This role will be accountable for management of all IT Infrastructure components such as AWS Cloud, LAN, SDWAN, Switches, Servers, Firewall, IT service/help desk, etc., throughout the organization. The head of Infrastructure is responsible for short-term and long-term planning, developing and recommending strategy to the CIO and IT SLT, architecture planning, and delivery of all IT Infrastructure and related IT operations to enable business capabilities and services across the organization. Also, in partnership with the CIO this position will support and implement IT Infrastructure, digital transformation (D/X) and employee support (service/help desk) initiatives on behalf of Regional (SCAI) and Corporate (SCC) leadership.

• Define, rationalize, and set the IT Infrastructure team’s mission, vision, and strategy for the organization to maximize the success of IT function’s initiatives and ensure clear and efficient operations.
• Assess the current Infrastructure environment, identify gaps and improvement opportunities (e.g., using SWOT analysis or another assessment tool), and define short-term and long-term plans to achieve those improvement opportunities.
• Understanding of the latest technology tools and best practices to improve overall efficiency, including in partnership with D/X initiatives.
• Manage Enterprise Infrastructure team, third-party offshore outsourcing providers, and IT Service Desk teams.
• Experience in managing 1000+ users across multiple sites, including international locations.
• Experienced in reducing IT costs, implementing efficiency measures and building a scalable IT Infrastructure to support future business growth.
• Define and communicate Infrastructure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) within IT and to business partners/leaders across the organization and ensure system availability according to the agreed Infrastructure SLAs.
• Work collaboratively with outsourcing service providers, head of Enterprise Applications, PMO, IT/Data Security, CIO and other IT teams to ensure efficient and collaborative operations.
• Experienced working with SoX (J-SOX is a plus) – Sarbanes Oxley compliance and in a strict internal IT audit control environment.
• Works with the IT senior leadership team on the service portfolio and governance required to prioritize resources, including budgeting. Works with key stakeholders to measure and prioritize technical debt remediation.
• Defines, develops, and manages a comprehensive and integrated IT Service Management (ITSM) landscape, based on best-practice processes, disciplines, and related toolsets. This includes delivery of a comprehensive IT asset management program.
• Collaborates with the IT Enterprise security resources to ensure IT contributes to, embraces, and applies IT Enterprise security strategies.
• Operates a formal governance mechanism to establish and monitor effective controls for the processes and functions performed by Infrastructure teams. Supports periodic reviews by audit teams, compliance teams and other risk-related functions as required.
• Develops (in partnership with the CIO) and executes a strategy to improve awareness of the business value that the Infrastructure and Operations function provides, openly communicate with business partners and continuously seeks to ensure alignment to (internal) customer needs.
• Improves IT credibility by executing strategies that improve reliability, risk tolerance, and disaster recovery readiness.
• Keeps track of trends, analyzes and provides direction on what emerging technologies should be incorporated into infrastructure products and services to successfully deliver (in partnership with the CIO and IT SLT) overall IT strategy.
• Drives the adoption of (and commitment towards) service improvements through a programmatic approach to continuous improvement (CI) which also measures impact and shares results.
• Continuously evaluates the business value of IT Infrastructure including the use of metrics such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Outcome Driven Metrics and Objectives/Key Results.
• Collaborates with peer IT Leaders (including CIO, Valent N.A. IT SLT, and corporate / SCC regional leadership) to ensure knowledge and insight can be freely shared.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plans, ensuring rapid recovery from disruptions to critical operations.

Education & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required, (master’s degree preferred?) in computer science, information systems, related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Fifteen or more years of progressive hands-on infrastructure work experience developing strategic IT plans and managing 24X7 (continuous) infrastructure operations in a high availability environment across multiple locations.

Skills & Experience

• Senior IT Infrastructure leader experienced in deploying best-in-class multi-year Infrastructure strategies (in partnership with direct leader and IT Leadership Teams), IT operational processes, and supporting variety of IT tools.
• Progressive hands-on infrastructure experience and ability to provide ongoing direction to the team. Experienced in stabilizing IT Infrastructure and network operations.
• Exceptional people leadership skills, with the ability to develop and communicate an infrastructure vision that inspires and motivates staff and aligns with the IT and business strategy. This includes the performance management of direct staff and overall IT Infrastructure/Service Desk teams.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment and assist the team in managing work-life balance.
• Consolidating operations capabilities in large, complex organizations to deliver improved efficiency, while balancing customer preferences for agility and SLAs.
• Ability to build consensus, make decisions based on numerous variables, and gain support for major business initiatives related to systems infrastructure (directly within this role’s own team, and the broader IT function) in a fast-paced business environment.
• Experience developing and recommending strategies to a CIO and executive leadership team, leveraging fusion teams (in a cross-department, efficient manner) that embrace business technologists.
• Strong business acumen, including industry, domain-specific knowledge of SCC, the organization, and its business units.
• Delivery of hybrid working excellence to improve customer and user experiences.
• Creating self-service mechanisms to streamline infrastructure provisioning and ongoing management.
• Other duties, not listed above, as assigned.