Director, Infrastructure Operations (Hybrid)

Claire's - Hoffman Estates, IL

Full-time - Senior

Hoffman Estates, IL

Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers

About the position

As the Director of Infrastructure Operations at Claire's, you will play a pivotal role in leading the global IT Infrastructure Operations organization. This hybrid position, based on-site in Hoffman Estates, IL, encompasses a wide range of responsibilities including Telecom Billing & Service Provisioning, Network Operations, AS400 Operations, and Systems Operations. Your primary focus will be on overseeing day-to-day operations, which involves monitoring for issues, responding to alerts, managing managed service providers, and provisioning new telecom services. You will also be responsible for managing both capital and operational infrastructure budgets, engaging with vendors, and negotiating contracts to ensure the smooth operation of IT services across the organization. In this leadership role, you will provide direction and strategy for the Global Infrastructure Operations organization, managing teams dedicated to Infrastructure Operations and Telecom Billing & Provisioning. You will act as the site lead for infrastructure, ensuring that Claire's corporate and retail IT infrastructure operates efficiently worldwide. Your responsibilities will include managing telecom and operations budgets, reviewing and negotiating vendor contracts, and building strong relationships with business leaders and vendor partners. You will lead a team of full-time employees, contractors, and managed service partners, utilizing metrics to optimize network performance and ensure availability and stability. You will be tasked with creating and delivering Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and project updates to senior leadership. Additionally, you will oversee change, incident, request, and problem management within your team, ensuring that telecom projects are planned and tracked for successful delivery on time and within budget. Your role will also involve optimizing processes and proactively seeking opportunities for improvement and cost savings, while collaborating with engineering teams to suggest new technologies and enhance existing infrastructure. As a mentor and leader, you will focus on building high-performing teams through the development of individual team members, recruiting, hiring, and managing engineers. You will enhance escalation procedures and workflows to ensure timely resolution of issues and participate in researching technology solutions to support new initiatives. Your oversight will ensure the availability of all critical systems, and you will manage day-to-day relationships with network and telecommunication vendors, holding them accountable for their deliverables and resolving any issues that arise.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global IT Infrastructure Operations organization, including Telecom Billing & Service Provisioning, Network Operations, AS400 Operations, and Systems Operations.
• Oversee day-to-day operations, including monitoring for issues, responding to alerts, and managing managed service providers.
• Provision new telecom services and manage capital and operational infrastructure budgets.
• Engage with vendors, review and negotiate contracts, and build strong relationships with business leaders and vendor partners.
• Manage Infrastructure Operations and Telecom Billing & Provisioning teams, acting as an Infrastructure site lead.
• Ensure the availability and stability of Claire's corporate and retail IT infrastructure worldwide.
• Create and deliver SLAs, KPIs, issue tracking, and project updates to senior leadership.
• Oversee change, incident, request, and problem management within the team.
• Plan and track telecom projects, ensuring successful delivery on time and within budget.
• Optimize processes and proactively seek opportunities for improvement and savings.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to suggest new technologies and improve existing infrastructure.
• Develop and deliver progress reports, proposals, requirements documentation, and presentations.
• Proactively identify and communicate potential issues and devise contingency plans.
• Provide oversight, accountability, mentorship, and growth opportunities for team members.
• Build high-performing teams through recruitment, hiring, management, and mentoring of engineers.
• Enhance escalation procedures and workflows for timely resolution of issues.
• Participate in research of technology solutions in support of new initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of hands-on experience in IT Infrastructure Services across multiple domains, including network, voice, and systems.
• 5+ years in a leadership role with increasing responsibilities.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, comfortable in a highly visible role.
• Experience working with and managing Managed Service Providers.
• Experience managing complex multi-million dollar budgets.
• Exposure to contract creation, negotiation, and delivery.
• Capable of delegating tasks and mentoring technical teams.
• Experience managing parallel projects, creating KPIs, and developing relationships with key stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and management skills.
• Ability to efficiently manage a global team and a variety of projects concurrently.
• Experience designing and implementing large-scale infrastructure technologies is a bonus.