, and compliance controls in cloud environments.
•Strong understanding of Microsoft Azure platform services, identity management, automation, monitoring, governance, and platform operations.
•Experience supporting Microsoft Dataverse, Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, Power Platform, Copilot capabilities, and related Microsoft cloud platform services.
•Experience with Power Platform and Dataverse application lifecycle management (ALM), CI/CD pipelines, deployment automation, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, custom connectors, and release governance.
•Experience supporting Dynamics 365, CRM platforms, fundraising technologies, or enterprise SaaS solutions.
•Experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Purview, and related governance technologies.
•Experience supporting higher education, nonprofit, fundraising, or constituent engagement environments.
•Strong problem-solving, documentation, and technical communication skills.
Working at USF
With approximately 16,000 employees, the University of South Florida is one of the largest employers in the Tampa Bay area. We are dedicated to cultivating a talented, engaged and driven workforce that strives to be bold. Employees excel in USF‘s rich academic environment, which fosters their development and advancement. In 2025, Forbes recognized USF as one of Florida’s best large employers, ranked No. 1 among the state’s 12 public universities. Our first-class benefits package includes medical, dental and life insurance plans, retirement plan options, employee and dependent tuition programs, generous leave, and hundreds of employee perks and discounts.
About USF
The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. USF is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top 50 public university and the best value in Florida. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3% of universities in the U.S. With an all-time high of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and as a top 20 public university for producing U.S. patents, USF uses innovation to transform lives and shape a better future. The university generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. USF’s Division I athletics teams compete in the American Athletic Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu
Compliance and Federal Notices
This position may be subject to a Level 1 or Level 2 criminal background check.
Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws
The University of South Florida is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any characteristic protected by law. The University maintains programs for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Applicants for USF employment are entitled to request reasonable accommodation(s) in the application process. A request is to be made at least five (5) working days prior to the time the accommodation(s) is needed. Visit the Central Human Resources ADA Accommodations webpage for more information on requesting an accommodation during the application/interview process.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The University of South Florida is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment based on any characteristic protected by law. The University maintains affirmative action programs for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities in accordance with all applicable federal and state laws. This job description does not constitute an employment contract.
