Director/Head of IT

Bell & Associates, Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Bell & Associates, Inc. is seeking a Director of Technology & Data to lead data, enterprise applications, and IT operations from our Chicago headquarters. This onsite role reports to the CFO and will own the data platform, automation initiatives, and ERP integrations across multiple entities.

The ideal candidate combines business acumen with hands-on technology leadership, guiding a lean team and coordinating with an MSP for IT operations while driving a technology-driven transformation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years in IT, data, or business systems, ideally in Food & Beverage manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Own the IT & data roadmap and budget; build a lean internal team; manage vendor contracts, renewals, and SOW delivery; bridge business needs and technology.
• Build a centralized Azure data environment with automated pipelines from NetSuite, SafetyChain, Circana, and SPINS; maintain a data dictionary; deliver reliable feeds to Power BI and Vena.
• Develop and own the IT & data roadmap and budget, aligned to the growth plan; present priorities and risks to CFO and leadership.
• Maintain a prioritized backlog of automation and AI use cases; ship practical solutions with measurable ROI; set guardrails for AI use.
• Serve as NetSuite system owner; manage implementation partners; integrate acquired entities; support EDI, Vena, Power BI, and finance tools.
• Ensure resilient IT infrastructure; manage MSP SLAs; lead cybersecurity governance, DR, and threat assessments; escalation point for production issues.

Skills

Azure

SQL

Power BI

Dimensional modeling

NetSuite integration

Data Factory

Automation

Vendor management

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

NetSuite

SPS Commerce

Vena

SafetyChain

Circana

SPINS

Stampli

Confido

Princeton

Job description

This $250M CPG company is a high-growth food brand with over a century of tradition.

Role Description

The Director, Technology & Data is an onsite (4/1) role based at Chicago HQ, reporting to the CFO. This leader will own Data & Analytics, Enterprise Applications, and IT Operations across a multi-entity, multi-site manufacturing business. IT Operations run through a third-party MSP, which this role manages. Internally, the role will build the data platform, lay the foundation for reporting and automation, and drive transformation through enterprise applications and AI. The ideal candidate is a business-minded, hands-on technologist in a high-visibility role at a fast-growing company.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership: Own the IT & data roadmap and budget; build a lean internal team; manage vendor contracts, renewals, and SOW delivery; bridge business needs and technology
• Data & Analytics: Build a centralized Azure data environment with automated pipelines from NetSuite, SafetyChain, Circana, and SPINS; maintain a data dictionary; deliver reliable feeds to Power BI and Vena
• Develop and own the IT & data roadmap and budget, aligned to the company's growth plan, and present priorities, risks and trade-offs to the CFO and leadership team
• Automation & AI: Maintain a prioritized backlog of automation and AI use cases; ship practical solutions with measurable ROI; set guardrails for AI use
• Enterprise Applications: Serve as NetSuite system owner; manage implementation partners; integrate acquired entities; support EDI, Vena, Power BI, and finance tools
• IT Ops & Security: Ensure resilient infrastructure for plants running ~20 hours a day; hold the MSP to SLAs; lead cybersecurity governance, DR, and threat assessments; act as escalation point for production issues

Automation & AI

• Drive end-to-end transformation; understand users' needs, ensure required data foundation, and redesign & automate business processes around technology
• Establish and maintain a prioritized inventory of automation & AI use cases with business owners
• Develop and deploy practical automations with measurable ROIs through Enterprise Applications and AI tools (e.g., Claude, Cursor, etc.); this role is hands-on and expected to drive configurations & ship solutions
• Establish guardrails for AI use, including isolated data environments, role-based access & clear policies

Enterprise Applications & ERP

• Serve as system owner for NetSuite; lead the change review process and action with business stakeholders
• Direct and manage NetSuite partners, including scoping, prioritization and delivery
• Lead integration of new or acquired entities into the existing NetSuite environment
• Ensure the team provides in-house support for Enterprise applications, including but not limited to owning development of NetSuite saved searches, data loads and reconfigurations, setting up new partners and troubleshooting SPS Commerce EDI, driving Vena and Power BI adoption, and optimizing use of function-specific tools (e.g., Stampli, Confido, Princeton, etc.)
• Own integrations and support selection and implementation of new applications

Qualifications

• 6+ years in IT, data, or business systems, ideally in Food & Beverage manufacturing; Finance or financial systems background a plus
• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience
• Hands-on with Azure (SQL, Data Factory), Power BI, dimensional modeling, and strong SQL; NetSuite integration experience
• Proven track record shipping workflow automation and AI solutions with measurable impact
• Understands order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, inventory, and production workflows
• Builder mindset suited to a lean, PE-backed, multi-entity environment
• Experience managing MSPs, plus working knowledge of networking, IAM, and security frameworks such as NIST
• Familiarity with NetSuite, SPS Commerce, Vena, SafetyChain, and related tools a plus