VP IT Operations: Cloud, SRE & Retail Tech Leader

Grocery Outlet Career; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Bonus Program

Equity

401(k) Profit Sharing

Base Salary Range: $220,000-$250,000

Job summary

Grocery Outlet is seeking a VP of IT Operations to lead strategy, delivery, and continuous improvement of core IT ops—Infrastructure, Network, Service Desk, and Store Technology. You’ll drive cloud modernization, automation, and ITIL-driven service management to support stores, warehouses, and corporate teams.

You will report to the SVP/CIO and build a product-oriented, scalable operations model with a strong emphasis on uptime, performance, and vendor governance.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in IT infrastructure, service delivery, or enterprise operations.
• 5+ years in senior leadership roles with strategic and operational accountability.
• Retail technology experience (POS, store infrastructure) strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of experience and education; advanced degree or MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute a 3–5-year vision for IT Operations aligned with enterprise goals and transformation programs.
• Translate enterprise objectives into roadmaps across infrastructure, service management, and store systems.
• Serve as a strategic partner to executive leaders, enabling operational readiness for business growth.
• Evolve traditional infrastructure and support into a product-aligned, service-oriented model.
• Lead enterprise-wide infrastructure services, including cloud, data center, network, end-user computing, and retail systems.
• Oversee store Point-of-Sale platforms, hosting infrastructure, and corporate application operations.
• Ensure 24 × 7 service availability and performance for all production environments, including peak retail periods.
• Drive platform observability, resilience, and standardization across store and enterprise technologies.
• Build and mature ITIL-aligned practices (incident, change, problem, configuration).
• Lead service desk transformation, knowledge management, and shift-left/self-service automation.
• Champion proactive incident management and RCA practices to reduce unplanned downtime.
• Establish and monitor operational KPIs including MTTR, SLA compliance, and customer satisfaction.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team across infrastructure, service delivery, and retail systems.
• Build skills in cloud operations, automation, SRE, and field support.
• Establish clear performance goals, succession plans, and learning pathways.
• Manage strategic vendor and MSP relationships with outcome-based SLAs and governance.
• Own OpEx and CapEx budgets for infrastructure and operations; ensure alignment with business value.
• Drive efficiency through consolidation, automation, and vendor optimization.
• Partner with Finance and the PMO to forecast resource needs and support program delivery.
• Provide executive transparency into project readiness, spend, and ROI.

Skills

IT Leadership

Cloud Expertise (AWS/Azure/GCP)

SRE / ITSM

Budgeting & Forecasting

Vendor Management

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Tools

AWS

Azure

GCP

ITIL

SRE tooling

Job description

Grocery Outlet is seeking a VP of IT Operations to lead strategy, delivery, and continuous improvement of core IT ops—Infrastructure, Network, Service Desk, and Store Technology. You’ll drive cloud modernization, automation, and ITIL-driven service management to support stores, warehouses, and corporate teams.

You will report to the SVP/CIO and build a product-oriented, scalable operations model with a strong emphasis on uptime, performance, and vendor governance.