Director of IT Services

The Director of IT Services will build and lead a high functioning team responsible for managing all aspects of the technical infrastructure that encompasses the overall Pet Supplies Plus technology plan. This includes establishing, optimizing, maintaining, and supporting critical systems, particularly cloud-based (Public, Private, & Hybrid) infrastructure, desktop, and mobile systems along with data networks and communications pipelines within the overall infrastructure platforms. Responsible for 500+ retail locations, distribution centers, and the corporate office in a rapidly growing retail and franchise enterprise. The position reports directly to the SVP of Information Technology.

The Director of IT Services will:

Strategy & Planning

• Build and deliver across all infrastructure services (“end-user computing, cloud compute services, database services, network services, security) for the organization.
• Work with IT and Business Leaders to develop a multi-year technology roadmap and strategy, delivering simplification, quality, cost reduction, reliability, flexibility, and performance through hardware, software, and processes.
• Build and lead the IT Services Team in alignment with the enterprise architecture principles and vision on the ongoing transition from traditional ‘on-premise’ environments to a more cloud-centric approach across the infrastructure environment.
• Incorporate new business requirements into both the strategic plan and current projects.
• Stay current with business trends, standards, and best practices in areas of expertise, contributing to continuous improvement and strategy development.
• Ensure compliance to industry regulatory (PCI), security and organizational policies and procedures.
• Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures and associated training plans for infrastructure administration and project management.
• Ensure high availability of services through implementation of best practices, including monitoring systems performance and operational support and maintenance.
• Forecast system demands and recommend technology upgrades & expansions as needed.
• Conduct research and make recommendations on products, services, protocols, and standards in support of all infrastructure procurement and development efforts.
• Establish service level agreements with Business Teams and third-party service providers.

Operational Management

• Provide leadership and direction for delivery of infrastructure and technical services for the Pet Supplies Plus Enterprise through implementation of industry best practices.
• Responsible for the delivery and support of mission critical business systems – including the deployment of cloud-based computing services (servers, storage, databases, networking, software, & analytics) via the Internet. Implement and modify operating system upgrades and maintenance, interfaces and legacy enhancements. Formulate and define system scope and solution design for new projects.
• Develop and maintain a strong two-way communication channel between our business partners and IT; accountable to IT and the business for well performing, highly reliable systems.
• Develop and build a library of deployable and documented scripts, processes, and procedures in support of automation for server and cloud-based build, maintenance, & migration.
• Lead and direct the work of team members, including performance management and development of team in line with departmental goals and objectives.
• Evaluate and approve all Infrastructure system changes impacting retail operations, including hardware, software, and process. Responsible for quality assurance review and adherence to standards, change management policies and enterprise methodologies.
• Accountable for system backup and recovery, infrastructure stability and performance, system security and process compliance and planning related to disaster recovery and business continuity.
• Be a change agent for both IT and Business teams to educate and gain adoption of new technologies and solutions.

Vendor Management

• Maintain strong relationships with vendors and ensure services are delivered to agreed upon SLA’s and contract terms
• Monitor system standards and metrics to ensure quality, performance and effective resource utilization.
• Manage technology operating budget, develop financial forecasts, maintain and enhance asset management systems.
• Develop a keen focus on the IT budget and expenses in order to ensure vendors and solutions provide the greatest value to Pet Supplies Plus.

PAWsome IT Services Director candidates will have:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent work experience.
• 6+ years driving business change through information technology.
• 5+ years successful leadership of infrastructure teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex projects and teams (sizes ranging from 5-15 resources), with proven success in building forecasts and achieving deadlines/budgets while managing concurrent projects.
• Proven experience with Cloud technology and cost structure – Infrastructure as a Service, Application Cloud Delivery, Serverless/PaaS public cloud services, i.e., Azure, Google, AWS.
• Experience with the development and deployment of infrastructure and end user services of O365 platform, including but not limited to automation of AD, O365, & operational tasks.
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting VMWare & Microsoft Hyper-V platforms and networks.
• Deep experience of O365 technologies, such as Teams, Identity Management, Access Management, MFA, SSO, Conditional Access, ATP, Data Retention Policies.
• Strong interpersonal, conflict management, written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to map business needs to technology solutions, and to summarize and communicate technical issues and recommendations to management and non-technical peers.
• Ability to prioritize and execute tasks in a high-pressure environment and make sound decisions in emergency situations.
• Ability to present ideas in a customer-friendly language.
• Strong customer service, problem solving and analytical thinking skills.
• Position will be a part of the rotating 24x7x365 On-Call team. Responsible for team resolution of T2/T3 incidents within the enterprise infrastructure environment.
• Background in a retail environment and with understanding of retail business processes preferred.