Senior Manager, IT Operations & Governance

Child Development Institute•Toronto, ON

12d•CA$107,000 - CA$116,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Reporting to the COO, we are hiring a Senior Manager, IT Operations & Governance, for a one-year contract as we undertake several high-impact, organization-wide technical transformation projects. In this highly visible and influential leadership role, you will be responsible for the integrity, governance, and strategic direction of CDI’s IT environment, with a primary focus on enterprise SaaS applications, information security, data governance, and operational risk. You will define and evolve the frameworks, standards, and controls that ensure technology is secure, reliable, and aligned with organizational priorities. You will also play a key leadership role in embedding inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility (IDEA), and ethical practice into how technology is governed, delivered, and experienced across the organization, ensuring systems and processes are equitable, accessible, and reflective of the communities we serve. This is an opportunity to operate at the intersection of strategy, governance, and execution, with direct exposure to executive leadership and the Board, and accountability for critical organizational systems and risk domains. You will shape the technology governance, security posture, and operational model for a multi-site non-profit organization. Your leadership will define how systems are structured, secured, and scaled, strengthening organizational resilience, enabling service delivery, and positioning CDI for sustained growth and impact. This is a full-time, hybrid role based at our Euclid location, with three days on-site and two days remote each week, with flexibility to travel across GTA sites to support operations, escalations, and key initiatives.

Requirements

Progressive IT leadership experience in complex environments, with responsibility across systems, vendors, and operational risk.
Experience leading or contributing to a portfolio of SaaS applications and integrated systems, including governance, lifecycle management, integrations, and rationalization.
Understanding of how technology, process, and organizational design intersect, and ability to translate technical complexity into clear, executive-level insight.
Ability to balance risk, cost, service quality, and scalability while guiding teams through change with structure and pragmatism.
Accountable, solutions-oriented, and comfortable operating in ambiguity.
Ability to make sound decisions under pressure and maintain composure during incidents, outages, and competing priorities.
Ability to support teams by setting clear expectations, removing blockers, and ensuring progress without needing to own every detail.
Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and identity platforms (Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, Intune, Azure AD).
Broad understanding of infrastructure, including backup and recovery, monitoring, automation, and continuity planning.
Ability to assess system fitness, guide integration decisions, and oversee availability, data integrity, and performance.
Solid understanding of networking and security concepts, enabling effective risk assessment and vendor oversight.
Effective communicator who can translate technical concepts into clear, decision-ready insights.
Ability to build alignment across stakeholders and communicate with clarity and confidence across written and verbal contexts.
Experience leading IT operations and infrastructure initiatives end to end, including change management, governance, and communication planning.
Comfortable moving between strategic oversight and hands-on problem-solving to advance complex initiatives.
Ability to work outside regular business hours when needed and travel within the GTA to support multiple CDI locations.
Successful completion of a Vulnerable Sector Check and references.

Nice To Haves

Experience overseeing SaaS environments, vendors, and operational risk.
Experience stabilizing and strengthening systems that need clarity and consistency.
Comfortable moving between strategy and execution defining governance while also stepping in to improve workflows, unblock teams, and drive progress.
Pragmatic, autonomous, and solutions-oriented, able to balance immediate needs with longer-term direction in a resource-conscious environment.
Experience partnering with an external consultant to oversee a major IT modernization initiative.
Experience with site consolidation and multiple concurrent projects launching this summer.
Experience standing up infrastructure for a new early learning centre.
Experience supporting technology across clinical services, Youth Justice, school-based programs, and community-based sites.
Experience leading the integration and centralization of data across multiple systems.
Experience overseeing internally developed applications that support service delivery, bringing structure to development and change management.
Experience contributing to the evaluation and governance of emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools.
Experience embedding inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility (IDEA), and ethical practice into how technology is governed, delivered, and experienced across the organization.
Experience ensuring systems and processes are equitable, accessible, and reflective of the communities we serve.

Responsibilities

Own IT governance and operating model. You will establish and evolve a clear governance framework, defining decision rights, standards, escalation pathways, and accountability across systems and services. You will design a scalable operating model that brings consistency, role clarity, and disciplined execution, while strengthening system reliability and reducing operational risk.
Lead enterprise applications, data, and security oversight. You will oversee the SaaS ecosystem, including lifecycle management, integrations, and access governance. You will embed security, privacy, and risk practices across systems and vendors, including disaster recovery and business continuity. You will lead data governance, improving ownership, quality, and access, while bringing greater structure and control to a complex environment.
Drive IT strategy and planning. You will translate organizational priorities into a clear, forward-looking IT strategy and operating plan. You will provide leadership with insight into risks, dependencies, and emerging technologies, supporting informed, practical decision-making.
Strengthen IT service delivery. You will provide functional leadership to IT Services, setting expectations and outcomes while supporting the team to move work forward. You will define and monitor KPIs and SLAs, stepping in to address high-risk or cross-functional issues and restore stability when needed.
Lead financial and vendor management. You will oversee IT budgets, forecasting, and spend, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities. You will manage vendor relationships, procurement, and contracts, ensuring performance, value, and compliance while optimizing the vendor landscape.
Establish policies and ensure compliance. You will develop and enforce IT policies, standards, and procedures that bring consistency and accountability. You will ensure compliance with PHIPA, PIPEDA, and AODA, embedding regulatory requirements into systems and practices, and reporting on performance across cost, risk, and effectiveness.