IT Manager

Kepler; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity plan

Health, dental, and vision insurance (

Unlimited vacation and parental leave

Relocation packages available

Professional development fund $1,500

Toronto office kitchen and amenities

Great Place to Work accreditation

Job summary

Kepler Communications is seeking an experienced IT Manager to lead its IT Operations team, spanning network and systems administration, DevOps, and IT support. You will be accountable for reliable, secure, and scalable technology that Kepler's engineers and mission systems depend on daily.

This player-coach role requires setting priorities, developing the team, and actively contributing to incidents, infrastructure design, and project execution.

Qualifications

• 7+ years IT experience with 3+ years leading multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Experience as a player-coach balancing people management with hands-on work.
• Proven ability to manage on-prem and cloud environments.
• Strong incident response and disaster recovery planning.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a cross-functional IT team.
• Provide coaching, performance reviews, and regular 1:1s.
• Work as a hands-on contributor while expanding team independence.
• Serve as senior escalation point for incidents across networks, servers, and cloud.
• Own IT operations end-to-end: delivery, incident response, and priorities.
• Own reliability, scalability, and lifecycle management of infrastructure (network, Linux/Windows, IAM, virtualization, AWS).
• Drive DevOps practices and automation (CI/CD, IaC, config management, containers).
• Lead IT security practices and controls; partner with Security/Legal on requirements.
• Develop and maintain IT operations roadmap and budgeting; guide make/buy decisions.
• Ensure documentation and senior leadership reporting on performance and risks.
• Support hiring plans and onboarding; liaison between IT Ops and other functions.

Skills

Team leadership

Hands-on IT

DevOps

Cloud platforms

Incident response

Strategic planning

Recruiting

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS/Engineering

Tools

AWS

Linux

Windows

CI/CD tooling

Infrastructure as Code

Monitoring tools

Job description

At Kepler Communications, we're not just imagining the future of on-demand space connectivity - we're leading it!

Our mission is to provide real-time on-orbit connectivity for critical missions, enabling a new era of data-driven intelligence and innovation. With 33 satellites launched to date, Kepler operates the first commercial optical data relay constellation, enabling real-time, continuous space communications while supporting advanced on-orbit compute and hosted payload capabilities.

Industry-leading technology is only part of the story. What sets Kepler apart is our team: bold thinkers, skilled builders, and passionate problem-solvers who thrive on pushing the boundaries ofwhat’spossible in space. We believe great ideas come from diverse perspectives, andwe’recommitted to creating an environment where you can grow, lead, and make a global impact.

Ifyou’reready to reach higher, move faster, and do work that shapes the future space economy - this is your launchpad. Come build the future with Kepler!

What We Offer:

• Competitive compensation with a robust equity plan to share in our success.
• Comprehensive coverage for health, dental, and vision insurance— including dependents.
• Unlimited vacation, supportive parental leave policy, and company-wide holiday shutdown.
• Semi-annual company-wide parties and frequent in-office team events.
• Relocation packages available for approved roles.
• $1,500 annual professional development fund to support your growth.
• Fully stocked Toronto office kitchen with snacks, drinks, games and top-notch kitchen appliances.
• Town Halls, Celebration Calls, and Company-wide events to stay connected and engaged.
• We’re a certified Great Place to Work®, five years in a row!

Kepler is seeking an experienced, hands‑on IT Manager to lead its IT Operations team, spanning network administration, systems administration, DevOps, and IT support. You'll be accountable for the reliable, secure, and scalable operation of the technology environment that Kepler's engineers, operators, and mission systems depend on every day.

This is a player‑coach role.

You’ll set priorities and develop the team, and you’ll also be in the work with them, troubleshooting escalations, designing infrastructure, running incident response, and executing projects. You’ll also need to learn quickly: Kepler's environment spans on-premises infrastructure and public cloud, changes often, and no candidate arrives knowing every tool in it. What matters is that you can pick up an unfamiliar system fast enough to make sound decisions, evaluate trade-offs, and credibly support the specialists who own it.

Expected Time Breakdown:

• 35% - Team leadership and operational management
• 30% - Hands‑on technical work and escalations
• 20% - Technical strategy and roadmap development
• 15% - Recruiting, onboarding, and administration

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow a cross‑functional IT team that may include Network Administrators, Systems Administrators, DevOps Specialists, and IT Specialists, fostering a culture of accountability, documentation, and continuous learning that exemplifies Kepler's Values
• Provide ongoing coaching, technical guidance, and career development through regular 1:1s and structured performance reviews
• Work alongside the team as a technical contributor, leading through hands‑on involvement rather than delegation alone, while growing the team's independence rather than becoming a bottleneck
• Serve as senior technical escalation point for complex incidents across networks, servers, cloud platforms, identity systems, DevOps tooling, and business‑critical applications
• Own IT operations end to end: service delivery, prioritization, support quality, incident response, root‑cause analysis, and after‑hours escalation coverage
• Own the reliability, scalability, and lifecycle management of Kepler's infrastructure, including network operations, Linux and Windows systems, identity and access management, virtualization, AWS, monitoring, backups, and disaster recovery
• Drive DevOps practices and automation, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, configuration management, containerization, and controls around production access, deployments, and secrets
• Lead IT security practices and technical controls, including privileged access, endpoint protection, network security, vulnerability remediation, patching, and system hardening; partner with Security and Legal on customer, contractual, and compliance requirements
• Develop and maintain the IT operations roadmap, balancing immediate operational needs against longer‑term investment in reliability, security, and operational maturity
• Contribute to annual planning, budgeting, vendor management, and technology lifecycle planning, and guide make/buy decisions
• Ensure accurate technical documentation and provide regular reporting to senior leadership on service performance, infrastructure health, security posture, operational risks, and resource needs
• Support hiring plans, lead interviews, onboard new team members, and act as primary liaison between IT Operations and Engineering, Security, People and Culture, Finance, and Facilities

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 7+ years of progressive IT experience, with 3+ years of which were leading or managing multidisciplinary technical teams
• Demonstrated success in a player‑coach role combining people management with meaningful hands‑on technical responsibility