Cloud-First IT Operations Director

Ascent Developer Solutions; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 162,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health plans (5)

Dental plans (2)

Health savings account

Flexible spending accounts

Vision coverage

401(k)

Job summary

Ascent Developer Solutions is seeking an experienced Director of IT Operations to lead our cloud-first, Microsoft-based technology environment. You will own reliability, security, and performance of all IT systems and services across the organization — infrastructure, endpoints, identity, collaboration, and end-user support.

The Director leads a small internal IT operations team and directs our Managed Service Provider (MSP), owns the IT operations budget and roadmap, and partners with

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
• 8+ years in IT operations or infrastructure, including 3+ years leading staff and/or managing an MSP and vendors, preferably in real-estate finance or a regulated industry.
• Strong networking and security fundamentals — firewalls, VPN, segmentation, Zero Trust principles, and IAM.
• Experience running an IT service management (ITSM)/service-desk function and meeting SLAs, plus budget ownership and vendor/contract negotiation.
• Experience supporting compliance frameworks (SOC 2) and business continuity/disaster recovery.
• Relevant certifications preferred (ITIL, Microsoft M365/Azure, CISSP, or Security+).
• Excellent leadership, project management, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the reliability, performance, and security of the company’s technology environment — network, endpoints, servers, cloud and hybrid workloads, and collaboration systems.
• Administer the Microsoft 365 environment, including tenant configuration, licensing, mail flow, and security baselines.
• Direct endpoint management and device lifecycle across an on-site and hybrid workforce.
• Own the IT service desk and end-user experience, defining SLAs for response and resolution.
• Operate identity and access management within Microsoft Entra ID, including SSO, MFA, conditional access, and least-privilege access.
• Own onboarding/offboarding and role changes in coordination with HR — provisioning and deprovisioning.
• Serve as primary owner of MSP relationship, defining scope, priorities, and internal vs MSP-delivered work.
• Direct IT procurement, vendor management, contracts, and renewals; ensure cost-effective operations.
• Monitor IT systems for performance and reliability; address issues to minimize downtime.
• Operate core security controls in partnership with information security — vulnerability management, endpoint protection, logging, email security.
• Own business continuity and disaster recovery, including backups and incident-response readiness.

Job description

Ascent Developer Solutions is seeking an experienced Director of IT Operations to lead our cloud-first, Microsoft-based technology environment. You will own reliability, security, and performance of all IT systems and services across the organization — infrastructure, endpoints, identity, collaboration, and end-user support.

The Director leads a small internal IT operations team and directs our Managed Service Provider (MSP), owns the IT operations budget and roadmap, and partners with