Manager, Infrastructure

Chicago Housing Authority•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Manager, Infrastructure oversees the planning, design, installation, maintenance, and connectivity of the Chicago Housing Authority’s infrastructure, including network hardware and software, servers, storage, VMware, telecommunications, hybrid identity environments (AD/Entra ID), and AV systems. The role is accountable for stable, secure, reliable, resilient, and high-performing IT operations, and directs network and server engineers while establishing procedures aligned with industry best practices. The Manager works with IT Security to strengthen security posture and oversee infrastructure risk mitigation, patching, configuration management, vulnerability remediation, and disaster recovery. The role ensures programs and projects are prioritized in alignment with IT risk, service delivery expectations, and CHA operational objectives. It also maintains a five-year infrastructure roadmap, leads modernization and long-range planning, and supports responsible retirement of legacy platforms. The position assists with annual infrastructure budgeting and forecasting, conducts cost-benefit and lifecycle planning, and oversees vendors and contracts. It leads systems and network configuration, capacity, fault management, implementation, troubleshooting, and tuning. The Manager also maintains disaster recovery readiness and documentation, produces operational reports and performance analyses, and maintains procedures, diagrams, and lifecycle plans. The technical scope includes hybrid Active Directory and Entra ID, Windows Server, VMware vSphere/ESXi, enterprise storage and backup, LAN/WAN networking, telecommunications and unified communications, call center technologies, monitoring tools such as SolarWinds, disaster recovery and business continuity, and security, patching, and configuration management.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred.
At least 7 years of experience in IT infrastructure architecture, design, operations, and support across networks, servers/storage, and telecommunications.
Experience managing teams responsible for AV, servers, networking, telecommunications, and storage systems.
Strong understanding of disaster recovery, backup systems, patch management processes, telecommunications, and infrastructure security.
Demonstrated ability to lead people, manage complex technical environments, prioritize tasks, and foster collaboration.
Excellent written, oral, and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate with audiences of varying technical expertise.
Strong verbal and written communication skills and the ability to convey technical information to different audiences and organizational levels.
Strong technical acumen and extensive experience with network and server/storage design, development, and maintenance.
Technical experience with hybrid Active Directory and Azure/Entra ID, including GPOs, domain services, directory synchronization, and cloud identity governance.
Technical experience with Windows Server operations, including patching, hardening, clustering, file services, IIS, and certificates.
Technical experience overseeing VMware vSphere/ESXi environments, including vCenter, HA/DRS, resource optimization, and troubleshooting.
Technical experience supporting SAN/NAS, storage provisioning, replication, backup platforms, and restoration testing.
Technical experience configuring and maintaining LAN/WAN routing, switching, VLANs, firewalls, VPNs, QoS, and distributed networks.
Technical experience administering VoIP systems, SIP trunks, call routing, and telecom vendor coordination.
Technical experience with call routing platforms, IVR systems, queue management, performance metrics, and VoIP/UC integration.
Experience using monitoring and management tools, such as SolarWinds, to track performance, generate alerts, maintain dashboards, and support capacity planning.
Experience maintaining DR/BC plans, including replication strategies, failover procedures, backup integrity validation, and testing.
Experience implementing secure configuration baselines, patch cycles, vulnerability remediation, and alignment with IT Security policies.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree is a plus.
Industry certifications are preferred, such as MCSE, CCNP/CCDP, virtualization technology certifications, ITIL, or PMP.

Responsibilities

Oversee the reliability, resiliency, performance, and ongoing management of servers, storage, VMware, networking, telecommunications, hybrid identity environments, and AV systems.
Direct the IT Infrastructure Engineering function and network and server engineers, fostering ownership, accountability, collaboration, and a positive team culture.
Maintain stable and secure infrastructure operations, high availability, performance, secure authentication, and adherence to industry best practices.
Maintain and update a comprehensive five-year infrastructure roadmap covering servers, storage, networks, telecommunications, AV, virtualization, disaster recovery, business continuity, and converged technologies.
Lead long-range infrastructure modernization, evaluate emerging technologies, and oversee responsible retirement of legacy platforms.
Align infrastructure initiatives with IT risk objectives, service delivery goals, and CHA operational needs.
Assist in preparing and managing the annual infrastructure budget, including forecasts for purchases, maintenance, licensing, services, renewals, and vendor contracts.
Conduct cost-benefit analysis and lifecycle planning, and oversee vendors and contracts for infrastructure assets.
Manage configuration, fault, and capacity management for systems and network infrastructure services.
Lead planning, configuration, implementation, troubleshooting, and tuning of physical and virtualized servers.
Lead planning, configuration, installation, and maintenance of enterprise networks and converged voice, video, and data technologies.
Collaborate with IT Security on security posture, patching, configuration management, vulnerability remediation, and risk-aligned operations.
Ensure disaster recovery readiness, including backup integrity, replication health, documentation, and annual testing.
Prepare operational reports and analyses on progress, adverse trends, performance metrics, SLAs, KPIs, and improvement recommendations.
Maintain infrastructure documentation, SOPs, network and server diagrams, and lifecycle maintenance plans.
Take ownership of assigned responsibilities and ensure follow-through to effective resolution.

Benefits

Competitive paid time off package, including vacation, sick, and personal leave
Medical insurance options, including HMO, PPO, and a no-employee-cost High-Deductible PPO
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Life insurance
Short-term disability insurance
Long-term disability insurance
Long-term care insurance
Pet insurance
Parking and transit benefits
Prepaid legal services
Brightstar 529 College Savings Plan
Identity theft protection
Hospital indemnity insurance
Voluntary critical illness insurance
Deferred compensation plan through Empower 457/401(a), with a 3% employer match
Pension plan with CHA contributions and an employee 3% contribution; 100% vesting after six years of continuous employment, or the option to opt out of CHA’s Retirement Plan and continue participating in the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago