Associate Director, Global IT Operations and Infrastructure

Position description

The Ford Foundation seeks an Associate Director of Global IT Operations and Infrastructure to oversee operational stability, security, and efficiency of the organization’s IT infrastructure on a global scale.

This role manages technical resources, develops strategies, recommends and implements policies, manages key partners, and ensures the infrastructure supports the evolving needs of the organization. Key responsibilities include collaborating with cross-functional teams, troubleshooting technical issues, and ensuring projects meet requirements within budget and timelines.

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE

The Associate Director of Global IT Operations and Infrastructure will perform the following and/or similar activities:

• Design and Implementation: Design integration solutions, create and manage IT infrastructure, including hardware, WAN, LAN, WiFi networks, cloud services, and implement middleware to facilitate data exchange between systems. Establish forecasting models, right-size environments, and execute scaling plans across computers, storage, network, and cloud to meet growth and project demand.

• Business continuity and disaster recovery: Maintain DR runbooks, conduct regular failover tests, and ensure recovery objectives are met for critical platforms, in partnership with the Director of Information Security

• Collaboration and Communication: Work with development, operations, and other technical teams to understand requirements, implement solutions, and ensure successful deployments.

• Troubleshooting and Maintenance: Proactively identify, resolve, and prevent issues related to system communication and data flow, and maintain the integrity of integration systems.

• Project Management: Manage integration projects, including planning, scheduling, and monitoring progress. In partnership with the Director of International IT Operations, lead infrastructure workstreams for global initiatives such as site openings, migrations, and platform upgrades. Build integrated plans, manage risk, and deliver to scope, schedule, and budget.

• Documentation: Creating, maintaining, and publishing documentation for integration processes, user manuals, and technical specifications.

• Performance Monitoring: Continuously monitor system performance, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing enhancements to optimize integration processes.

• Global Audio/Visual Team liaison: Responsible for the coordination of the architecture of AV systems at Ford Foundation to ensure alignment with Global IT’s strategy, goals, and objectives. Ensure that A/V systems have proper documentation regarding integration with Network/Collaboration/Voice and Security infrastructure globally.

• Security and compliance liaison: Coordinate with the Director of Information Security on patching, vulnerability remediation, and configuration hardening for infrastructure. Supports audits and evidence collection for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other frameworks.

• Relationship Management: Maintain and manage relationships with key vendors, acting as a technical liaison to resolve problems and concerns, manage escalations, and foster productive partnerships. Lead vendor performance reviews and contribute to RFPs, renewals, and cost optimization.

• Team leadership and development: Mentor engineers, build career paths, and training plans. Foster a culture of safety, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 8-10 years of relevant experience in managing Global IT infrastructure

• Proven expertise in designing, implementing, and maintaining IT Infrastructure integration solutions to ensure seamless operations and functionality

• Extensive experience in partner/vendor management skills. Excellent customer service skills.

• Experience with industry-related systems and services offerings, including Google Cloud Platform and Google Workspace, Windows, VMWare, Cisco, and UCC.

• Proactive technology assessment skills.

• Effective negotiation skills and experience.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Proven ability to analyze system requirements, identify integration needs, and develop solutions.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Established project management experience.

• Proactive monitoring and assessment practices to remain up to date with the latest advancements in integration technologies and best practices.

• Baccalaureate degree in a related field or relevant and equivalent experience.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

This position is primarily a sedentary role. However, the person in this position may need to occasionally move about inside the office to liaise with internal staff, access files, office machinery, and a copy machine/printer.

The Ford Foundation is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its programs, and operations. As part of this commitment, the foundation will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job Application process, please contact [email protected].

SALARY:The Ford Foundation is committed to practicing salary transparency. The minimum starting salary for this position is $181,000 and the maximum is $204,000. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of this range. The final offer is determined by a candidate’s relevant experience and our commitment to internal equity. We review global compensation on a regular basis to ensure market competitiveness and equity. The hiring range for this position has been carefully crafted in alignment with the market.

LOCATION:This position is based in the foundation’s New York office. We operate in a hybrid model and require staff to be in the office three days per week.

Application instructions

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