IT Operations Team Leader; SSO Division Irvine, CA

IT Operations Team Leader (SSO Division –

Location:

Irvine, CA) Position Summary

The IT Operations Team Leader is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the IT infrastructure and support teams. This role ensures high availability, reliability, and security of the organization’s IT systems, networks, and services. The Team Leader balances technical expertise with leadership skills, guiding a team of systems administrators, support specialists, or network engineers to meet service level agreements (SLAs), resolve complex technical issues, and implement infrastructure projects.

• Team Leadership & Management
• Supervise & Mentor:
  Lead, coach, and develop a team of IT professionals, conducting regular performance reviews and fostering a collaborative team environment.
• Resource Allocation:
  Manage team schedules, shift rotations, and on-call rosters to ensure 24/7 or continuous business coverage worldwide.
• Skill Development:
  Identify training needs and gaps within the team, facilitating continuous technical and professional growth.
• Operations & Systems Management
• Service Delivery:
  Maintain and improve daily IT operations, ensuring systems (servers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints) run smoothly and securely.
• SLA Compliance:
  Monitor team performance against KPIs and SLAs, ensuring tickets, incidents, and service requests are resolved efficiently.
• Incident & Problem Management:
  Serve as an escalation point for major incidents. Lead the root-cause analysis (RCA) process to prevent recurring technical issues.
• Change Management:
  Review and approve technical changes to the production environment to minimize downtime and risk.
• Strategy & Project Execution
• Infrastructure Upgrades:
  Plan and execute IT infrastructure projects, including hardware refreshes, cloud migrations, and software deployments.
• Process Optimization:
  Standardize operational workflows, build automated processes, and document SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to improve efficiency.
• Vendor Management:
  Collaborate with third-party vendors and service providers to ensure quality service delivery and hardware/software compliance.
• Security & Compliance
• System Backups:
  Oversee backup operations and disaster recovery (DR) testing to guarantee business continuity.
• Security Alignment:
  Ensure all operational systems adhere to corporate cybersecurity policies, managing patch deployments and vulnerability remediations.

• Infrastructure Knowledge:
  Strong experience with enterprise operating systems (Windows Server, Linux) and virtualization tools (VMware, Hyper‑V).
• Cloud Operations:
  Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform).
• Networking & Security:
  Solid understanding of TCP/IP, routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, and identity management (Active Directory/Entra ).
• ITSM Frameworks:
  Deep practical knowledge of ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) practices, specifically Incident, Problem, and Change Management.

• Leadership:
  Proven ability to motivate, manage, and develop technical teams.
• Communication:
  Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical jargon for non-technical stakeholders.
• Problem‑Solving:
  Calm under pressure with excellent crisis‑management and analytical skills.

• Experience:
  
  5+ years in IT infrastructure or operations, with at least 1–2 years in a senior, lead, or supervisory role.
• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• Certifications (Preferred): ITIL Foundation/Expert, CompTIA Project+, Microsoft Certified:
  Azure Administrator, AWS Certified Sys Ops Administrator, or CCNA.

This position is subject to meeting U.S. export compliance and/or U.S. Government contracting citizenship eligibility requirements. Must be a U.S. Citizen.

Role requires working above and beyond the normal schedule on an as‑needed basis to ensure business operations are supported during urgent escalations. Travel will be required (less than 40%), to remote sites to assist…