Academy Sports & Outdoors, Ltd

Sr Manager Core Technologies Connectivity Platforms

Academy Sports & Outdoors, Ltd • $120K — $145K *
Katy, TX 77449In-Person
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent work experience
  • 10+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure, focusing on enterprise network and telecom engineering
  • 4+ years of managerial experience, with a strong track record in building and leading high-performing technical teams
  • Experience in developing and executing technology roadmaps aligned with business goals
  • Proven ability to architect and manage fault-tolerant network architectures
  • Extensive vendor and Managed Service Provider management experience, including contract negotiation
  • Expert-level knowledge of enterprise network architecture and modern wireless networking

Responsibilities

  • Lead the connectivity platforms supporting corporate, retail, and supply chain objectives
  • Develop and deliver the annual operating plan and technology roadmap for network and telecom platforms
  • Oversee solution evaluation, design, and platform health monitoring
  • Drive automation and process improvement initiatives
  • Manage budgets, vendors, and service levels while reporting to executives
  • Build and develop a high-performing technical team
  • Coordinate with IT and business leadership to align technical priorities with operational needs

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work in a dynamic environment with a focus on sports and the outdoors
  • Professional development and mentoring opportunities
  • Engagement with cutting-edge technology solutions
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams
  • Potential for career advancement within a high-performing organization
Full Job Description
What You Will Work On

In this role, you lead the connectivity platforms that support corporate, retail, and supply chain objectives. Your work provides a resilient, secure, and reliable foundation across enterprise network, firewall, cloud networking, wireless, SD-WAN, and voice services. By connecting platform strategy, service delivery, and operational performance, you help the business operate effectively while advancing scalable and cost-conscious technology solutions.


Working across strategy and execution, you develop and deliver the annual operating plan and technology roadmap for network, firewall, and telecom platforms. You oversee solution evaluation and design, monitor platform health, drive automation and process improvement, and lead major incident response, root cause analysis, and problem management. You also manage budgets, vendors, service levels, success metrics, project portfolios, cross-functional technical programs, compliance, stakeholder communication, and executive reporting while building and developing a high-performing technical team.


Who You Will Work With

You will partner with IT and business leadership to understand objectives and translate them into scalable, secure, supportable, and cost-effective connectivity solutions. You will work across Security, Cloud, Store Operations, and other IT teams, coordinating with business stakeholders to plan and execute projects, manage risks, and align technical priorities with operational needs.


You will lead network engineers and analysts, define team structure and resource priorities, and support recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, and professional development. You will also manage strategic and tactical relationships with vendors and managed service providers, establish performance expectations, negotiate contracts and statements of work, and hold partners accountable to service level agreements.

What You Bring

Bring your energy, your ideas, and your love for sports and the outdoors.

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related discipline, or equivalent work experience
  • 10+ years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure, with a deep focus on enterprise network and telecom engineering
  • 4+ years of proven managerial and leadership experience, with a track record of building, mentoring, and leading high-performing technical teams; experience managing other managers is strongly preferred
  • Demonstrated experience developing and executing annual technology roadmaps and strategies that align with core business goals
  • Proven track record of architecting, implementing, and managing innovative, highly available, and fault-tolerant network architectures
  • Proven experience in leading IT operations, incident response, and problem management functions at scale
  • Extensive experience in strategic and tactical vendor and Managed Service Provider management, including contract negotiation, defining statements of work, and driving partner performance to defined service level agreements
  • Demonstrated experience directly linking technical operations and infrastructure investments to financial outcomes, including budget, total cost of ownership, and return on investment
  • Advanced industry certifications are highly preferred, such as CCNP or CCIE, PCNSE, or cloud-specific networking certifications
  • Expert-level knowledge of enterprise network architecture, including switching, routing, BGP or OSPF, VLANs, firewalls, and wide-area networking such as MPLS and SD-WAN
  • Deep knowledge of modern wireless networking, including Wi-Fi 6 or 6E, mobility, and BYOD, for large-scale retail and corporate environments
  • Deep understanding of cloud networking across GCP, Azure, and AWS, including hybrid-cloud connectivity, VPC design, transit gateways, and cloud-native security
  • Advanced knowledge of network security principles and systems, including next-generation firewalls, network access control, Zero Trust concepts, and SASE
  • Direct experience with the Fortinet platform, including FortiGate and FortiManager, is highly desired
  • Expertise in modern voice platforms and a comprehensive understanding of telecom infrastructure and cost management
  • Proficiency in leveraging network monitoring and observability tools, such as SolarWinds and Dynatrace, to drive operational stability and rapid root cause analysis
  • Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to report technical status, project delivery, and incidents to leadership
  • Strong understanding of IT governance frameworks and experience managing environments subject to regulatory compliance, including PCI and SOX
  • Strong financial acumen with experience managing large operational and capital budgets
  • Methodical problem-solving skills, with the ability to lead high-stakes incident response and drive root cause analysis
  • A team-first attitude; while your core duties are your priority, you're happy to step in wherever you're needed

Work Style and Physical Requirements
  • Up to 5% travel required
  • Regular in-office attendance is required
  • Acceptable level of hearing and vision to perform job duties
  • Ability to adhere to company policies and professional standards

Key Skills

Budgeting and Forecasting, Coaching and Developing Others, Negotiations Management, Process Improvement, Project and Program Management, Root Cause Analysis

About Academy Sports & Outdoors, Ltd

Academy Sports + Outdoors is a premier sports, outdoor and lifestyle retailer with a broad assortment of quality hunting, fishing, and camping equipment and gear along with sports and leisure products, footwear, apparel and much more. The Texas-based company operates over 250 stores throughout Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, where the company is headquartered. Academy employs more than 29,000 team members and is committed to providing exceptional customer service, offering an unparalleled assortment of top brands, and promoting active lifestyles through its community involvement.
Learn more about Academy Sports & Outdoors, Ltd
Size
29,000 employees
Market Cap
$4 billion
Industry
Founded
1938
5 Year Trend
+7.4%
Revenue
$5.4 billion
NASDAQ

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Academy Sports & Outdoors, Ltd

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Sr Manager Core Technologies Connectivity Platforms jobs: