Director of Technology Infrastructure & Security

Petco; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Petco is seeking a Director of Technology Infrastructure Architecture to lead the new TIA function, integrating security into enterprise project design from day one. You will shape long‑term infrastructure strategies across cloud, on‑prem, and endpoints for both retail and enterprise operations.

You will act as the business-facing lead, coordinating with senior IT leadership, Operations, Information Security, and Engineering, while mentoring architects and engineers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years in Network Engineering, Enterprise Security, or Systems Architecture with 3+ years in leadership.
• Strong executive communication skills and hands-on technical capability.
• Advanced knowledge in infrastructure and security architecture, enterprise networking (LAN/WAN/WLAN, SD-WAN, carrier services), and IT budgeting.
• Demonstrated cybersecurity experience: risk management and security framework adoption (NIST, CIS, PCI DSS, zero trust).

Responsibilities

• Builds and leads the Technology Infrastructure Architecture (TIA) function as a new team; ensures security integration into enterprise projects from design phase.
• Sets long-range secure infrastructure strategy across cloud, on‑premise, and endpoint for retail and enterprise operations.
• Acts as the face of TIA to business, liaises with IT leadership, Operations, InfoSec, and Engineering to ensure early engagement.
• Manages cross-functional architecture reviews and new projects; defines and tracks team KPIs.
• Enforces security reference architectures: identity, network segmentation, ZTNA/SASE, encryption, cloud posture.
• Hands-on role—prototyping, building reference architectures, and enabling delivery with engineers.
• Leads implementation and change management for infrastructure and security initiatives; drives adoption.
• Partners with Network Operations to ensure designs are operable and transition to steady-state support.
• Owns budget planning for TIA; contributes to cloud cost governance and infra investments.
• Champions automation, IaC, and AI-driven operations to shift to predictive ops.
• Evaluates new networking technologies (SASE, micro-segmentation, cloud-native IaC, AI ops) hands-on before broad adoption.
• Identifies interdependencies and trends to continuously improve infra services.
• Recruits and mentors architects and engineers; builds culture of ownership and accountability.
• Manages vendor relationships to support architecture initiatives.

Skills

Executive communication

Security architecture

Infrastructure design

Leadership

Vendor management

Automation

AIOps

Education

BS/MS in CS/IS/Engineering

Job description

Petco is seeking a Director of Technology Infrastructure Architecture to lead the new TIA function, integrating security into enterprise project design from day one. You will shape long‑term infrastructure strategies across cloud, on‑prem, and endpoints for both retail and enterprise operations.

You will act as the business-facing lead, coordinating with senior IT leadership, Operations, Information Security, and Engineering, while mentoring architects and engineers.