POSITION SUMMARYReporting to the COO, the Director of Operations & IT serves as an operational leader and Integrator across Rancher Government Solutions. The role manages internal project delivery, enterprise IT infrastructure, technology spend governance, and cross-functional execution.
The Director drives a high-velocity operational backbone by overseeing company-wide projects, enterprise IT and endpoint fleets, vendor spend, and change control.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES- Operational Project Management & Strategic Execution
- Demand Intake & Prioritization: Own and run the centralized operational demand intake pipeline (leveraging Smartsheet and Zendesk); triage, resource, and execute cross-functional initiatives aligned with executive priorities.
- Cross-Departmental Integration: Act as the operational integrator across the business, coordinating milestones and deliverables between Services, Engineering, HR, and Finance.
- Process Optimization: Identify internal operational friction, map out clean handoffs between departments, and establish repeatable standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Enterprise IT & Infrastructure Management- Team Leadership: Lead and resource the IT Operations and Infrastructure team (Systems Engineering, DevSecOps, Service Desk).
- Enterprise Stack Administration: Manage core platforms: Google Workspace Enterprise, Okta IAM, Jamf Pro/Protect/Security Cloud, and Zendesk ServiceDesk.
- Fleet & Endpoint Management: Manage the corporate hardware lifecycle (macOS, iPads, BYOD), automating zero-touch enrollment using MDM.
- Change Management Governance: Enforce IT Change Management, impact analyses, rollbacks, and maintenance windows.
Technology Procurement, Spend & Asset Governance- Spend Management: Manage IT OpEx, remove redundant tools, oversee SaaS licenses, and optimize technology budgets.
- Procurement & Vendor Relations: Oversee procurement, vendor negotiations, enterprise license agreements, and equipment provisioning.
- Asset Tracking & License Management: Track software, hardware, and license spend in Snipe-IT/Smartsheet.
- Hardware Lifecycle & Sanitization: Enforce end-to-end device lifecycles.
Operational Compliance & Baseline Governance (Silent Rail)- Baseline Maintenance: Align internal systems and workflows with security baselines (CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, FOCI guardrails) without reducing operational speed.
- Access & Identity Governance: Enforce RBAC, MFA, and automated JML identity workflows alongside HR.
- Audit & Readiness: Support security assessments, audits, and POA&M remediation tracking for IT assets.
QUALIFICATIONS- Experience: 7+ years of operational leadership across IT Operations, Business Operations, or technical delivery within high-growth software, defense technology, or federal contracting environments.
- Enterprise Stack Mastery: Hands-on operational proficiency managing modern enterprise stacks:
- Identity & Cloud: Okta, Google Workspace Enterprise.
- Endpoint & MDM: Jamf Pro / Protect, Apple Business Manager (ABM).
- ITSM & Workflow Tracking: Zendesk ServiceDesk, Smartsheet.
- Asset Management: Snipe-IT or equivalent ITAM platforms.
- Spend & Vendor Governance: Proven track record auditing recurring SaaS spend, renegotiating enterprise vendor contracts, and controlling multi-million-dollar technology budgets.
- Compliance & Security Baseline: Working familiarity with federal standards (CMMC Level 2, NIST SP 800-171, DFARS [redacted]).
- Operational Project Delivery: Demonstrated success structuring intake pipelines, managing cross-functional initiatives, and driving technical projects to completion on schedule.
CORE LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES- Extreme Ownership: Proactive operational driver who takes absolute accountability for uptime, delivery dates, and spend efficiency.
- Structured Thinker: Cuts through organizational chaos with structured workflows, data-backed prioritization, and clean documentation.
- Collaborative Communicator: Bridges technical engineers, corporate leadership, and cross-functional teams with clarity and practicality.
