Director, Technology Operations

Sunward Federal Credit Union•Albuquerque, NM

just now

About The Position

The Director of Technology Operations leads the teams responsible for the reliability, stability, and daily performance of all technology systems supporting employees, branches, and members across the credit union. This leader owns both operational excellence and disciplined execution of strategic change. As the organization advances its digital transformation and migration to AWS, the Director ensures that modernization efforts are delivered safely while maintaining uninterrupted service for critical member-facing systems. The role combines service leadership, infrastructure stewardship, vendor accountability, and hands-on incident command. The Director builds high-performing teams, strengthens operational rigor, and fosters a culture of accountability and hospitality where technology is dependable, secure, and easy to use. Success in this role means fewer incidents, faster recovery, stronger vendor performance, predictable delivery of strategic initiatives, and a resilient environment that members and employees can trust.

Requirements

10+ years progressive IT operations experience
5+ years leading managers and multi-team organizations
Experience running mission-critical production environments
Experience leading large-scale technology initiatives or migrations
Demonstrated vendor management and service accountability experience
Proven incident leadership during high-severity outages
Bachelor's degree in IT or other related field, or experience in lieu of education
Own your deliverables and KPIs-meet or exceed them by giving outcomes and overcoming obstacles.
Treat W3s as promises – execute early, follow through consistently and renegotiate transparently when priorities shift. Reliability builds trust.
Know your business – manage financials, operations and experiences with discipline and in full alignment with Sunward’s key results.
Be a learner now a knower – stay curious, ask questions, adapt quickly and embrace daily learning.
Respect others by being early prepared snd fully tuned in – never distracted or multitasking.
Fuel growth by inviting, giving and acting on feedback – always candid, respectful and forward-focused.
Build culture through people – hire top talent, coach relentlessly, celebrate wins and manage performance though our Culture of Accountability. Model the culture and values of Sunward.
Set the bar at “the best” – deliver experiences that stand apart and never compromise on quality.
Deep understanding of IT operations, including service desk, infrastructure, cloud platforms, and production systems, with expertise in incident, problem, and change management.
Knowledge of ITIL framework and best practices, including incident, problem, change, and service management, to drive operational excellence and service reliability.
Knowledge of cloud modernization (AWS), digital transformation, automation, and operational risk management to support strategic initiatives while maintaining system reliability.
Strong technical knowledge of infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, disaster recovery, business continuity, and security best practices.
Understanding of team performance management, coaching, change management, and building a culture of accountability, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
Knowledge of vendor management, compliance requirements, regulatory oversight, and integrating third-party services into operational workflows.
Maintains composure and makes effective decisions during high-severity incidents or business disruptions.
Designs and implements structured, metrics-driven operational processes to improve reliability and efficiency.
Delivers service excellence with a focus on dependability, usability, and member/employee experience.
Communicates clearly and persuasively across all organizational levels, including executives, teams, and vendors.
Establishes accountability and ensures follow-through across internal teams and external partners.
Translates strategic priorities into actionable, operational plans and drives disciplined execution.
Develops operational leaders, fosters high-performing teams, and builds a culture of rigor and reliability.

Nice To Haves

AWS cloud operations experience preferred
Financial services or regulated industry experience preferred
ITIL/SRE/DevOps operational practices preferred
Disaster recovery and business continuity leadership preferred

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end technology operations across service desk, infrastructure, and production systems
Ensure high availability, performance, and reliability of all business-critical platforms
Establish and measure SLAs/SLOs, service health metrics, and operational KPIs
Lead incident, problem, and change management practices
Drive operational maturity, standardization, and automation
Implement Technology and Credit Union strategy with clear operational roadmaps and priorities
Lead execution of major initiatives including AWS migration, modernization, and automation programs
Balance “run the business” reliability with “change the business” transformation
Sequence work to reduce risk and avoid member or employee disruption
Partner with Architecture, Security, and Application teams to ensure new solutions are supportable, scalable, and resilient
Establish capacity planning and lifecycle management for sustainable growth
Serve as incident commander for high-severity outages or critical business disruptions
Lead cross-functional “SWAT” response teams during incidents
Ensure rapid triage, clear decision-making, and business-aligned prioritization
Communicate effectively with executive leadership and stakeholders during events
Drive root cause analysis and long-term corrective actions
Build a culture of preparedness through playbooks, drills, and post-incident learning
Own operational relationships with key technology vendors and service providers
Establish clear SLAs, performance metrics, and accountability mechanisms
Ensure vendors deliver measurable outcomes, not just services
Integrate vendors seamlessly into incident response and operational processes
Oversee helpdesk and desk-side support delivering responsive, hospitality-driven service
Ensure effective triage, ticket management, and resolution across all technology domains
Lead branch technology deployments and meeting room collaboration systems
Improve employee productivity through frictionless, reliable technology experiences
Lead design, build, and operation of cloud (AWS) and legacy infrastructure
Oversee Microsoft ecosystem (M365, Entra, Active Directory, servers, endpoints)
Ensure patching, lifecycle management, and security best practices
Own backup and disaster recovery capabilities
Guide modernization toward cloud-native and automated platforms
Establish SRE practices focused on stability, automation, and observability
Oversee CI/CD pipeline operations and safe promotion of changes to production
Lead monitoring, alerting, and proactive health management
Reduce manual effort through automation and reliability engineering
Lead and develop three managers and their teams
Build a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement
Coach leaders to scale themselves and their teams
Promote collaboration and shared responsibility across technology functions
Champion a service mindset grounded in professionalism and exceptional care for internal members