Director of ITS Integration

Connecticut Water Service, Inc.•New Braunfels, TX

About The Position

This role is responsible for planning and executing the seamless integration of acquired companies —starting with Quadvest—into H2O America’s technology platforms across Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and Applications. Ensures the creation of a standardized, scalable, secure, and resilient integration program that supports company strategic objectives and synergy capture. This individual will develop and communicate the long-term vision and strategic plans for acquisition integration; balance speed, risk, and business continuity; and be an expert in integration methodologies and enterprise platforms. The Director will lead a cross-functional integration team and collaborate with various departments and local operating companies to optimize outcomes. This role will participate in and contribute to the national IT strategy, lead and manage multiple workstreams, and play a key role in recommending innovative solutions and providing thought leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and/or 15+ years of experience in progressive leadership roles in IT program management, M&A integration, or large-scale technology transformations.
Extensive hands-on experience in planning and executing IT acquisition integrations, including due diligence, Day 1 readiness, TSA management, domain/tenant consolidation, identity and access harmonization, data migration, and application rationalization.
Holds relevant certifications required for the team’s needs or as directed by management.
Extensive knowledge of enterprise operating environments and architecture, including identity and collaboration platforms, networking, cloud services, and core business applications.
Ability to think strategically and work tactically in an integration context, balancing speed, risk, and business continuity.
Vendor negotiation experience and strong vendor/partner management capabilities.
An enthusiasm for continuous learning in integration methodologies, enterprise platforms, and change management.
Strong program and project management skills, especially for multi-workstream integration initiatives with fixed cutover windows.
Great written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate integration impacts, risks, and trade-offs to non-technical audiences and executive stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a regulated utility or critical infrastructure environment (preferred).

Responsibilities

Leads the acquisition integration workstreams, providing guidance, tactical, and strategic direction across infrastructure, cybersecurity, and application workstreams.
Routinely reviews internal controls, IT policies, and operating procedures in the context of integrations; recommends and implements changes to maintain compliance with applicable regulations and standards (e.g., SOX, data privacy such as GDPR/CCPA, and sector-specific requirements).
Develops and manages the integration budget, including one-time integration costs, TSA (Transition Service Agreement) expenses, and synergy realization forecasts.
Acts as Business Relationship Manager for local operating companies regarding Day 1 readiness, Day 30/60/100/180 milestones, business continuity, and hypercare.
Acts as local Texas based leadership presence for H2OA ITS Leadership team
Oversees vendor relationships and contract management related to integration activities, including contract novations/terminations, SOWs for systems integrators, and managed service providers.
Develops and executes acquisition integration plan that aligns with business goals and risk appetite, covering due diligence (as applicable), TSA definition and exit, and steady-state transition.
Facilitates high-level support, training, and change management to end-users and operating teams to maximize adoption and minimize disruption; partners closely with Communications, HR, and business leadership.
Stays current with M&A IT integration practices, platforms, and trends to recommend and implement innovative, automation-first approaches.
Ensures enterprise architectures, reference designs, and standards are applied during integration, including alignment to security baselines, data governance, and architectural review gates in partnership with Technology Strategy & Transformation and Cybersecurity.
Establishes and enforces integration standards and playbooks to support business objectives, including gating criteria for Day 1 readiness, go/no-go, and TSA exit.
Develops and maintains high levels of adherence to project governance, ethics, and company policies, including risk/issue management and decision logging.
Contributes to the development of rate cases and business cases for integration-related IT investments and synergy realization.
Implements and ensures adherence to ITIL 4 and delivery frameworks (e.g., PMI/Agile/SAFe, COBIT governance for controls, and NIST-aligned security practices in partnership with the Cybersecurity function).
Required to complete occasional evening and weekend work to meet cutovers, go-lives, and time-bound milestones.
Performs other duties or special projects as required or assigned.
Travels to local operating companies as needed (estimated up to 40% of time).