Director IT Operations

Long read but this should have what you need This is a key leadership hire for our divisional IT organization, and candidates should be evaluated for broad operational leadership, organizational maturity, and cross-functional partnership—not only technical depth. Position Overview The Director of IT Operations is a newly created leadership position responsible for the reliable, resilient, secure, and consistent delivery of technology services across the division. The role reports to the Senior Director of IT and will lead the teams responsible for divisional cybersecurity operations, cloud and endpoint engineering, end-user technologies, network infrastructure, communications, business continuity, disaster recovery, operational documentation, and service delivery. This position will establish clear accountability across operational teams, improve resilience and operational readiness, develop technical leaders, and ensure divisional technology services support business objectives while aligning with standards established by Group IT. Why This Role Is Being Created Over the past two years, the divisional IT organization has centralized functions that previously operated independently and expanded its capabilities across Enterprise Applications, Software Engineering and AI, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and IT Business Services. Many operational leadership responsibilities are currently performed directly by the Senior Director of IT. As the organization has grown in scale and complexity, a dedicated leader is needed to own the day-to-day health, performance, resilience, and continual improvement of the operational technology environment. Adding this position will allow the Senior Director of IT to focus more fully on: Technology strategy and investment planning Business and executive partnership Organizational leadership and talent strategy Governance and alignment with Group IT Transformation, innovation, and long-term capability development Reporting Structure Senior Director of IT ? ??? Director of IT Operations ? ??? Divisional Cybersecurity Lead ? ??? Cybersecurity Analyst ? ??? IT Manager, Cloud and Endpoint Engineering ? ??? Azure Cloud Engineer ? ??? Azure Cloud Administrator ? ??? Endpoint Management Administrator ? ??? IT Manager, End-User Technologies ? ??? Service Desk Supervisor – Desktop Support ? ? ??? Service Desk Analysts ? ? ? ??? Service Desk Supervisor – Provisioning and Mobility ? ??? IT Support Technicians ? ??? IT Manager, Network Infrastructure ??? Network and Infrastructure Administrator ??? Microsoft Teams Administrator ??? Telecom Engineer ??? Infrastructure Administrator ??? IT Operations Coordinator This is a leader-of-leaders position. The Director will work primarily through managers, leads, supervisors, and senior technical professionals rather than directly managing individual contributors. Position Mission Lead the delivery, reliability, resiliency, and continual improvement of divisional technology operations while ensuring execution aligns with business priorities and enterprise standards. Primary Areas of Accountability The Director will provide leadership across: Technology service delivery Infrastructure and cloud operations Network infrastructure and communications End-user technologies and endpoint engineering Divisional cybersecurity operations Microsoft 365 operations Business continuity and disaster recovery Operational documentation and knowledge transfer Monitoring, capacity, and operational readiness Technology lifecycle and technical-debt management Operational vendor performance Leadership development and succession planning Operational metrics and continual improvement Partnership with Group IT The position operates within a federated IT model. Group IT establishes enterprise architecture, cybersecurity governance, GRC requirements, ITSM governance, shared-platform direction, and enterprise technology standards. The Director of IT Operations is accountable for: Implementing applicable enterprise standards within the division Ensuring effective divisional execution and operational readiness Coordinating enterprise initiatives across divisional teams Representing divisional operational requirements Providing practical feedback to Group IT Escalating risks, conflicts, and constraints Ensuring operational teams understand and meet enterprise expectations The Director will partner closely with Group Cybersecurity, GRC, Enterprise Architecture, and other enterprise technology leaders rather than independently establishing enterprise policy or platform direction. Key Cross-Functional Partnerships The Director must be an effective peer and operational partner to: Director of Enterprise Applications Director of Software Engineering and AI Enablement Manager of IT Business Services Group Cybersecurity Governance, Risk, and Compliance Enterprise Architecture Finance, HR, Operations, and other business leaders The role must understand how infrastructure, networks, cybersecurity, ERP, enterprise applications, software development, APIs, integrations, and end-user services work together to deliver reliable business outcomes. First-Year Priorities Establish Operational Accountability Clarify service, technical, and leadership ownership. Improve coordination across the operational teams. Establish consistent expectations, escalation paths, and review cadences. Improve Service Delivery Assess service quality and operational performance. Reduce recurring issues and operational friction. Improve responsiveness, communication, and customer experience. Establish a prioritized service-improvement roadmap. Strengthen Resiliency and Readiness Identify operational single points of failure. Improve monitoring, alerting, redundancy, and capacity planning. Validate backup and recovery capabilities. Establish clear restoration and escalation procedures. Mature Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Review and update technology recovery plans. Align recovery priorities with business requirements. Conduct recovery testing and document outcomes. Track and remediate identified recovery gaps. Improve Operational Documentation Establish minimum documentation and runbook standards. Assign accountable owners. Reduce reliance on undocumented institutional knowledge. Implement periodic review and validation. Develop the Leadership Team Coach managers, leads, and supervisors. Improve delegation and accountability. Establish succession and development plans. Build a cohesive, service-oriented operational culture. Strengthen Enterprise Partnership Build productive relationships with Group IT, Cybersecurity, GRC, and Architecture. Clarify enterprise and divisional responsibilities. Ensure enterprise initiatives are implemented effectively within the division. Ideal Candidate The ideal candidate is a broad IT Operations leader who has successfully led multiple operational disciplines and improved the maturity of a technology organization. This person should be able to: Lead through managers and senior technical professionals Improve service delivery, reliability, and resilience Establish accountability across diverse teams Develop operational leaders and succession plans Lead effectively during outages and high-pressure events Translate technical risk into business terms Partner across Enterprise Applications, ERP, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, GRC, and Group IT Balance operational stability with modernization and continual improvement Technical credibility is important, but success will be measured primarily by leadership, operational maturity, service quality, resilience, and cross-functional effectiveness. Required Experience Candidates should demonstrate: Progressive leadership experience in enterprise IT Operations Experience leading multiple operational technology functions Strong understanding of infrastructure, cloud, networking, endpoint services, and end-user technologies Experience improving service delivery and operational reliability Experience with business continuity and disaster recovery Experience developing runbooks, recovery procedures, and operational documentation Experience leading major incidents and service-restoration efforts Experience managing managers, supervisors, or technical leads Experience managing vendors and managed-service providers Experience using operational metrics to drive improvement Strong executive and stakeholder communication Ability to work effectively within a federated or matrixed organization Preferred Technical and Leadership Experience The ideal candidate has broad enterprise IT operations experience and a demonstrated ability to partner across applications, engineering, cybersecurity, governance, and business leadership. Preferred experience includes: Hybrid cloud, infrastructure, networking, endpoint management, and Microsoft 365 Microsoft Azure, Intune, Defender, Sentinel, and Cisco/Meraki technologies Enterprise monitoring, observability, capacity planning, and lifecycle management Business continuity, disaster recovery, high availability, and operational resilience Partnering with ERP and Enterprise Applications teams on availability, support, operational readiness, and lifecycle planning Partnering with Software Engineering and DevOps teams on deployments, integrations, production support, and operational transition Working with Cybersecurity, GRC, and Enterprise Architecture to implement enterprise controls and standards Service delivery, operational metrics, documentation, and continual improvement Leading managers, supervisors, and multidisciplinary technical teams Managing operational budgets, strategic vendors, and technology roadmaps Supporting distributed or field-service organizations Working within federated or matrixed IT operating models ITIL certification or practical service-management experience Recruiter Screening Focus Recruiters should look for candidates who can provide specific examples of: Leading a broad IT Operations organization Improving reliability and operational resilience Building or maturing BCDR capabilities Developing managers and emerging leaders Improving documentation and reducing key-person dependency Leading major incidents and post-incident improvement Partnering with ERP, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, GRC, and enterprise functions Using metrics to improve service quality and operational performance Candidates who have only managed a single technical function or whose experience is primarily hands-on engineering may not have the breadth required for this role. Work Arrangement This position is remote but preferably in larger market, Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta Regular travel for in-person collaboration with technical teams, business leaders, and other IT leaders is an important part of the position. Compensation Base salary range: $180,000–$210,000 Target hiring range: $190,000–$200,000 Annual incentive eligibility in accordance with company programs Standard company benefits Final compensation will depend on the candidate’s leadership experience, technical breadth, and demonstrated ability to improve the maturity, reliability, and resilience of an enterprise IT Operations organization. Please use this brief alongside the formal job description when sourcing and evaluating candidates.