Senior IT Operations & Infrastructure Manager

Job Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to have hands‑on, end‑to‑end ownership of IT Operations in a growing, operations‑driven company where uptime is mission‑critical to delivering water to customers across the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America. The IT Operations Manager will drive day‑to‑day IT operations, lead key infrastructure projects, and establish a robust framework for measuring, improving, and reporting KPIs across all IT domains.

This role is critical to ensuring operational excellence, scalability, and alignment with business objectives, with particular emphasis on the IT/OT convergence that supports our global plant operations.

• Oversee IT infrastructure operations and associated budgets, including networks, servers, storage, help desk, and cloud environments.
• Ensure high availability, security, and performance of IT systems supporting global operations – directly and indirectly impacting our global water sites where downtime has direct business impact.
• Coordinate with global water sites to schedule technology maintenance windows that avoid end‑user and plant operations impact.
• Apply hands‑on networking, server, and cloud skills to lead and support a lean technical team.

• Own IT incident, problem, and change management processes, including incident command leadership during high‑severity outages impacting operations or plant availability.
• Enforce escalation and root‑cause analysis (RCA) practices across infrastructure and support teams.
• Track, optimise, and report KPIs for IT service delivery (uptime, SLA compliance, ticket resolution, cost efficiency).

• Lead strategic IT projects such as infrastructure refresh, cloud migration, and the technology components of broader business initiatives.
• Build, enhance, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) to drive process maturity and governance.
• Improve IT processes and implement AI, automation, and optimisation initiatives to enhance productivity and service quality.

• Manage vendor relationships and coordinate internal and external resources for timely project execution.
• Partner with business units to align IT services with operational needs.
• Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement within the IT team.
• Provide executive‑level reporting on IT performance and strategic initiatives.

• Proven ability to manage multi‑site IT operations and global support models.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including comfort presenting to stakeholder audiences.
• Ability to manage and lead hands‑on alongside multiple infrastructure professionals.
• Ability to step in as a backup or supplemental resource for IT networking needs.
• Ability to step in as a backup or supplemental resource for IT compute and cloud needs.
• Proficiency with AI tools to enhance automation and team productivity.
• Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., IFS Cloud) and industrial OT integration.
• Hybrid schedule, currently requiring 3 days per week in the Tampa, FL office.
• Valid U.S. passport required, with the ability to travel internationally up to 20% of the time to perform IT duties such as equipment installations.
• Availability to participate in on‑call and respond to high‑severity incidents outside of normal business hours.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in IT operations, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven track record in managing IT infrastructure and leading projects for IT infrastructure in manufacturing or operations environments.
• Experience with networking configurations & connectivities (LAN, SD‑WAN, Firewalls, WAPs, etc) and networking / cybersecurity best practices.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Oracle Cloud preferred) and virtualization (Nutanix preferred).
• Project / Program Management skillsets, with the ability to deliver projects on time, on budget, with agreed outcomes.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, AWS, CCNP, or equivalent) preferred.