Director of Operations & IT

SUSE RGS; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Rancher Government Solutions (RGS) in Reston, VA seeks a Director of Operations & IT to lead internal project delivery, enterprise IT infrastructure, and spend governance under the COO. The role drives a high-velocity operational backbone with cross-functional execution across Services, Engineering, HR, and Finance.

You will manage vendor negotiations, asset tracking, compliance with CMMC Level 2 and NIST SP 800-171, and the IT Operations and Infrastructure teams, delivering secure, compliant,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of operational leadership in high-growth software, defense technology, or federal contracting environments.
• Experience managing modern enterprise stacks: Okta, Google Workspace.
• Endpoint & MDM proficiency: Jamf Pro / ABM.
• SaaS spend auditing and enterprise vendor negotiations.
• Familiarity with federal standards (CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171)

Responsibilities

• Operational Project Management & Strategic Execution: oversee cross-functional project delivery and strategic execution.
• Demand Intake & Prioritization: manage intake pipeline, triage resources, and execute initiatives aligned with executive priorities.
• Cross-Departmental Integration: coordinate milestones between Services, Engineering, HR, and Finance.
• Process Optimization: map workflows and establish repeatable SOPs.
• Team Leadership: lead IT Operations and Infrastructure team (Systems Eng, DevSecOps, Service Desk).
• Enterprise Stack Administration: manage Google Workspace, Okta, Jamf Pro/Protect, Zendesk ServiceDesk, and related tools.
• Fleet & Endpoint Management: oversee hardware lifecycle and automated enrollment using MDM.
• Change Management Governance: enforce change controls, analyses, and maintenance windows.

Skills

Operational Leadership

IT Operations

Vendor Governance

SaaS Spend Management

Enterprise IT

Security Compliance

Cross-functional Collaboration

Tools

Okta

Google Workspace

Jamf Pro

Zendesk ServiceDesk

Smartsheet

Snipe-IT

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Director of Operations & IT

Full Time Management Reston, VA, US

4 days ago Requisition ID: 1090

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Rancher Government Solutions (RGS) is specifically designed to address the unique security and operational needs of the U.S. Government and military as it relates to application modernization, containers, and Kubernetes.

Rancher is a complete open-source software stack for teams adopting containers. It addresses the operations and security challenges of managing multiple Kubernetes clusters at scale, while providing DevOps teams with integrated tools for running containerized workloads.

RGS supports all Rancher products with U.S. based American citizen with the highest security clearances who are currently supporting programs across the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and civilian agencies.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the COO, the Director of Operations & IT serves as an operational leader and Integrator across Rancher Government Solutions. The role manages internal project delivery, enterprise IT infrastructure, technology spend governance, and cross-functional execution.

The Director drives a high-velocity operational backbone by overseeing company-wide projects, enterprise IT and endpoint fleets, vendor spend, and change control.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Operational Project Management & Strategic Execution
• Demand Intake & Prioritization: Own and run the centralized operational demand intake pipeline (leveraging Smartsheet and Zendesk); triage, resource, and execute cross-functional initiatives aligned with executive priorities.
• Cross-Departmental Integration: Act as the operational integrator across the business, coordinating milestones and deliverables between Services, Engineering, HR, and Finance.
• Process Optimization: Identify internal operational friction, map out clean handoffs between departments, and establish repeatable standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Team Leadership: Lead and resource the IT Operations and Infrastructure team (Systems Engineering, DevSecOps, Service Desk).
• Enterprise Stack Administration: Manage core platforms: Google Workspace Enterprise, Okta IAM, Jamf Pro/Protect/Security Cloud, and Zendesk ServiceDesk.
• Fleet & Endpoint Management: Manage the corporate hardware lifecycle (macOS, iPads, BYOD), automating zero-touch enrollment using MDM.
• Change Management Governance: Enforce IT Change Management, impact analyses, rollbacks, and maintenance windows.

Technology Procurement, Spend & Asset Governance

• Spend Management: Manage IT OpEx, remove redundant tools, oversee SaaS licenses, and optimize technology budgets.
• Procurement & Vendor Relations: Oversee procurement, vendor negotiations, enterprise license agreements, and equipment provisioning.
• Asset Tracking & License Management: Track software, hardware, and license spend in Snipe-IT/Smartsheet.
• Hardware Lifecycle & Sanitization: Enforce end-to-end device lifecycles.

Operational Compliance & Baseline Governance (Silent Rail)

• Baseline Maintenance: Align internal systems and workflows with security baselines (CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, FOCI guardrails) without reducing operational speed.
• Access & Identity Governance: Enforce RBAC, MFA, and automated JML identity workflows alongside HR.
• Audit & Readiness: Support security assessments, audits, and POA&M remediation tracking for IT assets.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience: 7+ years of operational leadership across IT Operations, Business Operations, or technical delivery within high-growth software, defense technology, or federal contracting environments.
• Enterprise Stack Mastery: Hands-on operational proficiency managing modern enterprise stacks:
• Identity & Cloud: Okta, Google Workspace Enterprise.
• Endpoint & MDM: Jamf Pro / Protect, Apple Business Manager (ABM).
• ITSM & Workflow Tracking: Zendesk ServiceDesk, Smartsheet.
• Asset Management: Snipe-IT or equivalent ITAM platforms.
• Spend & Vendor Governance: Proven track record auditing recurring SaaS spend, renegotiating enterprise vendor contracts, and controlling multi-million-dollar technology budgets.
• Compliance & Security Baseline: Working familiarity with federal standards (CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, DFARS 252.204-7012).
• Operational Project Delivery: Demonstrated success structuring intake pipelines, managing cross-functional initiatives, and driving technical projects to completion on schedule.

CORE LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

• Extreme Ownership: Proactive operational driver who takes absolute accountability for uptime, delivery dates, and spend efficiency.
• Structured Thinker: Cuts through organizational chaos with structured workflows, data-backed prioritization, and clean documentation.
• Collaborative Communicator: Bridges technical engineers, corporate leadership, and cross-functional teams with clarity and practicality.