Director, IT Operations

Pathstone•San Francisco, CA

4d•$175,000 - $225,000•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced Director of Information Technology to lead and transform our IT operations as we separate the IT function from Security. This senior role serves as the primary IT architect and operations leader, responsible for designing and delivering technology solutions that support current and future business initiatives while ensuring the availability, performance, and security of the enterprise technology environment. This hands-on leadership position requires the ability to review technical designs, troubleshoot escalated issues, mentor engineers, and make architectural decisions across Azure, Microsoft 365, identity, endpoint management, networking, and SaaS platforms. The Director will own full IT operations, from cloud platforms and SaaS applications to networks, infrastructure, and end-user services, and will be accountable for reliable service delivery, operational excellence, and continuous improvement. Reporting to executive leadership, this role will directly manage a distributed team of IT engineers and administrators and collaborate closely with Security, Finance, and business stakeholders to align technology with strategic objectives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or related field.
10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure and operations, with 3 – 5+ years in IT management or leadership roles within medium to large enterprises.
Proven ability to lead end-to-end enterprise IT operations, including data centers, cloud platforms, networks, applications, and support, while improving reliability and efficiency.
Strong expertise in cloud and enterprise IT systems, especially Microsoft Azure (IaaS/PaaS), the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, and enterprise networking.
Familiarity with identity and access management, virtualization, endpoint management, and IT security tools (Azure, Active Directory/Entra ID, Okta SSO/MFA, VMware vSphere, Intune/Endpoint Manager, endpoint protection like CrowdStrike, web proxies like Netskope).
Strong understanding of IT architecture, systems integration, and modern best practices such as Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD pipelines.
Experience implementing IT service management practices, including incident response, change management, service desk operations, monitoring, capacity planning, and backup and disaster recovery.
Proven ability to manage enterprise vendors and SaaS providers, including contract negotiations and performance management.
Demonstrated financial acumen, with experience managing and optimizing large-scale technology budgets.
Effective leadership skills, with experience building and mentoring high-performing teams while fostering accountability and collaboration.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to partner with executive stakeholders and work with non-technical team members, translating business needs into clear, actionable technical strategies.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on continuous improvement.

Nice To Haves

Experience in financial services or other regulated industries, with familiarity in compliance frameworks (SEC, NIST, SOC 2) and audit processes.
Ability to design processes that meet rigorous data security and record-keeping standards.
Advanced certifications or expertise in cloud technologies (Azure, AWS, GCP), Cloud Security/Zero Trust architectures, and security operations (identity federation, threat detection, data protection).
Exposure to AI/ML platforms or governance of emerging technologies is a strong plus.
Proven success leading large-scale IT projects or transformations, such as M&A integrations, cloud migrations, and infrastructure upgrades, on time and within budget, using structured project management methodologies.
Familiarity with ITIL or similar frameworks for change control, with a track record of improving processes to reduce operational risk.

Responsibilities

Develop and drive the firm’s robust IT architecture and infrastructure strategy, aligning technology investments with growth priorities and digital transformation goals.
Design end-to-end technical solutions for new projects, while overseeing firm-wide technology enhancements or integrations to support evolving business needs.
Ensure all solutions are secure, scalable, and compliant, following industry standards and best practices.
Lead IT operations, ensuring stability, performance, and availability of all IT systems and services.
Oversee cloud infrastructure (Microsoft Azure, IaaS/PaaS), on-premises data center resources, and enterprise networks.
Implement highly resilient systems to support uptime goals, disaster recovery objectives, and capacity planning for future growth.
Lead the management of all IT-owned cloud and SaaS platforms across the firm, including Azure, Microsoft 365, Okta Identity, Zoom, and other collaboration and enterprise applications.
Drive seamless integration across systems, establishing effective identity and access management across Azure Entra ID/AD and SaaS SSO platforms.
Guide the adoption and governance of AI usage in IT, ensuring tools are implemented thoughtfully, with a focus on security, cost efficiency, and compliance with organizational policies.
Establish and continuously improve IT service management practices (incident, problem, change, and configuration management) to ensure reliable and efficient service delivery.
Own the reliability and performance of IT systems, proactively monitoring critical services and leading timely incident response efforts to minimize disruption and address root cause analysis for major outages.
Drive continuous improvement by leveraging data, metrics, and post-incident insights to enhance system performance and reduce recurring issues.
Champion automation and process optimization to improve efficiency, reduce operational risk, and streamline day-to-day operations.
Plan for scale and resilience by ensuring systems can support future growth and maintain robust disaster recovery and business continuity capabilities.
Lead and mentor a distributed IT operations team, including system engineers, cloud administrators, system administrators, and service desk staff, ensuring seamless support for critical systems and fostering a customer-focused, high-performance culture.
Clearly define team roles, goals, and development plans, ensuring team members have the training and resources to succeed.
Foster a culture of accountability and knowledge sharing by maintaining technical documentation, runbooks, and standard operating procedures.
Provide leadership in recruiting and onboarding new IT team members, ensuring effective cross-training and succession planning.
Oversee IT projects and programs from concept through delivery, including major technology upgrades, migrations, and rollouts (Office 365/Azure cloud migrations, identity consolidation projects, network or infrastructure upgrades).
Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure solutions align with business needs and compliance requirements, delivering projects on time and within scope.
Work closely with Security and DevOps/Engineering to align on security standards, infrastructure needs, and environment readiness, ensuring solutions are secure and scalable.
Collaborate with business stakeholders to understand priorities, gather requirements, and communicate IT roadmaps and service expectations.
Manage project portfolios and prioritize initiatives aligned with company strategy.
Serve as the primary point of contact for IT vendors, ensuring strong strategic partnerships and cost-effective contracts.
Oversee timely and favorable renewals and negotiations for major technology vendors and cloud services (Okta, Zoom, Box, telephony, LogicMonitor, Cloudflare).
Monitor vendor performance against SLAs and drive improvements or changes as needed.
Evaluate and onboard new vendors and service providers to support evolving technological needs.
Manage IT budget and technology spend across cloud services, software licenses, hardware, and other services.
Work closely with Finance on annual budgeting and forecasting, providing clear insights into IT investments and identifying opportunities for cost savings.
Monitor cloud usage and SaaS licensing, optimizing costs where appropriate by right-sizing resources, eliminating waste, and negotiating volume discounts.
Ensure capacity planning for systems and storage, balancing performance and cost efficiency.
Ensure IT operations comply with industry regulations and internal policies, including financial services requirements and data privacy and security standards.
Collaborate with Information Security and Risk teams on initiatives such as Zero Trust architecture, vulnerability management, identity governance, and audit readiness.
Maintain state of audit readiness through proper documentation, change logs, and consistent processes.
Proactively identify opportunities to leverage new technologies and modern best practices to enhance IT service delivery and agility.
Partner with development and product teams to enable efficient CI/CD pipelines and integrated solutions.
Evaluate emerging trends to future-proof the firm’s IT operations.