ITS Manager

Job description / Role

The ITS Manager is responsible for organizing, directing, leading all the IT Technical Infrastructure and Support activities within the company to include leading, mentoring and developing a highly skilled technical team within the areas of Support Desk (L1 & L2), Enterprise System Engineering, Distributed Engineering (Voice & Data Networks).

The position role will focus on assuring a high level of confidentiality, integrity, scalability, availability and security of the company data infrastructure in a fast-growing environment, as well as monitoring and support through metrics and SLAs. This role will work closely with departments throughout the company and external vendors and clients to ensure a cost-efficient way of high quality delivery, support and maintenance of systems.

Manages the activities of a large work group that provides IT Operations Support covering LAN/WAN and Server Infrastructures, end-user computing devices, Integrated Control Systems and a Middle East Service Desk. Deploys, delivers, and supports infrastructure products and services primarily within Project and Design Offices and those at client premises. Leads the IT Operations & Maintenance team, organizes and manages staff and operations to ensure a stable computing environment. Works with Client IT and Client Process Owners/ Managers, Manufacturer’s and their technical teams, to understand how systems can be optimized, managed and maintained to keep the systems functioning uninterrupted.

Proactively work with Core Infrastructure and Architecture team to ensure Software Solution is customized & fine-tuned to suit the client requirement and processes. Plays a key role in supporting the implementation for client end users reviewing and recommending the upgrades, improvements and enhancements to existing products and services to best suit the client needs. Interfaces with the client IT and attends regular periodic scheduled meetings to discuss and address any Operations and Support Services concerns, feedback while presenting performance metrics.

Champion the System Support organization and lead, coordinate & Liaise a team of Level 1, Level 2 Engineers and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) form within the company and external vendors to deliver quality and timely support meeting the established SLAs. Collaborate and ensure all the augmenting support teams are in sync with each other and work together as ONE support team.

Lead an effective change management and continuous improvement process within the team and with other internal and external groups to maintain a reliable, safe and robust computing environment.

Make strategic platform business recommendations to the executive team including new features, new technologies, cost saving strategies, improved processes and resource planning.

Manage the day to day help desks and escalations through an end to end incident management process. Resolution through data analytics and root cause analysis for continued improvement.

Lead key change infrastructure and integration projects and deliver them on schedule and budget.

Develop and operationalize the platform infrastructure. Stay informed of new technology trends and best practices to steer suitable solutions to meet business needs.

Establish and manage the technical and contractual relationships with 3rd party vendors, manufacturer through Platform Operations and Support SLAs.

Set departmental goals and objectives and drive accountability through monthly metrics and process driven results.

Ensure a collaborative and integrated approach with the wider organization, client, external vendors and other subject matter experts (SMEs).

IT Infrastructure Support Services Management including Service Desk (Level 1), Desk Side Support (Level 2) Infrastructure data networks, systems admin, integrated systems management.

Project management: Lead and manage all phases of an infrastructure project including staffing, coaching, requirements definition, management, hardware/software development and/or customization, testing, deployment, and post-deployment support.

Develop, manage and support a highly skilled technical team - Set priorities, mentor, direct professional growth, and lead implementation of new technologies and methodologies.

Manage performance and quality of all service level agreements:

Meet with all levels of customers, peers, suppliers, business partners to review existing systems performance, capabilities and quality to ensure that an agreed-upon service level is provided to customers.

Meet and Maintain Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) relative to the areas being supported.

Identify technology enhancement, fine tuning opportunities and/or process enhancements to support application, service and business process efficiency and optimization.

Sets overall direction of the Support organization for ITS support service team.

Creates staff assignments, gives direction and monitors progress in on-going activities as well as special assignments.

Provides technical direction to subordinates and reviews work produced to ensure technical excellence.

Ensures that recommended technologies and program enhancements meet or exceed expectations.

Evaluates the performance of assigned personnel. Makes recommendations regarding hiring, training, promotions, salary and other personnel actions for assigned staff members, working within the salary and personnel administration guidelines.

Works with other IT senior managers to develop and recommend IT strategies that ensure the IT products and services continue to support the client current and future business strategies, and service integration.

Analyzes the architecture and systems requirements for infrastructure and services on the clients short and long-term service integration and enhancements; recommends solutions that meet the company and clients current and future requirements.

Supports corporate Business Continuity requirements by developing and deploying resilient IT Infrastructure solutions that incorporate appropriate Disaster Recovery techniques to facilitate on-going operations within the Global Data Centers

Applies a deep knowledge of new and emerging IT Infrastructure technologies, processes, methodologies and leading practices to recommend modifications, enhancements, upgrades and improvements to existing systems and to identify, propose and implement new and emerging technologies that best support the company evolving needs.

Plans for, leads and facilitates the adoption of new and emerging infrastructure technologies necessary to assure the continuing business success of the company and the clients across all levels of the organization.

Defines scope of work, schedule, standards, and procedures for project assignments within the Operations & Support organization. Establishes priorities, budget estimates, and staffing requirements.

Reviews and approves recommended solutions, conversion plans, procedures for implementation, and related timetables developed by infrastructure project teams to ensure that they meet business requirements as well as cost and schedule demands.

Applies consistent, scalable and repeatable configuration management processes to create and execute a dynamic infrastructure strategy for the client.

Works with infrastructure and other technology teams to continuously improve infrastructure applications, services, availability, performance, provisioning, and cost.

Assesses current infrastructure systems to assure that they meet the client current business goals and continue to meet them successfully in the future. Identifies areas for improvement, enhancement, modifications, upgrades or replacement. Determines scope, costs and risks associated with each solution in coordination with the Subject Matter Expert (SME). Manages the installation and implementation of those recommendations.

Maintains a comprehensive knowledge of third-party suppliers, vendors, manufacturers and contractors. Builds and manages vendor relationships, contract performance (SLAs), renewals, maintenance agreements and other activities.

Tracks the performance of third-party vendors, assuring conformance with contract agreements and company requirements. Identifies questions, issues and problems related to vendor performance and takes steps to assure the matter is resolved. Makes decisions about final resolution of all identified vendor and manufacturer matters.

Leads, manages and sets the direction for the daily operations of a 24x7x365 hour Infrastructure and Integrated Application Support organization that maintains, upgrades, supports and implements services for the systems, managed services, outsourced systems and services for delivery within the Client Offices.

Establishes, maintains and monitors all organizational schedules for the Infrastructure and Operation organization. Tracks timelines for product infrastructure maintenance, development and support; coordinates with internal and external customers.

Maintains continual communication with internal support teams (Level 1 and 2), Subject Matter Experts from within company and external third party vendors, client stakeholders, internal business stakeholders to assure effective support and maintenance of systems and activities undertaken by the support and maintenance group and to continually refine, fine tune and integrate the application, service and internal business processes that govern the same.

Personally, meet with project managers and project sponsors, client stakeholders regarding potential questions, issues and problems, schedule delays SLA concerns, breaches or other events that could affect the application or services that are rendered to the client.

Coordinates infrastructure application systems maintenance, upgrades, enhancements and modifications, providing technical oversight and collaboration during enhancements, installation and implementation within the client facility.

Requirements

Degree in Information Management / Computer Science or equivalent minimum 15 years experience performing progressively more complex and responsible tasks involving development, implementation, and support of global infrastructure in multiple environments of which, must have 5+ years of management or project management experience. Must have 5+ years of experience in operating a large scale global, high available infrastructure. Must have 8+ years experience in managing an IT Team of 10+ employees. Must have 8+ years of extensive IT Infrastructure and Operations and management experience in International Regions. Must have 12+ years of diversified experience applying multiple infrastructure technologies and work in more than one area of infrastructure technology (network, servers, storage, Audio/Video, IP Telephony, desktop, etc.)

Must have ITSM v2 or v3 Certification.

Cisco Expert Certifications (CCIE) or multiple Cisco Professional Certifications (CCNP, CCSP, CCVP, etc) preferred.

Microsoft server certification: MCITP-Enterprise Administrator preferred.

Additional advanced certifications relevant to the company Infrastructure environment (e.g., ITIL v3 Foundation, Project Management Professional (PMP), VMware Certified Professional-VCP, NetApp NCDA and NCIE, Certified CommVault Engineer, etc.) preferred.

Demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and a diverse workplace. Demonstrated experiences with high availability and high redundancy environments across multiple data centers. Demonstrated knowledge of large scale networking and telephony infrastructures. Demonstrated knowledge of ITSM concepts and real-life examples. Demonstrated knowledge of ITS and related application and systems. Demonstrated experiences with managing third party vendors. Demonstrated ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies and skills. Demonstrated ability to work independently with minimal supervision. Demonstrated ability to work as part of a project team in a cooperative, collaborative effort where the ownership of ideas is less important than the result of the collaborative effort.

Travel on the job is required.

Strong technical understanding of global IT infrastructure architecture.

Comprehensive understanding of Infrastructure components and protocols and how they fit into an enterprise architecture, including network, TCP/IP protocols, Wintel servers, various enterprise operating systems, virtualization, Network Attached Storage (NAS), Active Directory, databases, infrastructure enabling protocols and various network/application protocols. Database technologies, Programming tools and technologies.

A solid understanding of Project Management Methodology (PMM) fundamentals.

Excellent ability to collaborate comfortably and effectively with and influence senior managers and other key leaders and staff members within the company and the client Organization with special emphasis on Operations & Maintenance.

A deep knowledge of new, emerging and evolving IT Infrastructure technologies, processes, methodologies and leading practices, which include ITS systems, networking, cabling, servers, virtualization, storage, Databases and Programming. Ability to apply that knowledge to collaborate effectively in supporting the business objectives.

Excellent ability to manage support teams working on a 24x7x365 schedule on a large, cross-functional integrated platform to effectively maintain critical systems and services.

A strong team player with experience in recruiting, developing, promoting and proactively building a cohesive team.

Written and oral communication skills appropriate for the position, including the ability to speak with authority on technical issues in various professional settings and to persuade listeners regarding best approach to resolving user's problem (may include communication via telephone, in person, presenting to large groups, community events). Ability to write complex documents (may include policies and procedures and presentations). Communicates with a wide variety of individuals (employees and all levels of management) throughout the organization and outside of the organization (i.e. clients, vendors).

Excellent verbal and written communication skills and be able to clearly articulate complex technical issues to all levels of the organization.

Experienced in, implementing and operating mission critical application infrastructure in HA, multi-tier, web- and application server farms. Experienced in security-related matters and implementation of security standards.

Driven, intelligent and passionate about technology, strong analytical ability. Strategic thinker with experience developing a long-term plan and ensuring its execution.

Possesses high level of technical experience in operations and support hosting, telephony, and back office platforms and infrastructures, and is skilled in setting and executing the vision and strategy for these areas.

Excellent interpersonal skills - Ability to work with executives across diverse functional groups and with internal and external technical teams.

Proven leadership and team collaboration skills, with good communication, presentation and project management skills.

Experienced in contract negotiations with suppliers.

Keep current on current technology trends and technology innovations and their application in the new projects.

About the Company

Parsons is a leader in many diverse markets such as infrastructure, transportation, water, telecommunications, aviation, commercial, environmental, planning, industrial manufacturing, education, healthcare, life sciences and homeland security.

Parsons provides technical and management solutions to federal, regional and local government agencies as well as private industries worldwide.