Senior Critical Infrastructure Lead – Reliability & Operations

R.W. Mercer Co.; Oklahoma City (OK); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development opportunities

On-site/hybrid work

Job summary

R.W. Mercer Co. is seeking a highly experienced Critical Infrastructure Manager to lead the operational performance, reliability, and strategic management of mission-critical infrastructure.

This full-time contract role focuses on ensuring facilities, systems, and services operate safely and with minimal disruption. The ideal candidate will have strong leadership in complex infrastructure environments, coordinating cross-functional teams, and driving risk reduction, capacity planning, emergency

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, facilities management, operations, information technology, infrastructure management, or a related field.
• 5+ years of progressive experience managing critical infrastructure, mission-critical facilities, data centers, industrial operations, utilities, or similar environments.
• Strong knowledge of preventive maintenance, asset lifecycle management, incident response, and infrastructure resilience.
• Experience managing contractors, vendors, service agreements, and infrastructure-related budgets.
• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and respond effectively in high-pressure operational environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to provide clear operational updates to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Familiarity with business continuity planning, disaster recovery, emergency preparedness, and operational risk management.
• Experience with infrastructure monitoring, maintenance management, asset tracking, or facilities management systems is preferred.
• Relevant certifications in project management, facilities management, business continuity, reliability, or infrastructure operations are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day management and oversight of mission-critical infrastructure operations.
• Develop and implement operational strategies to improve infrastructure availability, reliability, resilience, and efficiency.
• Manage preventive and corrective maintenance programs for critical equipment and systems.
• Oversee infrastructure capacity planning and support expansion, upgrade, and modernization initiatives.
• Coordinate maintenance activities, inspections, repairs, and infrastructure improvement projects with internal teams and external vendors.
• Establish operational procedures, maintenance standards, escalation protocols, and performance expectations.
• Monitor critical infrastructure performance and respond to operational issues, incidents, and service disruptions.
• Lead incident investigations and root‑cause analyses and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Develop and maintain business continuity, disaster recovery, emergency response, and contingency plans.
• Identify operational risks and vulnerabilities and implement strategies to minimize potential disruptions.
• Manage relationships with contractors, suppliers, service providers, and other external partners.
• Support the development and management of infrastructure budgets, operating expenses, capital projects, and resource requirements.
• Track and report key performance indicators, maintenance activities, infrastructure availability, and operational risks.
• Ensure infrastructure operations comply with applicable safety standards, security requirements, policies, and regulatory obligations.
• Maintain accurate records of infrastructure assets, maintenance history, operating procedures, and technical documentation.
• Lead, mentor, and support infrastructure personnel while promoting a strong culture of accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with engineering, technology, facilities, security, and leadership teams to align infrastructure capabilities with organizational needs.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Communication

Decision making

Organizational skills

Risk management

Business continuity

Emergency preparedness

Budgeting

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, Facilities Management, Operations, IT, Infrastructure Management, or related field

Tools

Facilities management systems

Asset tracking systems

Maintenance management systems

Job description

R.W. Mercer Co. is seeking a highly experienced Critical Infrastructure Manager to lead the operational performance, reliability, and strategic management of mission-critical infrastructure.

This full-time contract role focuses on ensuring facilities, systems, and services operate safely and with minimal disruption. The ideal candidate will have strong leadership in complex infrastructure environments, coordinating cross-functional teams, and driving risk reduction, capacity planning, emergency