Operations Shift Lead

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.; Connecticut; Hybrid; USD 93,750 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health care

Retirement

Vacation and paid time off

Growth and developmental opportunities

Job summary

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is seeking an Operations Shift Lead to manage global infrastructure services. This role is pivotal for ensuring stability and performance across various platforms while partnering with engineering and service delivery teams.

The ideal candidate will have a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, at least 5 years of experience in enterprise IT environments, and outstanding leadership capabilities. The position offers a competitive salary and benefits.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to run mission‑critical, global IT Infrastructure operations.
• Strong grasp of SRE principles, automation, observability, and resilience engineering.
• Deep understanding of ITIL and ITSM tools, with focus on metrics‑driven improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead global 24×7 infrastructure operations encompassing endpoint management.
• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and problem management activities.
• Implement corrective actions and operational improvements.

Skills

Operational Leadership

Reliability Engineering

Service Management

Technical Breadth

Financial Acumen

Crisis Management

People Leadership

Strategic Communication

Execution Focus

Continuous Improvement Mindset

Communication

Comfort with Ambiguity

Resilience

Customer Orientation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or a related technical field

5+ years of experience supporting enterprise IT infrastructure environments

2+ years of experience leading technical operations teams

Hands‑on familiarity with operational platforms such as ServiceNow, Datadog, or Splunk

Job description

Job Title

Operations Shift Lead

Department

TKO IT Infrastructure

Purpose

The Infrastructure Operations Team Lead is responsible for the day-to‑day operational execution of TKO’s global infrastructure services. This role ensures stability, performance, and continuous improvement of core enterprise platforms supporting business operations across sports, media production, and corporate environments.

As the frontline leader for infrastructure operations, the role bridges engineering, service delivery, cybersecurity, and business stakeholders to keep enterprise technology services resilient, secure, and responsive.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead global 24×7 infrastructure operations encompassing endpoint management (Intune/JAMF/Endpoint Central) and messaging collaboration (M365/Slack/Box/Zoom) service reliability.
• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and problem management activities following significant incidents.
• Implement corrective actions and operational improvements to prevent recurrence.
• Maintain clear operational documentation and post‑incident reporting standards.
• Partner with Service Delivery leadership and ServiceNow operators to mature Infrastructure ITSM processes (Incident, Problem, Change Request, CMDB, Knowledgebase) and drive service‑level accountability across all teams.
• Oversee infrastructure changes to ensure they are properly reviewed, documented, and executed according to change management processes.
• Coordinate maintenance activities across infrastructure teams and external vendors.
• Ensure production environments remain stable during infrastructure upgrades and deployments.
• Identify operational inefficiencies and drive process improvements across infrastructure support models.
• Support automation initiatives to improve service delivery and reduce manual operational overhead.
• Contribute to operational readiness for new infrastructure deployments, ensuring services are supportable in production.
• Establish a weekly Operations Review with key performance, change, and risk metrics for executive visibility.
• Partner closely with enterprise project teams to ensure seamless transitions from build to run.
• Drive operational readiness for all infrastructure projects and platform changes.

Skills & Abilities

• Operational Leadership – Proven ability to run mission‑critical, global IT Infrastructure operations and serve as executive escalation point during major incidents.
• Reliability Engineering – Strong grasp of SRE principles, automation, observability, and resilience engineering.
• Service Management – Deep understanding of ITIL and ITSM tools, with focus on metrics‑driven improvement.
• Technical Breadth – Familiar with enterprise‑grade systems including Okta, Entra ID, M365, Box, Zoom, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto SASE/NGFW, SD‑WAN, Wi‑Fi, and endpoint management.
• Financial Acumen – Skilled at managing OPEX budgets, vendor contracts, and FinOps initiatives.
• Crisis Management – Composure under pressure with the ability to lead coordinated incident response efforts.
• People Leadership – Builds strong teams through clarity, mentorship, and accountability.
• Strategic Communication – Effectively interfaces with executives, translating technical risk and operational performance into business terms.
• Execution Focus – Balances long‑term vision with tactical delivery, driving measurable uptime and performance outcomes.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset – Uses data and metrics to improve stability, reduce MTTR, and optimize cost‑to‑serve.
• Communication – Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to influence stakeholders and explain complex concepts to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Comfort with Ambiguity – Thrives in environments where direction is still forming and able to bring structure and clarity to grey areas.
• Resilience – Maintains focus and composure under pressure in fast‑moving, high‑visibility environments.
• Customer Orientation – Keeps business impact front of mind; balances technical excellence with pragmatic execution.

Qualifications & Training

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or a related technical field (or equivalent professional experience).
• 5+ years of experience supporting enterprise IT infrastructure environments.
• 2+ years of experience leading technical operations teams or acting in a senior operational role.
• Hands‑on familiarity with operational platforms such as ServiceNow, Datadog, or Splunk for monitoring and observability.
• Excellent executive communication and cross‑functional collaboration skills.

Preferred:

• Exposure to M&A or carve‑out transformations.
• Certifications such as ITIL Expert, PMP, or equivalent leadership credentials.

Compensation & Benefits

Hourly rate below reflects the prevailing current hiring range for this position.

Hiring rate minimum: $93,750 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable State/local minimum salary thresholds).

Hiring rate maximum: $125,000 annually.

The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short‑ and long‑term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings.

Reporting & Role Details

• Line Manager: Director, Workplace Technology
• Direct Reports: —
• Working Hours: Dynamic
• Employment Type: Permanent
• Location: Stamford, CT or Remote

Equal Opportunity Employer

TKO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding non‑discrimination in employment. TKO makes employment decisions based on merit and qualifications, without considering an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited under federal, state or local laws governing non‑discrimination in employment in every location in which the Company has facilities. TKO also provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state or local laws.