Job Title: Director of IT (Hybrid)
Location: Menlo Park, CA or Union City, CA
Duration: Permanent, Direct Hire.
Job Description:
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of IT to oversee and manage our Dev Ops and IT strategy. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in networking, infrastructure management, AWS cloud services and cybersecurity. This role will be pivotal in maintaining and enhancing our IT systems to support our business operations and growth. The Director of IT is a hybrid position (onsite 2-3 days per week) and reports to the VP of IT/IS.
Key Responsibilities:
- IT Leadership and Strategy
- Develop and implement IT strategies aligned with the company's scaling goals.
- Lead and manage the IT team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
- Oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of the company's cloud infrastructure and set it up as a service for the organizations.
- Networking and Infrastructure
- Ensure the reliability, security, and efficiency of our networking systems.
- Manage network configuration, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- Oversee the setup, configuration, and maintenance of servers, storage, and other infrastructure components.
- Implement and manage disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
- AWS Cloud Management
- Design and manage AWS cloud infrastructure, ensuring scalability, performance, and security.
- Oversee the strategy, deployment and management of AWS services, including EC2, S3, RDS, and VPC.
- Optimize cloud resources for cost-efficiency and performance.
- Implement and manage cloud security policies and procedures.
- Security and Compliance
- Ensure IT security measures are in place and regularly updated to protect against data breaches and cyber threats.
- Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations, including HIPAA, SOC 2 and other relevant guidelines.
- Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments.
- Project Management
- Lead IT projects from conception through completion, ensuring they are delivered on time and within budget.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support IT needs for various initiatives.
- Manage vendor relationships and negotiate contracts for IT services and products.
- Support and Maintenance
- Oversee the IT support function to ensure timely resolution of technical issues and maintain a high standard of service satisfaction.
- Maintain an inventory of IT assets and manage lifecycle processes.
- Implement IT policies and procedures, ensuring staff adherence.
Minimum Education and Experience (client's Qualifications):
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or a related field. A Master's degree is a plus.
- Minimum of 8 years of experience in IT, with at least 3 years in a managerial or leadership role.
- Extensive experience with networking technologies, infrastructure management, and AWS cloud services.
- Proficiency in networking technologies (LAN, WAN, VPN, firewall, etc.).
- Strong knowledge of server and storage systems, virtualization, and data centers.
- Expertise in AWS services, architecture, and best practices.
- Experience with IT security protocols and compliance standards, SOC 2 preferred. [The intake must-have list states SOC 2 Type 2 experience treat as required.]
- Excellent leadership and team management skills.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- US Citizen or Green Card holder. W2 only.
Preferred Qualifications:
- BioTech or life sciences industry experience preferred, but engineering experience comes first.
- Master's degree.
- HIPAA compliance experience.
Soft Skills:
- Able to make decisions and to make them quickly.
- Able to work with a direct personality; the hiring manager is described as direct.
- Excellent leadership and team management skills.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
- Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- Able to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Skills:
Skill
Required/
Desired
Amount
of Experience
Hands-on, engineering-first leadership still technically practising, not purely managing. (The last person in the seat was let go at two months for not being hands on.)
Required
Years
SOC 2 Type 2 audit preparation, evidence, controls and remediation.
Required
Years
AWS architecture, services and best practices, including EC2, S3, RDS and VPC.
Required
Years
Cybersecurity IT security protocols, cloud security policy, audits and vulnerability assessments.
Required
Years
IT experience overall.
Required
8+
Years
Managerial or leadership role.
Required
3+
Years
Networking technologies LAN, WAN, VPN, firewall.
Required
Years
Infrastructure management servers, storage, virtualization, data centers.
Required
Years
DevOps strategy and delivery.
Required
Years
Cloud cost optimization and performance tuning.
Required
Years
Disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
Required
Years
HIPAA and regulated-industry compliance.
Required
Years
IT project delivery on time and within budget.
Required
Years
Vendor management and contract negotiation for IT services and products.
Required
Years
Overseeing an IT support function and IT asset lifecycle.
Required
Years
Leading and growing a small technical team (7 people, 2 direct reports).
Required
Years
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field.
Required
BioTech, life sciences or diagnostics industry experience.
Desired
Years
Master's degree.
Desired
Experience in a fast-scaling or recently public company.
Desired
Years
Presenting to C-level executives.