Senior Director of Infrastructure Operations and Support

Position Summary: The Senior Director of Infrastructure, Operations, and Support provides visionary leadership and strategic oversight for the enterprise's hybrid infrastructure, end-user support, systems administration, cloud environments, and network operations. The role will collaborate closely with peers, executive leadership, and stakeholders to align IT strategies with business needs.  This leader is focused on enabling the needs of the business by driving operational excellence, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, and fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and customer-centric service as a service provider to the various functions across the organization. This leader ensures technology services are highly available, cost-effective, and scalable to support current and future organizational goals.  This position provides leadership, direction, and development for IT infrastructure and support teams, while also serving as a strategic technology leader across the broader IT organization. It includes evaluating current technologies and assessing their viability to support the company’s mission and future growth.

Direct/Manage/Supervise/Lead Responsible for outcomes across key functional areas, including Infrastructure, Systems Administration, DevSecOps, Cloud Architecture, and Network Engineering & Administration.

Collaborate with Executive Leadership to shape goals and strategic plans, advancing organizational growth and maturityInspire and align team members by connecting their work to the organization's Vision, Mission, Values, and strategic directionEstablish objectives and tactical plans within each function, ensuring integration with broader enterprise goalsFoster strong partnerships with business units to ensure infrastructure initiatives directly support desired business outcomesPartner with the vCISO to prioritize vulnerability management efforts and align with enterprise security strategyLead and manage complex, enterprise-scale projects, including those spanning multiple years and cross-functional dependenciesAllocate and optimize resources—both human and financial—to meet evolving business prioritiesCultivate and oversee relationships with a broad vendor ecosystem to deliver quality and valueOversee the full employee lifecycle for direct reports, including hiring, coaching, performance reviews, and compensation decisionsAct as a strategic, influential leader across the IT organization, driving alignment and shared accountabilityContribute to the development and execution of the IT Roadmap in partnership with peer technology leadersDemonstrate deep expertise in IT infrastructure and leadership, with the ability to guide and mentor teams effectivelyOversee critical vendor contracts and ensure fulfillment of terms, service levels, and organizational needsManage a significant operational and capital budget, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and strategic alignmentChampion governance, compliance, and regulatory alignment across technical operationsIncluding adherence to SOX, PCI, and cybersecurity standards

Infrastructure, Systems Administration, & DevSecOps

Lead the Infrastructure and DevOps teams within the IT organization, overseeing the design, development, and ongoing support of modern automation frameworks, cloud services, and enterprise applications. Collaborate cross-functionally with technical and business teams to understand requirements and deliver scalable, reliable, and user-friendly solutions that improve operational effectiveness. Oversee structured and secure deployment pipelines for development, testing, and production environments. Manage teams accountable for the architecture, automation, and continuous evolution of hybrid infrastructure environments (on-prem and cloud).

Ensure infrastructure systems are optimized for high performance, availability, and alignment with organizational goals and strategic directionProvide hands-on technical leadership and support in diagnosing and resolving infrastructure-related issues, while ensuring proactive monitoring and alerting is in place for maximum system uptimeLead the execution and continuous improvement of the organization’s disaster recovery strategy to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services dependent on core infrastructure

Cloud Architecture – Hybrid Environment

Leads the strategic planning, design, deployment, and ongoing management of the organization's hybrid cloud infrastructure. Responsible for engineering and administering cloud environments that support enterprise operations, ensuring efficiency, reliability, and scalability. Drives decision-making for architecture, implementation, and continuous improvement of the cloud ecosystem.

Effectively manage and optimize cloud platform costs while maximizing performance and valueEmbed DevSecOps principles into cloud architecture and operational workflowsEnsure alignment with security frameworks by integrating appropriate controls into cloud configurationsEstablish and enforce cloud governance policies to ensure compliance, consistency, and operational excellence

Network Engineering & Administration

Leads the organization’s network infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance, reliability, and scalability of all supporting systems. Maintains a resilient network capable of supporting multiple business channels, both on-premises and cloud-based, with high availability. Develops strategy and oversees the design, deployment, configuration, and ongoing maintenance of hardware, software, LAN/WAN networks, and operating systems. Ensures operational efficiency, data integrity, and security across all network and system environments. Oversees comprehensive system and network administration functions, including management of routers, firewalls, servers, endpoint devices, data backups, and disaster recovery processes. Directs application administration efforts such as user provisioning, remote access optimization, and secure access to enterprise platforms. Partners with other departments to assess needs, prioritize enhancements, and implement system upgrades. Guides the evaluation, testing, and deployment of network and system improvements.

Provides strategic direction and operational leadership for all business network requests, resolving issues and aligning solutions with organizational needs

End User Support

Ensure rapid and reliable response to support requests in alignment with SLA expectations, maintaining operational continuity and effectiveness of restaurant-facing systems. Deploy help desk and support personnel flexibly to enable successful implementation and stabilization of key strategic and project-based initiatives.  Serve as a key escalation resource for critical support incidents, coordinating resolution across internal and external stakeholders.  Lead problem management and drive root cause analysis to mitigate recurring issues and reduce system downtime.

Ensure Managers (direct reports) remain focused on high-priority business needsCommunicate proactively with Field Operations regarding significant support concerns or disruptionsAct as the primary escalation point for urgent or unresolved restaurant support challengesOversees the Organization’s Change Control Board (CCB)

Essential Functions of the Job

List up to 6 of the most important essential functions in descending order of the percentage of time generally requiring the attention of the incumbent.  Enter the estimated time spent performing the essential function.  List the duties and tasks that describe what work is required, how the work is done, and why the work is done.  Do not list separately essential functions requiring less than 5% of the jobs overall time.  The percentage of time does not have to add to 100% as it will be assumed the remaining time is spent on other duties as assigned or required.

Strategic Planning & Execution (30%)

Define strategic goals and technical vision for infrastructure, operations, and support teams.Partner with executive stakeholders to align IT strategy with organizational objectives.Drive technology roadmap development and execution for hybrid (on-prem/cloud) environments.Continuously assess emerging technologies to enhance service delivery, resilience, and scalability.Oversee enterprise architecture alignment and standardization across infrastructure and support domains.

Leadership & Organizational Development (20%)

Lead and develop high-performing management teams across functional areas.Build leadership bench strength through coaching, succession planning, and performance development.Direct hiring, performance evaluations, compensation decisions, and disciplinary actions for staff.Foster a collaborative, inclusive culture rooted in accountability, innovation, and service excellence.Coordinate with IT and business leadership to ensure cross-functional prioritization and delivery.

Operational Oversight and Service Delivery (15%)

Own enterprise-wide support functions for restaurant operations and corporate users, ensuring SLA-driven service levels and high customer satisfaction.Oversee hybrid support models including helpdesk, field support, remote assistance, and ITSM operations.Drive continuous improvement and root cause analysis for recurring incidents.Ensure uptime, availability, and performance across business-critical systems and applications.Champion change management policies and procedures to minimize disruption and maximize compliance.

Cloud & Infrastructure Strategy (15%)

Oversee design, deployment, and maintenance of hybrid infrastructure across on-prem and cloud.Own cloud strategy and governance, including cost optimization, automation, and security controls.Ensure DevSecOps practices and CI/CD pipelines are incorporated into infrastructure delivery.Lead infrastructure modernization initiatives, including edge security, SD-WAN, and infrastructure as code (IaC).

Vendor Management & Procurement (10%)

Lead vendor evaluations, RFP processes, contract negotiations, and ongoing relationship management.Ensure vendor compliance with SLAs, budgets, and regulatory requirements.Oversee hardware and software procurement and lifecycle planning.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (5%)

Ensure adherence to security frameworks (SOX, PCI, Cybersecurity) and internal audit requirements.Own change control board processes and enforcement.Maintain disaster recovery and business continuity readiness across all supported environments.

Budget and Financial Management (5%)

Develop and manage budgets across infrastructure, support, and operational services.Align spend with business value, ensuring cost efficiency and future scalability.

Minimum Experience & Education:

Bachelor’s degree (Preferred to be in Business Management, Computer Science, Information Systems, IT Engineering/Software) or equivalent work experience12+ years’ experience in managing teams, onsite/remote.15+ years’ relevant functional IT experience.

Preferred Experience:

10+ years management, with 15+ years software/systems/network development, engineering, administration, architecture, implementation, configuration, end user support, and/or QA experience

Additional Experience:

Advanced experience in IT infrastructure and architecture for hardware and softwareAdvanced experience in Windows/Linux systems administrationIntimate network knowledgeIntimate security knowledgeIntimate experience in end-user support and ITSM methodologyMature knowledge of DevOps methodologyMature scripting knowledge

Compensation Range: $157,300.00 - $216,400.00

Red Robin is an Equal Opportunity & E-Verify Employer