IT Senior Director, Strategy & Operations

Patrick Industries•Elkhart, IN

About The Position

The Senior Director, IT Strategy & Operations is a senior leadership role responsible for driving the strategic direction, operational discipline, and organizational maturity of Patrick Industries' IT function. This is a critical role in landing new enterprise ways of working and accelerating the maturation of internal IT operating practices, including portfolio governance, mergers and acquisitions integration, vendor and third-party management, and organizational change management.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in IT, Business, or related field (Master's preferred)
12+ years of relevant IT experience
8+ years of leadership experience in IT strategy, portfolio management, M&A integration, or vendor management
Demonstrated experience standing up or leading a Vendor Management Office
Proven track record leading IT due diligence and integration for mergers and acquisitions
Experience in decentralized, multi-site, or acquisition-driven environments preferred
Manufacturing or industrial sector experience is a plus

Responsibilities

Lead the design, rollout, and continuous maturation of IT ways of working, operating rhythms, and governance frameworks across the enterprise.
Translate the four IT strategic pillars — Innovative Advantage, Value Optimization, Agility & Efficiency, and Resilient Operations — into practical operating models and team-level behaviors.
Serve as the primary steward for embedding strategic pillar alignment into planning, prioritization, and decision-making processes.
Partner with IT leadership to identify maturity gaps and drive structured improvement roadmaps.
Establish metrics and maturity models to track progress in IT ways-of-working adoption over time.
Lead end-to-end IT strategy for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, including pre-deal due diligence, Day 1 readiness, and post-close integration.
Own the Patrick IT M&A playbook, integration methodology, and standard toolkits used consistently across all transactions.
Direct IT due diligence activities, assessing target company technology stacks, contracts, licensing, cybersecurity posture, data practices, and organizational readiness.
Develop and manage integration workstreams spanning infrastructure, applications, data, cybersecurity, vendor contracts, and organizational alignment.
Define and drive Day 1, Day 100, and long-term integration milestones, ensuring business continuity and minimal disruption to acquired entities.
Drive synergy identification and capture through system consolidation, license rationalization, and vendor contract harmonization.
Partner with Corporate Development, Legal, Finance, Cybersecurity, and business unit leaders to align integration plans with deal thesis and value creation targets.
Lead carve-out and divestiture planning where applicable, ensuring clean separation of systems, data, and services.
Build repeatable, scalable integration processes and governance to support a high-frequency, recurring acquisition pipeline.
Report integration progress, risks, dependencies, and synergy realization to executive leadership and deal governance forums.
Design and stand up Patrick Industries' enterprise Vendor Management Office, including charter, operating model, governance structure, and staffing plan.
Establish enterprise vendor management policies, standards, and lifecycle processes covering sourcing, contracting, onboarding, performance management, and offboarding.
Build a centralized vendor inventory and segmentation model (strategic, tactical, transactional) to prioritize oversight and engagement effort.
Define and implement vendor performance scorecards, SLAs, and cadence of business reviews for critical and strategic suppliers.
Lead vendor negotiations and contract structuring in partnership with Legal and Procurement, ensuring favorable commercial terms and risk mitigation.
Establish vendor risk management processes, including financial health monitoring, cybersecurity risk assessment, and business continuity planning.
Drive vendor consolidation and rationalization initiatives to reduce cost, complexity, and redundant capability.
Serve as the executive escalation point for critical vendor relationships, performance issues, and contract disputes.
Partner with Finance to track and report vendor spend, savings, and contract compliance across the enterprise.
Integrate VMO practices into the M&A playbook to streamline harmonization of acquired vendor contracts.
Own Patrick IT portfolio management, including intake, prioritization, sequencing, and governance of programs and projects.
Establish portfolio governance forums, decision rights, and stage-gate processes to ensure disciplined investment decisions.
Ensure portfolio composition reflects and advances the four IT strategic pillars.
Implement benefit realization tracking, ensuring initiatives deliver measurable business value.
Provide transparent, real-time visibility into portfolio health, risk, dependencies, and resourcing.
Partner with business and IT leaders to resolve portfolio conflicts and resourcing constraints.
Own IT financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting for the strategy and operations function, including M&A integration and vendor management costs.
Drive cost transparency, chargeback/showback models, and financial accountability across the IT organization.
Identify and execute cost optimization opportunities across vendor contracts, licensing, and portfolio investments.
Partner with Finance to track ROI, synergy capture, and total cost of ownership across IT initiatives.
Ensure accurate financial reporting and forecasting to support enterprise planning cycles.
Implement and drive adoption of a total cost of ownership (TCO) model across Patrick IT.
Lead organizational change management strategy for major IT transformation initiatives, ways-of-working rollouts, and M&A integrations.
Develop and execute enterprise communication plans that build awareness, understanding, and adoption of new operating models.
Design and deliver training, enablement, and readiness programs to support adoption of new processes and tools.
Establish change impact assessments, stakeholder analysis, and readiness metrics for major initiatives.
Serve as a trusted change advisor to IT and business leadership, helping navigate resistance and build momentum for transformation.
Build a sustainable change management capability and community of practice within IT.
Build and lead a high-performing team across portfolio management, vendor management, M&A integration, and change management disciplines.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Develop talent, succession plans, and career pathways aligned with enterprise needs.
Ensure the IT portfolio and vendor ecosystem enable adoption of emerging technologies and innovative solutions.
Structure M&A integration approaches that preserve and scale innovative capabilities from acquired entities.
Drive disciplined portfolio governance, vendor rationalization, and benefit realization to maximize ROI.
Capture M&A synergies through consolidation, standardization, and cost optimization.
Streamline ways of working, governance processes, and vendor engagement models for speed and flexibility.
Build repeatable M&A integration playbooks that accelerate onboarding of acquired entities.
Ensure vendor risk management, contract governance, and change management practices support stable, secure operations.
Embed organizational change management to ensure new ways of working are sustainably adopted.