Senior Director of Infrastructure Operations (Remote from anywhere in Colorado)

About the role

Together, we innovate for a stronger Colorado

The work of employees at the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) is challenging and diverse because the needs of agencies, customers and Coloradans constantly evolve. But our focus never changes: improve the lives of all Coloradans through innovation and collaboration. We're building one of the nation's leading government IT organizations by reimagining how we support agencies, building first-of-their-kind applications, and creating an inclusive, collaborative culture, together. Join us in the important work of providing equitable access to services.

Watch this video to learn more about how we're Serving People. Serving Colorado.

Important Note

Please review your application to ensure completion. For the most equitable applicant experience, OIT’s hiring team considers only the contents of the Work Experience section of your application to review your minimum qualifications. Though we do ask that a resume and cover letter are included in your application, please refrain from entering "See Resume" in the Work History section as valuable experience may be missed during the application review process.

As the new Senior Director of Infrastructure Operations you will be a pivotal senior leader that bridges strategic vision with operational excellence. While anchored in high-level strategy, this position requires a dedicated people leader who brings structure, clarity, and strong guidance to the organization.

This leadership role is responsible for the design, performance, and resiliency of the organization's technology infrastructure, which includes network, firewalls, server and data center operations, databases, and disaster recovery/continuity of operations (DRP/COOP) planning. This role involves ensuring the infrastructure upon which state services run is modern, highly reliable and secure.

This role owns audit remediation efforts related to infrastructure and related security controls and ensures the organization's technology environment supports operational resilience and regulatory compliance. Beyond technical oversight, this role focuses heavily on cultivating high-performing teams, providing active mentorship, and fostering professional growth across leaders and staff.

The Senior Director of Infrastructure Operations translates business objectives into technology strategy, balancing long-term architectural vision with day-to-day operational excellence and team development. provide direction, design, and planning for cloud and hosting related services including but not limited to offerings such as:

• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
• Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Hybrid-cloud infrastructures including commercial cloud, and other shared hosting standard services and technologies, and cloud hosting migration planning and execution

DevOps, DevSecOps, Cloud Orchestration, and Immutable Infrastructure

Software re-use, common applications frameworks, and common application deployment patterns including DevOps and CI/CD pipelines

Multiple technologies used to provide enterprise class IT technologies and services, in a large multi-tenant, multi-department/agency cloud hosting environment

Technology Strategy & Infrastructure Leadership

Develop and execute the strategic roadmap for network, server, data center, and database infrastructure in alignment with organizational goals and future growth.

Own the architecture, performance, capacity planning, and lifecycle management of enterprise network infrastructure, firewalls, servers, and data center environments.

Establish and enforce standards, policies, and best practices for network security, system architecture, and database management to ensure availability, scalability, and integrity of critical systems; to include the implementation of policy and infrastructure as code.

Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend investments that improve efficiency, reduce risk, and strengthen the organization's technical foundation.

Security, Compliance & Audit Remediation

Oversee remediation of findings from internal and external audits related to infrastructure, network security, access controls, and data management, ensuring corrective action plans are documented, tracked, and completed on schedule. Ensure the root cause of findings is addressed to prevent future recurrence.

Partner with Internal Audit, Compliance, Risk, and external auditors/regulators to respond to inquiries, provide evidence of controls, and demonstrate ongoing compliance with applicable regulatory and industry frameworks.

Ensure the maintenance of firewall rule sets, network segmentation, and access controls to protect the organization's systems and data from internal and external threats.

Ensure infrastructure and database environments meet applicable data privacy, security, and regulatory requirements.

Disaster Recovery & Continuity of Operations

Own the development, testing, and maintenance of Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) documentation for technology infrastructure and systems.

Plan and lead regular DRP/COOP tabletop exercises and full-scale testing, documenting results and driving remediation of identified gaps.

Ensure recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) are defined, achievable, and validated for critical systems and databases.

People Leadership & Team Management

• Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of Directors and Managers, providing clear goals, regular performance feedback, and career development planning.
• Build organizational capability by recruiting, onboarding, and retaining strong technical talent; ensure succession planning for key infrastructure roles.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and psychological safety across the technology organization.
• Establish clear performance expectations, KPIs, and SLAs for infrastructure teams, and hold direct reports accountable for results.
• Actively engage in improving leadership skills, attitudes, and knowledge, especially as related to equity, diversity and inclusion. Attend training, development and group training on topics of inclusive leadership.

A wide salary range is posted for this position and any job offer is based upon a salary analysis to comply with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The salary analysis considers relevant experience, education, certifications, and state seniority as compared to others doing substantially similar work. While most salary offers are made within the posted range, occasionally an offer is made below or above the posted range based upon this salary analysis.

This is a skills-based job announcement. The required minimum qualifications and/or education (if substituting for the proven experience, knowledge, and skills), are as follows:

Minimum Qualifications

• A minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in IT infrastructure, network engineering, or systems administration, including experience with enterprise network architecture, firewalls, servers, data centers, and databases.
• A minimum of five (5) years of experience directly managing technology managers/directors and multi-layered teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading audit remediation efforts and engaging with auditors or regulators.
• Experience developing and maintaining DRP/COOP documentation, leading disaster recovery testing.
• Strong knowledge of server administration, network security principles, firewall management, and database administration.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for executive and non-technical audiences.

Substitutions

• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications. There is no substitution for any required management experience.
• Training or Certification related to the work assigned to the position will be assigned credit towards substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• If the minimum qualifications include a degree requirement, additional appropriate paid or unpaid experience will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, or vendor-specific network/security/database certifications ex. CCIE/CCDE, CCNP
• Experience in a regulated industry (e.g., healthcare, law enforcement, government) with formal audit and compliance obligations.
• Direct experience with infrastructure: network, servers, alongside on-premises data center environments.
• Proficiency in Enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) infrastructure design, operational management, and scalable cloud-based deployment architectures.

Conditions of Employment

• OIT employees must comply with any screening procedures in place at state agency locations where they might perform work.
• This position may require travel within the specified geographic area, and to locations across the state as needed.
• If this posting indicates “remote from anywhere in CO” in the title, periodic reporting to the primary state work location designated for the position is required. All remote work must be performed in Colorado.

While candidates from out of state will be considered for this role, the candidate selected for the position must relocate and reside in Colorado on the first day of their new position. A reasonable timeframe for relocation will be established on an individual basis, while considering business needs, and determining a start date.

• We know it's important to support each other, and that means having a healthy balance of work and personal time. Visit our benefits to learn more about some of our great offerings that allow us all to have fulfilling lives.
• Visit our How to Apply webpage to learn more about our application process and what to expect after you apply.
• This posting may be used to fill multiple vacancies based upon business need.
• The Governor's Office of Information Technology does NOT offer sponsored Visas for employment purposes.