Head of IT Operations Jobs
Head of IT Operations jobs are open across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and technology, from manager to VP and C-suite, with specializations in infrastructure, service delivery, and IT governance. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Preparedness today, safer tomorrow.
Emergent is a leading public health company that delivers protective and life-saving solutions to
communities around the world.
We go where others won’t, taking on some of the biggest public health challenges to protect and enhance millions of lives, and create a better, more secure world. Here, you will join passionate professionals who advance their scientific, technical and professional skills to develop products designed to protect and enhance life.
Why This Role Matters
At Emergent, our work protects communities and strengthens global health security. As Head of IT Infrastructure & Operations, you will lead the organization’s global technology infrastructure and end-user services.
Reporting to the Chief Information Officer, the Senior Director, Head of IT Infrastructure & Operations leads the strategy, engineering, security, reliability, and day-to-day operation of the company’s global technology infrastructure and end-user services. The role is accountable for resilient, secure, compliant, and cost-effective delivery across hybrid cloud, data centers, networks, compute, storage, workplace technology, service management, collaboration, and infrastructure platforms supporting a global 24/7 business and regulated operations. The position modernizes the infrastructure operating model through automation, observability, data-driven service management, and responsible use of AI, while maintaining disciplined lifecycle, continuity, validation, and vendor governance.
What You'll Do
Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Enterprise leadership and strategy
- Serve as a member of the CIO’s IT Leadership Team and act as the executive owner for enterprise infrastructure and operations capabilities.
- Define and execute a multi-year infrastructure and operations strategy, architecture, investment roadmap, lifecycle plan, and operating model aligned to business priorities, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, data strategy, and application modernization.
- Translate technology choices into clear business outcomes, risks, service commitments, investment requirements, and decision points for senior leaders.
- Bring an infrastructure, integration, resiliency, and operability perspective to enterprise programs, acquisitions, site changes, and major technology initiatives.
Hybrid cloud, platforms, and architecture
- Lead a fit-for-purpose hybrid cloud strategy spanning public cloud, SaaS, private hosting, and on-premises environments; establish standards for landing zones, connectivity, identity integration, workload placement, scalability, portability, and cost governance.
- Own infrastructure architecture and engineering standards for networks, compute, storage, backup, recovery, databases and middleware where assigned, collaboration, telephony, endpoint and workplace platforms, and core operational tooling.
- Partner with application, data, security, quality, and business teams to ensure platforms are interoperable, supportable, validated where required, and designed for availability, performance, recoverability, and lifecycle sustainability.
- Establish technology currency and technical-debt practices that reduce unsupported platforms, single points of failure, and avoid operational risk.
Operational excellence, service management, and employee experience
- Lead global 24/7 infrastructure operations, service desk, workplace services, major incident management, problem management, change enablement, configuration and asset practices, capacity management, and service continuity.
- Establish service catalogs, service ownership, service level objectives and agreements, operational level agreements, KPIs, experience measures, and executive reporting that connect service performance to business impact.
- Build mature monitoring, observability, event management, and command-center practices to identify degradation early, accelerate restoration, and drive permanent corrective action.
- Continuously improve employee technology experience across offices, laboratories, manufacturing and distribution environments, remote work, and executive support.
Cyber resilience, continuity, and compliance
- Partner with the Chief Information Security Officer and Quality organization to embed secure-by-design, zero-trust, privileged-access, vulnerability, patching, hardening, segmentation, backup protection, recovery, and logging requirements into infrastructure services.
- Own infrastructure disaster recovery and technology continuity capabilities, including business-aligned recovery objectives, dependency mapping, crisis response integration, documented recovery procedures, and regular exercises.
- Ensure infrastructure services meet applicable company policies and regulated-life-sciences requirements, including controlled change, documentation, qualification or validation, data integrity, audit readiness, and evidence retention where required.
- Ensure operational risks, exceptions, and control gaps are visible, assigned, prioritized, and remediated or formally accepted.
Automation, AI-enabled operations, and data
- Develop an automation-first operating model using infrastructure as code, orchestration, self-service, policy as code, automated testing, and repeatable deployment and recovery patterns.
- Adopt AI-enabled operations responsibly to improve event correlation, knowledge retrieval, service desk support, capacity forecasting, anomaly detection, and operational decision support, with appropriate human oversight, security, privacy, records, and compliance controls.
- Create trusted operational data and dashboards that enable trend analysis, predictive insight, cost transparency, risk prioritization, and measurable continual improvement.
- Build workforce capability in cloud, automation, AI, cybersecurity, service reliability, and modern engineering practices.
Financial, supplier, and talent leadership
- Own infrastructure and operations financial planning, forecasting, cloud financial management, contract optimization, and investment prioritization.
- Lead strategic sourcing activities, including RFPs, RFIs, SOWs, contract and service-level negotiations, supplier performance, concentration risk, exit planning, and third-party resilience.
- Lead, develop, and retain a diverse global team; clarify accountabilities, succession, cross-training, on-call expectations, and skills plans across employees, managed service providers, and specialist partners.
- Create a culture of ownership, disciplined execution, transparency, collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.
The above statements describe the general nature of work performed in this job. They are not an exhaustive list of duties, and other duties may be assigned.
What You Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. Advanced degree is preferred.
- Typically 15+ years of progressive technology experience, including 7+ years leading multiple infrastructure, operations, engineering, or service delivery teams in a complex global enterprise.
- Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide infrastructure transformation and operating-model change in a highly regulated environment; life-sciences, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or manufacturing experience is strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated accountability for global, business-critical, 24/7 services delivered through a mix of internal teams, public cloud, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, colocation, telecommunications, managed services, and outsourcing partners.
Required Skills and Abilities
- Executive leadership, business acumen, financial stewardship, and the ability to communicate complex technology choices as business value, risk, resilience, cost, and employee impact.
- Deep working knowledge of hybrid cloud, enterprise networking, compute, storage, backup and recovery, identity dependencies, endpoint and workplace technology, collaboration, telephony, monitoring, observability, and service management.
- Experience with modern engineering and operations practices, including automation, infrastructure as code, configuration management, APIs, DevSecOps, site reliability concepts, capacity engineering, and technology lifecycle management.
- Ability to establish metrics and use operational, experience, risk, and financial data to prioritize work and demonstrate outcomes.
- Strong knowledge of cybersecurity infrastructure controls and close partnership with security teams on zero trust, segmentation, vulnerability and patch management, privileged access, secure configuration, logging, resilience, and incident response.
- Experience designing, testing, and improving business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities across complex application and infrastructure dependencies.
- Knowledge of cGMP expectations and experience supporting validated or qualified technology in regulated life-sciences environments, including change control, documentation, data integrity, and audit readiness.
- Experience governing AI-enabled operational use cases with appropriate controls for security, privacy, compliance, transparency, reliability, and human oversight.
- Proven ability to lead in a matrixed environment, build coalitions, influence executives, negotiate with suppliers, and manage competing priorities during incidents and transformation.
- Strong talent leadership, coaching, succession planning, organizational design, sourcing strategy, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive influencing skills.
Preferred Knowledge and Credentials
- Familiarity with ITIL practices and modern service management; relevant ITIL certification is preferred.
- Familiarity with cloud architecture and financial management practices; relevant cloud or FinOps credentials are preferred.
- Familiarity with recognized cybersecurity, resilience, and control frameworks used by the company.
- Experience supporting ERP, laboratory, manufacturing, quality, and data platforms with demanding availability, integration, and compliance requirements.
Ready To Make an Impact?
If you’re an IT Infrastructure Leader ready to bring your expertise and make a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you. Join a mission-driven organization where your insights will support decisions that protect and enhance lives around the world. Apply today and help us build a safer, healthier future.
U.S. Base Pay Ranges and Benefits Information
The estimated annual base salary as a new hire for this position ranges from [206,500 to $250,000]. Individual base pay depends on various factors such as applicant’s education, experience, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. The salary may also be adjusted based on applicant’s geographic location. Certain roles are eligible for additional incentive compensation, including merit increases, annual bonus, [and/or long-term incentives in the form of stock options.]
Additionally, Emergent offers a comprehensive benefits package*. Information regarding additional benefits can be found here: https://www.emergentbiosolutions.com/careers/life-at-emergent
(*Eligibility for benefits is governed by the applicable plan documents and policies).
If you are selected for an interview, please feel welcome to speak to a Human Resources Partner about our compensation philosophy and available benefits.
There are physical/mental demands and work environment characteristics that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. This information is available upon request from the candidate.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform all essential functions.
Emergent BioSolutions is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and values the diversity of our workforce. Emergent does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender identity or gender expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military service or veteran status, genetic information or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state or local law.
Information submitted will be used by Emergent BioSolutions for activities related to your prospective employment. Emergent BioSolutions respects your privacy and any use of the information submitted will be subject to the terms of our Privacy Policy .
Emergent BioSolutions does not accept non-solicited resumes or candidate submittals from search/recruiting agencies not already on Emergent BioSolutions’ approved agency list. Unsolicited resumes or candidate information submitted to Emergent BioSolutions by search/recruiting agencies not already on Emergent BioSolutions’ approved agency list shall become the property of Emergent BioSolutions and if the candidate is subsequently hired by Emergent BioSolutions, Emergent BioSolutions shall not owe any fee to the submitting agency.
ABOUT EMERGENT
Emergent prepares those entrusted with protecting their communities against current and future health threats.
Our drive towards this vision informs all of our actions—whether it is our approach to product development, manufacturing, encouraging employee health and wellness or giving back to the community—we strive every day to achieve this shared goal.
WE BELIEVE IN OUR VALUES
- Lead with Integrity
- We gain trust and confidence through ethics, quality, and compliance excellence
- Stand shoulder to shoulder
- We combine our best thinking and communicate openly to support each other.
- Own it always
- We are engaged and accountable for delivering on our commitments.
- Breakthrough thinking
- We take smart risks, pursue innovation and challenge ourselves to constantly improve.
- Compete where it counts
- We set the right goals and respect each other as we conquer them together.
Nearest Major Market: Washington DC
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Who's Hiring


What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in head of IT operations jobs.
- 7 or more years of progressive IT operations leadership and management experience
- Proven ability to manage IT infrastructure including networks, servers, and cloud environments
- ITIL certification or demonstrated ITIL-aligned service management experience
- Experience building and managing cross-functional IT teams and vendor relationships
- Proficiency with enterprise IT service management and monitoring tools
- Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or a related field
Tips for Your Head of IT Operations Job Search
Quantify infrastructure scale on your resume
Head of IT operations hiring managers want to see the size of what you've managed. List server counts, endpoint totals, uptime percentages, and team headcount so reviewers can immediately gauge whether your experience matches their environment.
Align certifications to the job description
ITIL, PMP, and cloud provider credentials carry different weight by industry. Match the certifications listed in each posting to the ones you hold, and move the most relevant ones to the top of your credentials section before applying.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists head of it operations openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Target postings by IT environment type
Head of IT operations roles differ sharply between on-premises, hybrid, and cloud-first environments. Search using environment-specific terms in your queries so you're applying to organizations whose infrastructure matches your deepest experience, not just your broadest.
Prepare a business-impact story for interviews
Interviewers at the VP and C-suite level ask how IT operations drove business outcomes, not just what you managed. Prepare two or three examples that connect a system improvement or cost reduction directly to a revenue, risk, or efficiency result for the organization.
Negotiate scope before negotiating anything else
Before discussing compensation, clarify reporting structure, budget authority, and team size. Head of IT operations titles vary widely in actual authority, and mismatched scope expectations are the most common reason these placements fail within the first year.
Head of IT Operations Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most head of it operationss?
The most active employers for head of it operationss right now are Florida State University, Workwhile, and Braintrust Data, and the most openings are in Florida, California, and Maryland, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Healthcare systems, financial services firms, and large enterprise technology companies tend to post the most openings at this level year-round.
How many head of it operations jobs are remote?
About 100% of head of it operations openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, though this varies significantly by industry and company size. Sub-areas like IT vendor management, service delivery oversight, and IT governance tend to be the most remote-compatible, while roles requiring hands-on data center or on-site infrastructure management are almost always on-site or hybrid.
How do you become a head of it operations?
Most heads of IT operations move up through roles like IT manager, systems administrator, or IT director, progressively taking on larger teams and broader infrastructure responsibility. Building fluency in IT service management frameworks, earning credentials like ITIL, and demonstrating that you can align IT operations with business goals are the steps that typically precede a move into this title.
Can you get hired as a head of it operations without direct experience in that exact role?
Yes, candidates who have held IT director or senior IT manager titles and managed comparable team sizes and infrastructure complexity do get hired into head of IT operations roles. The clearest path is to document the scope of what you've run, show that you've owned vendor relationships and budgets, and position your resume around outcomes rather than tasks.
What does the head of it operations interview process look like?
The process typically moves through an initial screen with HR or a talent partner, a technical and leadership panel with IT directors and peers, a business-case or scenario presentation to senior leadership, and a final conversation with the executive or board sponsor. Interviewers focus heavily on how you've handled major outages, led organizational change, and built or restructured teams.
Where can I find and apply to head of it operations jobs?
You can find and apply to head of it operations jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Find the roles that fit your experience and seniority level, then apply directly to each listing from the page.
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