Lead - Cloud Infrastructure

The Lead – Cloud Infrastructure is responsible for the strategic leadership and operational management of the organization's privately owned cloud infrastructure. This role oversees the design, performance, and expansion of infrastructure services, ensuring reliability, scalability, and alignment with business objectives. The Cloud Infrastructure Lead will manage a team of Infrastructure Engineers, drive capacity planning and forecasting, and ensure the health and maintenance of cloud systems. Additionally, this role will lead vendor management efforts and collaborate with cross-functional teams to support solution delivery and infrastructure integration.

Key Responsibilities:

Infrastructure Strategy & Leadership

• Lead the design, development, and continuous improvement of the company's cloud infrastructure.
• Define infrastructure strategies aligned with current business needs and future growth plans.
• Manage and mentor a team of Cloud Infrastructure Engineers, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.

Capacity Management & Forecasting

• Oversee capacity planning and resource forecasting to ensure infrastructure scalability and performance.
• Analyze usage trends and anticipate future demands to support proactive infrastructure expansion.

Infrastructure Expansion & Planning

• Lead infrastructure expansion initiatives, including hardware acquisition, integration, and deployment. Own the creation and validation of Bill of Materials (BOMs) for all infrastructure components.
• Assess emerging technologies and trends to inform infrastructure roadmap and investment decisions.
• Ensure comprehensive documentation of infrastructure architecture, processes, and decisions. Provide executive-level reporting on infrastructure performance, risks, and opportunities.

Operations & Health Oversight

• Ensure the health, availability, and reliability of cloud infrastructure through proactive monitoring and incident response.
• Lead the planning and execution of infrastructure maintenance activities, upgrades, and lifecycle management.
• Implement operational best practices and ensure compliance with security and governance standards.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Cloud Solution Architects, DevOps, Security, and other technical teams to support solution delivery and infrastructure integration.
• Collaborate with other business units to ensure infrastructure supports operational and strategic goals
• Provide infrastructure expertise during solution design, deployment, and optimization phases.

Vendor Management

• Manage relationships with infrastructure vendors and service providers to ensure performance, cost-efficiency, and strategic alignment.
• Evaluate and onboard new technologies and partners to enhance infrastructure capabilities and support investment strategies.

Qualifications:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in cloud infrastructure management, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience in managing private cloud environments and enterprise-grade infrastructure.

Technical Skills

• Strong expertise in virtualization, storage, networking, and compute infrastructure.
• Experience with infrastructure monitoring tools, automation frameworks, and capacity planning methodologies.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, AI workloads, and cloud-native infrastructure components is a plus.

Soft Skills

• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and lead cross-functional initiatives in a dynamic environment.

Certifications (Preferred)

• Relevant certifications such as VMware, Red Hat, Cisco, or equivalent.
• ITIL, PMP, or other operations and project management certifications are a plus.