Director of IT Core Infrastructure

CohnReznick• , NJ

4d•$200,000 - $290,000•Hybrid

About The Position

As CohnReznick grows, so do our career opportunities. As one of the nation’s top professional services firms, CohnReznick creates rewarding careers in advisory, assurance, and tax with team members who value innovation and collaboration in everything they do! CohnReznick helps organizations optimize performance, manage risk, and maximize value through CohnReznick LLP (assurance services) and CohnReznick Advisory LLC (advisory and tax services). Together, the firm provides leaders with deep industry knowledge and relationships, solutions to address clients’ unique business goals and risks, and insight on how emerging market forces can drive opportunity. With offices nationwide, the firm serves organizations around the world as an independent member of Nexia. We currently have an exciting career opportunity for a Director of IT Core Infrastructure to join the Global, Digital Cybersecurity team in our Parsippany office. CohnReznick is a hybrid firm and most of our professionals are located within a commutable distance to one of our offices. This position is considered hybrid which means team members are expected to be thoughtful and intentional in how they create opportunities for in-person collaboration. While the cadence of in-office presence is determined at the team level, our professionals are encouraged to be in the office/together in person on average 3 days a week. YOUR TEAM. The Director of Core Infrastructure is a senior technology leadership role at CohnReznick - a leading professional services firm delivering Assurance, Tax, and Advisory solutions to a diverse, nationally distributed client base. Reporting into the Global, Digital Cybersecurity (GDC) group, this individual is responsible for the architecture, reliability, security, and continuous modernization of the firm's on-premises, hybrid, and cloud infrastructure platforms. The ideal candidate is an exceptional blend of visionary strategist and hands-on technologist — someone who can articulate a compelling multi-year infrastructure roadmap to C-suite executives one moment and roll up their sleeves alongside engineers in a high-severity incident the next. This leader will build, inspire, and develop a high-performing global team while forging strong relationships across the firm's business lines, vendor ecosystem, and executive leadership. WHY COHNREZNICK? At CohnReznick, we’re united by a common mission to create opportunity, value, and trust for our clients, our people, and our communities. Whether it’s working alongside your peers to solve a client challenge, or volunteering together at the local food bank, there are so many ways to find your “why” at the firm. We believe it’s important to balance work with everyday life – and make time for enjoyment and fun. We invest in a robust Total Rewards package that includes everything from generous PTO, a flexible work environment, expanded parental leave, extensive learning & development, and even paid time off for employees to volunteer. YOUR ROLE.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive infrastructure leadership experience, with 5+ years in a leadership role.
Deep, demonstrable expertise in co-location data center operations, modern HCI environments, compute and storage management, and Rubrik data protection platforms.
Proven Azure cloud architecture and governance experience at enterprise scale, including ExpressRoute, Azure networking, Azure Security Center, and cloud cost management.
Extensive enterprise networking expertise — SD-WAN design and operations, Cisco Meraki fleet management, Cisco Umbrella DNS security, BGP/routing protocols, and zero-trust network access.
Hands-on experience delivering and managing Citrix CVAD and/or Azure Virtual Desktop environments supporting large distributed workforces.
Demonstrated expertise architecting and testing disaster recovery and high-availability solutions with defined RTO/RPO outcomes.
Expert-level proficiency in Microsoft licensing — EA, MCA, CSP models — with direct experience leading large-scale EA negotiations and M365/Azure license optimization.
Experience managing Microsoft 365 Copilot, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Microsoft Fabric licensing and adoption programs.
Proven track record of building and leading large global teams (US and offshore), including managing delivery centers in India or similar APAC locations.
Experience in a professional services, financial services, or similarly regulated industry with audit readiness expectations.
Leadership & Interpersonal Competencies Inspirational leader who energizes teams, cultivates technical talent, and creates a culture of accountability and continuous growth.
Servant leader orientation — accessible, empowering, and focused on enabling the team's success rather than personal spotlight.
Exceptional executive communication skills — able to translate complex technical scenarios into business-language briefings for C-suite and board audiences.
Highly collaborative cross-functional partner, equally effective engaging with a CTO, a hands-on network engineer, or a business unit leader.
Strategic thinker with the operational discipline to convert vision into execution — comfortable operating at both the whiteboard and the command line.
Calm and decisive under pressure; proven incident commander in high-stakes, enterprise-wide outage scenarios.

Responsibilities

Infrastructure Strategy & Vision Define and champion a multi-year infrastructure strategy that aligns with firm growth, security posture, and digital transformation objectives.
Translate complex technical strategies into clear executive narratives, board-ready briefings, and investment proposals.
Balance innovation with operational rigor — driving modernization while ensuring platform stability, compliance, and cost efficiency.
Maintain awareness of emerging technologies (AI-integrated operations, edge computing, next-generation networking) and integrate relevant innovations into the infrastructure roadmap.
Data Center & On-Premises Infrastructure Oversee co-location hosted data center operations, ensuring SLA adherence, physical security standards, and capacity planning.
Lead and manage modern hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), including compute node provisioning, lifecycle management, and performance optimization.
Lead Rubrik-based enterprise backup, data protection, and recovery operations (on-prem & cloud) Meraki— ensuring RPO/RTO targets are consistently met.
Drive server, storage, and compute refresh cycles aligned with vendor roadmaps and the firm's capital planning processes.
Partner with Facilities, Security, and Finance to manage co-location contracts, power/cooling budgets, and physical asset inventories.
Cloud Infrastructure — Azure & Multi-Cloud Lead the firm's Azure cloud operations and governance, including subscription management, landing zone architecture, cost optimization, and security baseline enforcement.
Architect and manage Azure ExpressRoute configurations for private, high-availability connectivity between on-premises data centers and Azure regions.
Govern multi-cloud environments with defined tagging strategies, policy enforcement (Azure Policy, Blueprints), and FinOps disciplines.
Oversee Azure-native services including Azure Monitor, Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Virtual Network, and related PaaS components.
Evaluate and manage hybrid identity infrastructure (Entra ID / Azure AD), ensuring seamless SSO, MFA enforcement, and Conditional Access policies.
Network Architecture & Operations Lead, architect and govern the firm's enterprise network, spanning WAN, LAN, campus, and cloud networking layers across all US and global office locations.
Lead the design, implement, and optimize SD-WAN solutions providing resilient, policy-driven connectivity for a hybrid workforce.
Manage Cisco Meraki network device fleet (switches, wireless access points, MX security appliances, security cameras) across all firm locations, including global delivery centers.
Manage Cisco Umbrella for cloud-delivered DNS-layer security, web filtering, and threat intelligence enforcement.
Lead Azure ExpressRoute circuit management, route optimization, BGP policy, and failover testing protocols.
Maintain network monitoring, capacity management, and zero-trust network access (ZTNA) controls aligned with cybersecurity standards.
Remote Access & End-User Computing Platforms Own the enterprise virtual desktop and remote application delivery strategy, including Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environments.
Drive the firm's migration strategy from legacy VDI platforms to cloud-native or hybrid virtual desktop models, with a focus on user experience, security, and cost optimization.
Manage application packaging, image lifecycle, profile management, and session host performance for distributed workforce access.
Collaborate with Security and Compliance teams to enforce data loss prevention (DLP) and conditional access within virtual desktop environments.
Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Architect and maintain enterprise-wide disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity plans (BCP) aligned with RTO/RPO commitments and regulatory expectations.
Lead periodic DR tabletop exercises and full failover simulations, documenting results and driving remediation of identified gaps.
Ensure HA configurations across all critical infrastructure layers — compute, storage, network, and cloud — with defined failover sequencing.
Partner with Risk, Compliance, and Audit teams to demonstrate DR readiness in support of client assurance requirements and internal audit cycles.
Budgets, Microsoft Licensing & Vendor Management Lead the annual Infrastructure budget preparation, forecasting, renewals and on-going vendor and contract management for all infrastructure purchases.
Serve as the firm's Microsoft licensing authority — deeply versed in Enterprise Agreement (EA), Customer Agreement (MCA), Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), and MPSA licensing models.
Manage licensing optimization and compliance across M365 (including Microsoft 365 Copilot), Azure consumption, Dynamics 365 CRM, Power Platform, and Fabric.
Lead Microsoft EA/MCA renewal negotiations — leveraging usage telemetry, Gartner guidance, and CSP benchmarking data to secure optimal commercial outcomes.
Govern relationships with strategic technology vendors including Microsoft, HPE, Cisco, Rubrik, Citrix, and colocation providers — overseeing contract negotiations, SLA adherence, and escalation management.
Drive rigorous vendor performance reviews and benchmarking disciplines, holding partners accountable to agreed service levels and innovation commitments.
Team Leadership & Organizational Development Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing, globally distributed infrastructure team spanning US headquarters, India, and Philippines delivery centers.
Attract and retain top infrastructure talent through compelling career development frameworks, clear growth paths, and an inclusive team culture.
Champion servant leadership — removing obstacles for engineers, advocating for the team, and ensuring a psychologically safe environment where technical excellence flourishes.
Establish team operating rhythms including infrastructure planning cycles, on-call rotations, incident response protocols, and knowledge management practices.
Define and track team OKRs, SLA dashboards, and capacity metrics, reporting regularly to CTO and executive stakeholders.
Incident Management & Operational Excellence Provide hands-on incident command during high-impact, P1 infrastructure events — driving rapid diagnosis, cross-functional coordination, and stakeholder communication.
Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and post-incident review (PIR) processes, ensuring systemic improvements are captured and implemented.
Establish and mature SRE and observability practices — leveraging monitoring, alerting, and AIOps tooling to shift the team toward proactive operations.
Drive continuous improvement in change management, release governance, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) maturity.
AI & Emerging Technology Adoption Bring foundational knowledge of AI/ML infrastructure requirements — GPU compute provisioning, model hosting environments, vector databases, and data pipeline integration — to support the firm's growing AI platform initiatives.
Partner with AI/Data Platform and Enterprise Architecture teams to ensure the infrastructure environment can evolve rapidly to support agentic AI, Microsoft Copilot, and generative AI workloads.
Evaluate AI-assisted operations tooling (AIOps, automated remediation, predictive capacity management) to enhance infrastructure reliability and team efficiency.