Senior IT Operations Manager

Thales Defense & Security, Inc.; Clarksburg (MD); Hybrid; USD 174,000 - 222,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Yearly incentive

Medical insurance

401(k) plan

Tuition reimbursement

Paid wellness

Vacation & holidays

Parental leave

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. in Clarksburg, MD, invites applications for a Senior IT Operations Manager. The role oversees service delivery, uptime, capacity, change, and team performance across U.S.

sites in classified and unclassified environments. You will lead 24/7 IT operations, manage personnel, and drive incident, change, and capacity processes. Reporting to the Senior Director of IT Operations, you will coordinate with Cybersecurity, vendors, and stakeholders, ensuring DR readiness

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship required; applicants may be subject to a government security investigation for access to classified information.
• Bachelor's degree in IT or equivalent relevant experience.
• 6+ years of management experience in systems administration, networking, and IT operations across multiple sites.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams with clear accountability for performance.
• Experience supporting and maintaining complex, multidatacenter infrastructure, including hyperconverged environments, cloud platforms, enterprise backup, and networking.
• Experience working in classified and unclassified environments in accordance with government requirements.
• Proven experience in capacity planning, backup/DR management, change management, and operational reporting.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to convey technical information clearly to stakeholders across engineering, manufacturing, and leadership.
• Experience implementing process improvements and consistent ticket/change practices (Jira/Jira Service Management).
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within the IT leadership team.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs with or without assistance.
• Ability to travel up to 10%.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day IT Operations, including the 24/7 Helpdesk, Systems Administration, Networking, and Database Administration teams.
• Provide hands-on support as needed and ensure effective service delivery and timely project execution.
• Manage IT personnel, contractors, and equipment across multiple sites, with Clarksburg as the primary operating location.
• Own critical incident and outage management, including triage, assignment, resolution, and stakeholder communication.
• Drive disciplined change management processes, including freeze windows and change success tracking.
• Lead capacity planning for compute, storage, network, and support resources, identifying risks before they impact operations.
• Partner with Cybersecurity to implement security requirements, maintain compliance with government regulations, and meet CMMC Level 2 expectations.
• Validate and test backup and disaster recovery readiness, including ransomware restore scenarios.
• Work closely with business stakeholders, Engineering, Manufacturing, and application owners to support infrastructure changes and site requirements.
• Coordinate with vendors such as Microsoft, Nutanix, Commvault, Cisco, and others for escalations, renewals, and support.
• Establish and report operational metrics, including uptime, incident response, restore success rates, ticket aging, and change management performance, to leadership.
• Oversee deployment, maintenance, monitoring, and support of core infrastructure, including Nutanix hyperconverged platforms, Windows Server, Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure GCC High, Active Directory / Entra ID and Intune, Cisco networking and ClearPass NAC, Commvault backup and recovery, and related storage and virtualization technologies.
• Ensure accurate system documentation, configuration records, and operational runbooks.

Skills

IT management

Systems administration

Networking

Operations leadership

Team leadership

Capacity planning

Backup & DR

Change management

Operational reporting

Jira/JSM

Communication skills

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT

Tools

Jira Service Management

Nutanix

Commvault

Job description

medical insurance, parental leave, tuition reimbursement, 401(k)

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI)Headquartered in Clarksburg, MD, is a U.S. company that has been serving domestic and international defense Air, Land and Sea domains for 60+ years. With over 1,000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries (Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technology, Tampa Microwave, and Trusted Cyber Technologies), supports U.S. Joint Services, special operations forces and multi-national partners with a variety of communication, visualization, signal intelligence/electronic warfare, and sensor/sonar capabilities. TDSI's key technologies include tactical handheld radios, expeditionary satellite terminals, helmet-mounted displays, optics and target recognition capability, advanced radars, undersea sensing and missile systems.Lives dependon what we do!

Top Benefits (Subject to terms of applicable policies/plans)

• Yearly IncentiveCompensation Plan
• Medical insurance for self and eligible family members
• Generous 401(k) program- up to 7% company contribution and 100% immediate vesting
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday leave
• Paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave
• 9/80 Work Schedule (every other Friday off)
• Hybrid working environment

Thales has an exciting opportunity for a Senior IT Operations Manager. This position will report to the Senior Director of IT Operations. This position is responsible for service delivery, uptime, capacity, change, and team performance across multiple U.S. sites in a classified and unclassified environment.

Responsibilities

Lead daytoday IT Operations, including the 24/7 Helpdesk, Systems Administration, Networking, and Database Administration teams.

Provide handson support as needed and ensure effective service delivery and timely project execution.

Manage IT personnel, contractors, and equipment across multiple sites, with Clarksburg as the primary operating location.

Own critical incident and outage management, including triage, assignment, resolution, and stakeholder communication.

Drive disciplined change management processes, including freeze windows and change success tracking.

Lead capacity planning for compute, storage, network, and support resources, identifying risks before they impact operations.

Partner with Cybersecurity to implement security requirements, maintain compliance with government regulations, and meet CMMC Level 2 expectations.

Validate and test backup and disaster recovery readiness, including ransomware restore scenarios.

Work closely with business stakeholders, Engineering, Manufacturing, and application owners to support infrastructure changes and site requirements.

Coordinate with vendors such as Microsoft, Nutanix, Commvault, Cisco, and others for escalations, renewals, and support.

Establish and report operational metrics, including uptime, incident response, restore success rates, ticket aging, and change management performance, to leadership.

Oversee deployment, maintenance, monitoring, and support of core infrastructure, including:

• Nutanix hyperconverged platforms
• Windows Server
• Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure GCC High
• Active Directory / Entra ID and Intune
• Cisco networking and ClearPass NAC
• Commvault backup and recovery
• Related storage and virtualization technologies

Ensure accurate system documentation, configuration records, and operational runbooks.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Oversee staffing, hiring, training, development, and performance management aligned with company policies and applicable laws.

Direct and assign work, manage discipline when required, and resolve employee concerns.

Mentor and develop IT Operations staff and function leads.

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

U.S. Citizenship required; applicants may be subject to a government security investigation for access to classified information.

Bachelor's degree in IT or equivalent relevant experience.

6+ years of management experience in systems administration, networking, and IT operations across multiple sites.

Demonstrated ability to lead technical teams with clear accountability for performance.

Experience supporting and maintaining complex, multidatacenter infrastructure, including hyperconverged environments, cloud platforms, enterprise backup, and networking.

Experience working in classified and unclassified environments in accordance with government requirements.

Proven experience in capacity planning, backup/DR management, change management, and operational reporting.

Strong communication skills with the ability to convey technical information clearly to stakeholders across engineering, manufacturing, and leadership.

Experience implementing process improvements and consistent ticket/change practices (Jira/Jira Service Management).

Ability to work independently and collaboratively within the IT leadership team.

Ability to lift up to 50 lbs with or without assistance.

Ability to travel up to 10%.

Compliance with all Company guidelines, policies, procedures, and Core Values.

Preferred but not required

• Hands-on experience with Nutanix, Commvault, Microsoft 365 GCC High, Azure GCC High, or ClearPass.
• Experience in a defense or manufacturing environment supporting both production and engineering users.
• Prior responsibility for 24/7 support coverage models or multi-site IT operations.

The annualized pay range for this role is $173,576.70 - $221,792.45 USD along with a target incentive compensation plan (ICP) of 10%. The pay range provided is a good faith estimate representative of the experience level for the role described above. TDSI considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

For specific questions about this job posting, candidates may contact talent acquisition at [e-mail].

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. is committed to non-discrimination as applicable under federal, state and local laws. We are an E-Verify Employer.

If you need an accommodation or assistance in order to apply for a position with Thales Defense & Security, Inc., please call Human Resources at 240-864-7000.