Director, Core Infrastructure

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors•RPA New York, NY

About The Position

The Director, Core Infrastructure provides strategic leadership, governance, and oversight of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ infrastructure ecosystem, ensuring secure, reliable, and resilient technology services for a global, remote-first workforce. Reporting to the VP, Technology, the Director translates the broader technology vision into strategy, priorities, and roadmaps for end-user computing, identity and access management, cloud platforms, service operations, cybersecurity enablement, and disaster recovery. The role anticipates technology, security, and operational risks; establishes long-term infrastructure strategies and standards; and resolves critical issues with lasting, cross-functional impact. Infrastructure investments and capabilities must align with organizational priorities, regulatory requirements, and future growth. The Director leads user infrastructure strategy and governance, user support services, device and digital workplace strategy, infrastructure security operations, Azure and cloud infrastructure, and disaster recovery and resilience. The role establishes enterprise policies, standards, roadmaps, service expectations, and continuous-improvement practices, while balancing user experience, security, scalability, operational effectiveness, and cost. Working with full autonomy within policies approved by the CEO and broad guidelines set by the VP, Technology, the Director sets priorities, provides expert technical guidance, translates technical concepts for technical and non-technical audiences, and uses infrastructure, security, and service-performance data to guide decisions. The position leads and develops a team and external partners, and is responsible to the VP, Technology for fiscal management of infrastructure, support, and security operations, including expenditure allocation, budget input, contracts, and service agreements. Some travel may be required.

Requirements

Advanced degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
10–12+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure and operations, including responsibility for endpoint management, identity, and user support.
Proven IT service management experience, including help desk operations, ITIL-based processes, and infrastructure support for a distributed workforce.
Hands-on expertise with Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune, and Azure infrastructure services, including compute, storage, networking, and identity.
Demonstrated security operations experience, including vulnerability management, endpoint protection, and incident response, and experience partnering with security leadership or CISO functions.
Experience designing and testing disaster recovery and backup solutions for cloud and hybrid environments.
Strong vendor and project management experience, with the ability to drive results through external partners and internal teams.
Ability to work autonomously, provide expert technical guidance, communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences, and use data analysis to develop recommendations and roadmaps.
Commitment to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ mission and values.

Nice To Haves

3–5+ years in a leadership role within a nonprofit, philanthropic, or mission-driven global organization.
Advanced degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field (preferred; equivalent experience is also accepted).

Responsibilities

Lead the strategic direction, governance, and continuous evolution of user infrastructure, including endpoint computing, asset management, identity and access management, and end-user technology services.
Establish enterprise standards, policies, and long-term roadmaps for device lifecycle management and workforce technology.
Govern identity and access management strategy, controls, and standards to strengthen security, support compliance, and enable a seamless user experience.
Drive high-quality technology support services and service excellence for the global workforce, with measurable operational outcomes.
Set strategic direction for ITIL-based service management across service strategy, design, transition, operation, and continual service improvement; establish policies, performance expectations, and improvement initiatives for incident, request, and support delivery.
Define and lead enterprise device and digital workplace strategy, including endpoint technologies, operating platforms, workforce productivity tools, and modern workplace capabilities.
Evaluate emerging technologies and investment opportunities and set priorities balancing user experience, security, scalability, operational efficiency, and cost effectiveness.
Establish enterprise policies, standards, and governance for endpoint management, software deployment, and acceptable use.
Direct infrastructure security operations and risk management, partnering with CISO resources to establish and embed security strategies, standards, and controls.
Oversee vulnerability management, endpoint protection, incident response, remediation, security performance, control effectiveness, and compliance outcomes.
Ensure infrastructure services align with data protection obligations, privacy requirements, industry standards, and audit and regulatory expectations.
Lead infrastructure response to significant security incidents and cyber events, coordinate cross-functional partners, minimize impact, and implement corrective actions.
Define and lead cloud infrastructure strategy, including Azure service roadmaps, platform capabilities, infrastructure modernization, and investment priorities.
Govern cloud capacity planning, performance, resilience, and cost optimization; lead platform integration, modernization, and architectural decisions.
Lead disaster recovery and technology resilience strategy, establish recovery objectives and resilience standards, and maintain preparedness, testing, and continuous improvement.
Lead infrastructure contributions to enterprise business continuity planning and align recovery processes and resilience investments with organizational priorities and risk management.
Anticipate and resolve critical problems with long-term cross-functional impact, balancing modernization with immediate reliability, support, and compliance needs.
Analyze and diagram infrastructure, security, and service-performance data; conduct trend analysis and gap analyses; and develop reports and roadmaps to guide decision-making.
Build trusted relationships across functions and jurisdictions and develop solutions attentive to nonprofit fiscal and legal constraints.
Lead and develop a team and external partners, fostering listening, teaching, learning, shared resources, clear processes, accountability, and cost-effective delivery.
Manage the function’s fiscal matters, including allocation of expenditures, budget input, contracts, vendor arrangements, licensing, and managed service agreements.