Senior Manager, IT & Business Systems

LifeStraw•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

LifeStraw is a global leader in water filtration products, serving consumers through major retail partners (Walmart, Costco, Target, REI, Bass Pro), digital channels (Amazon US/CA/EU, LifeStraw.com), and expanding into the home water filtration category. At our core, we are a purpose-driven brand built on a give-back model—every product sold helps provide safe drinking water to communities in need—making impact an integral part of our DNA, not an add-on. We operate with an entrepreneurial, lean team at $50M–$75M in annual revenue and continue to grow. Our technology stack is centered on NetSuite as our ERP, with integrations across ecommerce platforms, fulfillment partners, and analytics tools. The Opportunity We’re looking for a hands-on, strategic operator to own LifeStraw’s entire IT and business systems environment. This is a build-and-optimize role: you’ll inherit a functional but underleveraged technology landscape and transform it into a competitive advantage. You’ll be the single point of ownership for our IT infrastructure, NetSuite ERP, data integrity, systems integrations, and AI-driven workflow optimization. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a smaller company environment where you can see the direct impact of your work across every department. You’ll report directly to the CEO and partner closely with Finance, Operations, and executive leadership.

Requirements

5–10 years of experience in IT, business systems, or ERP administration, with at least 2 years owning a system environment end-to-end
Deep, hands-on NetSuite experience: administration, configuration, saved searches, workflows, dashboards, and user training
Experience at a consumer products, CPG, ecommerce, or multichannel retail company ($25M–$200M revenue range preferred)
Demonstrated ability to manage IT vendor relationships and control technology budgets
Strong data literacy: comfortable with SQL, analytics tools, and data warehouse concepts
Practical experience with AI/automation tools—you’ve evaluated or deployed them in a business context, not just read about them
Strong understanding that data quality is foundational—you’ve led data cleanup and governance efforts
Excellent communication skills—able to work effectively with Finance, Operations, and executive stakeholders
Self-directed and comfortable operating independently in a lean organization

Nice To Haves

NetSuite Administrator or SuiteFoundation certification
Experience managing integrations with Amazon, Shopify, 3PL/WMS systems, and marketing platforms
Background in or strong fluency with Finance/Accounting—able to support financial reporting and controls within NetSuite
Experience working with external NetSuite consulting partners
Familiarity with SuiteAnalytics, SuiteScript, or willingness to develop these skills
Experience with Celigo or similar iPaaS/middleware platforms
Exposure to BI tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker)
Background supporting international operations (multi-currency, multi-subsidiary in NetSuite)
Change management experience—helping teams adopt new systems and processes

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary NetSuite administrator: configuration, customization, user management, roles, and permissions
Optimize NetSuite to maximize its value across Finance, Inventory, Order Management, Procurement, and other active modules
Build and maintain saved searches, reports, dashboards, and KPIs for stakeholders across the business
Own data integrity: establish governance practices, run regular data audits, and resolve data quality issues
Manage the analytics data warehouse connected to NetSuite—maintain, update, and optimize for reporting and decision-making
Coordinate with external NetSuite development or major system upgrades
Conduct a full audit of the current IT environment: contracts, subscriptions, hardware, software, and vendor relationships
Identify and eliminate system redundancies, overlapping subscriptions, and underutilized tools
Establish IT policies, security protocols, and a technology roadmap aligned with business growth
Manage relationships with external MSPs and IT service providers for day-to-day support
Own the IT budget and drive cost efficiency across all technology spend
Own and manage integrations between NetSuite and external platforms (Shopify, 3PLs, EDI, SourceDay, B2B platform, marketing tools, etc.)
Evaluate middleware/integration tools (e.g., Celigo, Aleph, etc) and manage data flows between systems
Identify and implement workflow automation opportunities to reduce manual processes
Embed across departments in the first 1–3 months to understand workflows, pain points, and repetitive processes
Develop and deliver an AI Opportunity Map: use cases categorized as data-independent (launch immediately) vs. data-dependent (requires clean data foundation)
Deploy data-independent AI wins early: content generation, internal chatbots, document processing, workflow automation
Lead data-dependent AI pilots once the data foundation supports them: demand forecasting, financial analytics, inventory optimization, customer segmentation
Evaluate AI tools and platforms for practical business application—prioritizing ROI and operational impact over novelty
Serve as the internal champion for AI adoption: train teams, establish usage policies, and measure results
Act as the bridge between technical systems and business stakeholders—translating Finance, Marketing, and Operations needs into system solutions
Partner with the VP of Manufacturing & Product on systems supporting supply chain and inventory
Support the Head of Ecommerce and VP of Marketing with analytics, data access, and platform integrations
Provide reporting and system support for board-level and investor communications