Senior IT Manager

The Senior IT Manager’s primary mandate is to define and execute a technology vision focused on driving office and manufacturing efficiencies through AI and intelligent factory, reducing operating costs and leveraging data to support business and production activities. This leader identifies opportunities to eliminate repetitive manual work, translates them into a prioritized roadmap, and executes solutions that deliver measurable productivity improvements and reduce dependence on labor-intensive processes. The role also leads the Information Technology department and remains accountable for technology strategy, operations, security, reliability, and continuous improvement. Directs IT personnel, budgets, infrastructure, business applications, and service delivery to support production continuity and business objectives. Partners with manufacturing, engineering, quality, supply chain, finance, and other functional leaders to prioritize technology investments, strengthen system performance, and deliver secure, scalable solutions that support revenue-generating activities. Carries out responsibilities personally and through a subordinate manager and IT staff.

Role And Responsibilities

• Leads the IT department and establishes technology strategy, operating priorities, service standards, and a multiyear roadmap aligned with manufacturing requirements and organizational objectives.
• Develops and manages IT operating and capital budgets, staffing plans, technology investments, and equipment lifecycle plans; presents business cases and monitors spending, resource utilization, and value delivered.
• Directs implementation, integration, maintenance, and support of enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing execution, inventory, quality, engineering, and other business applications, as applicable, in partnership with functional system owners.
• Establishes and maintains IT policies, cybersecurity controls, access management, data governance, and system documentation consistent with corporate standards and applicable legal, regulatory, and customer requirements; coordinates audits and remediation activities.
• Manages technology vendors, consultants, service providers, contracts, licensing, and service-level agreements; negotiates purchases within delegated authority and holds providers accountable for quality, cost, security, and delivery.
• Oversees help desk and end-user support across office and manufacturing operations; establishes escalation procedures, support coverage, training, and service metrics that address business needs and minimize production disruption.
• Directs the availability, capacity, security, and lifecycle management of networks, servers, cloud services, endpoints, telecommunications, databases, storage, and backups supporting business and production operations.
• Monitors system availability, incident trends, project delivery, cybersecurity risks, and department performance; communicates business impacts to leadership and drives root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement.
• Partners with engineering, maintenance, and operations on information technology and operational technology (IT/OT) connectivity, ownership boundaries, secure vendor access, and coordinated maintenance to protect production equipment availability and plant operations.
• Lead the development and execution of an enterprise AI and digital transformation roadmap focused on improving manufacturing productivity, reducing operating costs, and enhancing operational efficiency.
• Identify and implement AI-driven solutions for predictive maintenance, production scheduling, quality inspection, inventory optimization, and automated reporting.
• Ensure high availability, scalability, and reliability of IT infrastructure, including servers, cloud platforms, networks, telecommunications, and enterprise applications.
• Develops, maintains, and tests disaster recovery plans and IT business continuity plans with clearly defined Recovery Time Objectives and Recovery Point Objectives; validates backup restoration and coordinates incident response and recovery priorities with business and manufacturing leaders.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Leads the IT department, establishes clear responsibilities, staffing coverage, and accountability across the team including through implementation of new IT technologies such as AI.
• Has overall responsibility for the direction, coordination, development, and results of the IT department; sets goals, prioritizes work, allocates resources, and builds technical capability and succession readiness.

Education And/or Experience

• Master's degree (M. A.) or equivalent; or seven to ten years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Related experience should include progressively responsible IT leadership, department operations, budgets, infrastructure, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, and technology project delivery in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong working knowledge of enterprise IT infrastructure, networking, cloud and on-premises environments, endpoint management, identity and access management, cybersecurity, backup and recovery, and IT service management. Experience supporting ERP and manufacturing-related applications including new ERP system implementations impacting inventory, production planning, quality, engineering, and order processing systems, as well as finance, human resources, payroll, database, project management, spreadsheet, and word processing applications. Strong experience overseeing application integrations, reporting, data integrity, and IT/OT connectivity in partnership with functional and technical specialists.
• Experience implementing AI tools in support of organizational growth and effectiveness.
• Hands-on experience supporting production-critical systems in a 24/7 or multi-shift manufacturing environment, with a proven ability to prioritize production continuity and rapid incident response.