IT Operations and Infrastructure Lead

About The Role:

IT Operations and Infrastructure Lead

We are seeking a Lead IT Operations & Infrastructure Engineer / Player-Coach to take complete ownership of our internal systems, cloud infrastructure, endpoint management, and client connectivity.

This is not a traditional corporate management or delegator role. You will be the top technical authority in the company, leading a small, junior IT team by example. You must be willing and able to roll up your sleeves—writing scripts, configuring Azure/Intune policies, analyzing network traceroutes, and hardening endpoints—while simultaneously coaching the team to build a proactive, "see-it, fix-it, get-it-done" culture.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Technical Leadership & Culture Shift (Player-Coach)

• Lead by Doing: Act as the primary technical escalation point for complex infrastructure, networking, and cloud issues. You are expected to personally troubleshoot and resolve high-priority incidents alongside your team.
• Transform Team Mindset: Shift the team culture from reactive "order-tak ers" to proactive systems owners who identify and fix root causes before they impact operations.
• Granular Mentorship: Conduct daily stand-ups, review ticket diagnostics line-by-line with junior analysts, and establish clear accountability and metric-driven SLA targets.

2. Infrastructure, Networking & Client Connectivity

• Network Reliability & Triage: Own the end-to-end connectivity path for 300+ agents (both WFH and in-office) connecting to US-based client ERP environments.
• Proactive Diagnostic Engineering: Deeply analyze network performance using packet loss, latency jitter, hop-by-hop traceroutes, and endpoint resource metrics to isolate issues between local home ISPs, office firewalls, and client VPNs.
• Routing Strategy: Implement and maintain split tunneling, QoS, dual-ISP failover mechanisms, and bandwidth optimization across distributed environments.

3. Cloud, Endpoints & Security Posture

• Azure & M365 Administration: Own the administration of Azure AD/Entra ID, Microsoft 365, conditional access policies, and hybrid infrastructure.
• Endpoint & Device Management (MDM): Enforce strict endpoint compliance using Microsoft Intune/SCCM, automated OS patching, disk cleanup policies, local admin rights restrictions, and hardware lifecycle management for remote laptops.

• AI Tool Integration & Security: Support the secure rollout of AI productivity tools (e.g., Claude Cowork, internal APIs) by enforcing strict sandboxing, M365 data loss prevention (DLP) rules, read-only API scopes, and protection against prompt injection risks.

REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Proven Technical Superiority: You must possess deeper hands-on technical skills than everyone on your team in order to earn their respect and mentor them effectively.
• Hands-on Scripting & Automation: Proficiency in PowerShell, Python, or CLI tools to automate routine IT helpdesk tasks, endpoint configuration, and infrastructure provisioning.
• Deep Networking Diagnostics: Ability to interpret ping payload responses (packet loss/jitter), traceroute latency spikes, routing loops, and firewall/VPN logs to diagnose last-mile ISP vs. core network failures.
• Cloud & Systems Expertise: Practical experience managing Azure, Intune, Active Directory, Cisco/Meraki or Fortinet firewalls, and modern ITSM tooling (ServiceNow, Jira, or Freshservice).
• High Operational Urgency: A relentless focus on system uptime, rapid incident resolution, and zero tolerance for recurring unaddressed bugs.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Experience: 7+ years of hands-on experience in Systems Administration, Network Engineering, or DevOps, with at least 2+ years leading small technical teams or acting as an L3 Lead Engineer.
• Environment Background: Experience in a fast-paced BPO, Managed Services Provider (MSP), or high-growth tech environment handling multi-tenant client setups is strongly preferred.

Certifications (Preferred): Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator / Enterprise Administrator, CCNA, or ITIL v4 Foundation