Director of ITS Integration

Key Responsibilities

• Leads the acquisition integration workstreams, providing guidance, tactical, and strategic direction across infrastructure, cybersecurity, and application workstreams.
• Routinely reviews internal controls, IT policies, and operating procedures in the context of integrations; recommends and implements changes to maintain compliance with applicable regulations and standards (e.g., SOX, data privacy such as GDPR/CCPA, and sector-specific requirements).
• Develops and manages the integration budget, including one-time integration costs, TSA (Transition Service Agreement) expenses, and synergy realization forecasts.
• Acts as Business Relationship Manager for local operating companies regarding Day 1 readiness, Day 30/60/100/180 milestones, business continuity, and hypercare.
• Acts as local Texas based leadership presence for H2OA ITS Leadership team
• Oversees vendor relationships and contract management related to integration activities, including contract novations/terminations, SOWs for systems integrators, and managed service providers.
• Develops and executes acquisition integration plan that aligns with business goals and risk appetite, covering due diligence (as applicable), TSA definition and exit, and steady-state transition.
• Facilitates high-level support, training, and change management to end-users and operating teams to maximize adoption and minimize disruption; partners closely with Communications, HR, and business leadership.
• Stays current with M&A IT integration practices, platforms, and trends to recommend and implement innovative, automation-first approaches.
• Ensures enterprise architectures, reference designs, and standards are applied during integration, including alignment to security baselines, data governance, and architectural review gates in partnership with Technology Strategy & Transformation and Cybersecurity.
• Establishes and enforces integration standards and playbooks to support business objectives, including gating criteria for Day 1 readiness, go/no-go, and TSA exit.
• Develops and maintains high levels of adherence to project governance, ethics, and company policies, including risk/issue management and decision logging.
• Contributes to the development of rate cases and business cases for integration-related IT investments and synergy realization.
• Implements and ensures adherence to ITIL 4 and delivery frameworks (e.g., PMI/Agile/SAFe, COBIT governance for controls, and NIST-aligned security practices in partnership with the Cybersecurity function).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and/or 15+ years of experience in progressive leadership roles in IT program management, M&A integration, or large-scale technology transformations.
• Experience working in a regulated utility or critical infrastructure environment (preferred).
• Extensive hands-on experience in planning and executing IT acquisition integrations, including due diligence, Day 1 readiness, TSA management, domain/tenant consolidation, identity and access harmonization, data migration, and application rationalization.
• Holds relevant certifications required for the team’s needs or as directed by management.
• Extensive knowledge of enterprise operating environments and architecture, including identity and collaboration platforms, networking, cloud services, and core business applications.
• Ability to think strategically and work tactically in an integration context, balancing speed, risk, and business continuity.
• Vendor Negotiation Experience And Strong Vendor/partner Management Capabilities.
• An enthusiasm for continuous learning in integration methodologies, enterprise platforms, and change management.
• Strong program and project management skills, especially for multi-workstream integration initiatives with fixed cutover windows.
• Great written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate integration impacts, risks, and trade-offs to non-technical audiences and executive stakeholders.