Job Summary

The Executive Director, Digital Transformation & Technology bridges the IT organization and the business, providing a strategic technology vision, strategy, and roadmap to achieve a connected ecosystem for business transformation. This role identifies emerging trends, establishes an AI capability/tools, evolves enterprise architecture, and modernizes infrastructure, network, information security, IT service management, and client technology. Responsibilities include leading the development and adoption of these strategies, executing a 5-year roadmap, and enhancing Cirrus cybersecurity annually. The Executive Director creates digital business technology strategies and leads teams to architect and enable necessary digital platforms, delivering new business value through innovative technologies.

This role is a member of the IT Leadership team, reporting to the SVP Information Technology.

Duties and Responsibilities/Essential Functions

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the expertise, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• High Performing Team: Build high performing enterprise teams and culture while leading large scale complex programs to support the business transformation and achieve the strategic growth strategies.
• Vision/Strategy/Roadmap: Develop Infrastructure, Network, Information Security, Data Center, Help Desk, IT Service Management and Client Technology vision, strategies and roadmaps in alignment with the organizations digital business strategy. Prioritize projects, financials, demand intake process and KPIs to measure progress against the roadmap while leveraging both mainstream and emerging technologies to transform IT.
• Emerging Technologies: Identify and integrate emerging technologies that enable the organizations digital business strategy. Identify technologies, justify investments, and guide implementation of technology innovation proof of concepts/pilots to explore how these emerging trends can transform the business while assessing potential risks and strategies to mitigate. Determine how mainstream and emerging technologies can be used to advance business strategy using trendspotting techniques, serving as the central point for technology innovation within IT.
• Company Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy: Define a clear vision for AI that aligns with business goals. Through cross-functional collaboration, identify opportunities for integration of AI, set objectives, and establish a roadmap for AI initiatives. Evaluate and select AI technologies and tools that enhance data governance and usage of company data to inform data-driven decisions. Invest in AI and machine learning capabilities with training and development programs to enhance the skills of existing employees and use of AI tools safely.

• Enterprise Architecture: Evolve the enterprise architecture to support the introduction of new technologies to enable the digital business strategy. Work with business executives to identify, rationalize and roadmap new digital business models and capabilities, and how technology can enable them. Drive innovative and strategic thinking for the company that promotes enterprise architecture, innovation management and R&D practices throughout the business.
• Business Transformation Focus: Leverage trendspotting to anticipate how technological and non-technological trends could help the organization prepare for and navigate change and disruption. Create new digital business technology platforms and the technology to support them. Work with business leaders to understand customer and market opportunities to translate them into potential digital products and services that enable new business models and drive strategic business outcomes.
• Information Security Focus: Creates Information Security and Cybersecurity strategy, roadmap, goals, objectives and metrics to mitigate business threats, address opportunities and prioritize for protection of critical systems. Ensures the implementation of network and computer security is compliant with corporate cybersecurity policies and procedures. Responsible for mitigating enterprise cybersecurity risks for local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), virtual private networks (VPNs), routers, firewalls, and related network devices. Drives security assessments, penetration tests, vulnerability scans and risk analysis across the Cirrus ecosystem. Owns incident response planning, leads vulnerability audits and forensic investigations. Evaluates potential business impacts from security breaches and provides strategic and tactical guidance to Executive & business decision-makers. Responsible for security systems compliance policies and procedures.
• Infrastructure/NW/Client Technology focus: Creates and drives the strategy for infrastructure modernization, including hybrid multi-cloud, edge computing, containerization and automated, programmable infrastructure. Drives the strategy for planning, hardware installation and configuration, optimization, operations, and ongoing maintenance of the infrastructure and network that resides in the computer/data center locations. Drives systems performance, the monitoring of equipment and the management of vendor relationships. Responsible for capacity planning and continual assessments for process improvement to ensure that processes are well-documented, sustainable and scalable. Manage technology vendor contracts and services for the software and hardware procured. Manages the design, implementation and communication of the IT disaster recovery plan. Oversees the risk analysis of critical operations and systems essential to continuing business operations in the event of a disaster.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelors or masters degree in computer science, business administration or equivalent experience.
• 15+ Years of building high performing Information Security & Infrastructure teams and capabilities, leading cybersecurity implementation programs, disaster recovery planning, executing executive tabletop exercises, coordinating security assessments and driving continuous improvement.
• 15+ Years of relevant experience in IT and business/industry; including diverse responsibilities in IT Service Management, IT infrastructure and network, client tech operations, data center operations, data management, application management, DevOps, database management, portfolio/program management, solution architecture, software implementation, custom development, vendor management and contract management.
• 2+ Years of building AI strategies, roadmaps and internal models to keep company safe
• Serves as a thought leader, integrates functional and business knowledge to anticipate changing business direction; is expected to consistently innovate to ensure optimum organizational performance.
• Required experience in utilizing strategic acumen to engage and influence executives and other stakeholders to drive Digital Transformation & Technology initiatives.
• Required experience in developing and implementing business strategies that leverage industry trends and opportunities to gain a competitive edge.
• Required experience in evaluating key business challenges; directs the development of new or innovative solutions.
• Required experience in impacting overall company performance through strategic decisions and resource allocation.
• Required experience in cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships with key stakeholders, including other executives, partners, and customers.
• Required experience in negotiating major contracts and agreements that have a significant impact on the business.
• Required experience leading diverse and cross functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience with working in lean and agile delivery teams.
• Demonstrate excellent executive presence, communication and presentation skills to all levels of audience.
• Demonstrate experience partnering with front of the house functions such as sales, marketing and customer service through capabilities supporting the back of the house and through customer delivery.
• Demonstrate experience developing strong industry relationships and translates functional needs.
• Demonstrate experience engaging in key relationships for area and industry.

Demonstrated Proficiencies/Skills/Abilities:

• Exceptional leadership skills, with the ability to develop and communicate strategy, inspire and motivate the staff, and maintain alignment across the business.
• A high degree of political savvy, astuteness and the ability to use informal power structure of the organization to achieve program success and overcome obstacles.
• Strong business acumen, including manufacturing industry and IT domain specific knowledge.
• Deep understanding of how organizations can use current technologies to drive digital business.
• Ability to develop programs and deliver them with financial and resource constraints.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate between, and connect, business and technology

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Strategic Mindset: Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
• Develops Talent: Develops people to meet both their career goals and the organizations goals.
• Business Insight: Applies knowledge of business and the marketplace to advance the organizations goals.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieves results, even under tough circumstances. This competency includes engaging with the business unit on resolving trade-offs of scope, priority, business and technical risk, and business impact of dependencies among multiple Information Services. Ensures full transparency and no surprises, keeping stakeholders up to date with the latest delivery status and risks.
• Situational Adaptability: Adapts approach and demeanor in real time to match shifting demands of different situations. This competency includes leveraging emotional intelligence to pick up on situational cues and adjusting in the moment, as well as adapting to different personal, interpersonal and leadership styles. Leverages different approaches in different situation to drive to desired results.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Work beyond 40 hours per week may be required.

Cirrus is dedicated to a drug free work environment promoting equal employment opportunity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, national origin, color, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, veteran status, marital and family status, sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.